A round-up of friendlies involving Football Conference clubs...
Blue Square Bet Premier club Eastbourne Borough produced an effective and hard-working performance to beat npower League One side Brighton at Prioy Lane on Saturday.
Goals from summer-signings Agustin Battipiedi and Radostin Kishishev were not enough for the Seagulls.
Ollie Rowe, Ross Treleavan and an own goal earned Boro an excellent morale-boosting win.
Jason Roberts opened the scoring for Premiership Blackburn Rovers at Highbury against Blue Square Bet Premier new boys Fleetwood Town when his powerful header finished a flowing move involving Jackson Ramm and Steven Nzonzi.
Nzonzi doubled Rovers' lead when lapse defending allowed him to plant a straight-forward downwards header into the goal.
Fleetwood's Lee Thorpe was unlucky to see his first half effort come back off the post as the hosts tried to get back into the game.
Fleetwood had plenty of possession in the second half which will encourage fans of Micky Mellon`s side.
Peterborough continued their preparations for the new npower League One season with a 3-1 win over Blue Square Premier outfit Rushden at Nene Park.
The visitors took the lead early on through a Curtis Osano own goal and extended their advantage through Mark Little before Aaron O'Connor pulled one back with a clever lob.
Charlie Lee secured victory for Gary Johnson's men with 13 minutes remaining as he chipped Dale Roberts from a narrow angle.
A late goal from second half substitute Bolo Zenden denied Darlington a draw as Sunderland edged to a 1-0 victory at the Northern Echo Arena.
The Barclays Premier League side dominated possession early on and Darren Bent forced Sam Russell into a couple of saves before hitting the crossbar with another effort just before the break.
It looked like the Blue Square Bet Premier outfit would hold on for a creditable goalless draw but Zenden broke the deadlock with 7 minutes remaining.
Grimsby Town, who came down from League Two with Darlington, edged out League One side Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at Blundell Park.
New signing Alan Connell (pictured) and Peter Bore bagged the goals for the Mariners, while a Luke Boden strike proved just a consolation for Alan Irvine's side.
Blue Square Bet North side Alfreton Town began their pre-season games with a 1-1 draw against Chesterfield in front of an attendance of 776 at the Impact Arena.
The Reds put in a superb first half display of crisp passing football and Liam Hearn gave Nicky Law's side a deserved lead on 38 minutes with an angled six-yard drive which visiting keeper Shane Redmond got a hand to but could not prevent from rolling over the line.
Chesterfield came more into it in the second half after a rash of changes at the interval but their equaliser was a complete gift on 64 minutes with Kyle McFadzean's header back to keeper Paddy Gamble lacking pace and the prolific Jack Lester beat Gamble with an angled eight yard shot.
Zamaretto League Premier Division Bedford Town were narrowly defeated in the first pre-season game at the Eyrie against Blue Square Bet Premier neighbours Luton Town.
Luton scored just before the half-hour mark through Danny Crow.
Craig Daniel, Ian Draycott and Dan Walker all came close for the Eagles, and at the other end, Ian Brown denied Luton a second goal at the death with an instinctive save.
Blue Square Bet Premier side York City slipped to a narrow defeat as Championship visitors Hull City came out 1-0 winners.
Hull scored the only goal of the game in the final 10 minutes with a well taken header from Daniel Cousin.
A good more saw Tom Richardson nearly equalise for the Minstermen late on but his 20-yard curling shot went just over the bar.
Blue Square Bet North side Droylsden gained a useful 2-0 win at Evo-Stik Premier Bradford Park Avenue with goals from Ciaran Kilheeny and David McNiven.
Blue Square Bet South outfit Bromley continued their encouraging start to pre-season with a hard fought win over a youthful Millwall side at Hayes Lane.
The first chance of the game resulted in a goal as midfielder Wes Daly had time in his own half to pick a superb ball over the top for new signing Paul Vines, who controlled with his chest before placing the ball at full stretch past John Sullivan.
The Lions responded immediately through former Manchester City striker Ashley Grimes. John Marquis made a quick run forward with the ball before delicately playing in Grimes who took his time before rounding Jamie Butler in the Bromley goal and side footing home.
And Tony Finn scored the decisive goal of the game in the second half, producing a number of step-overs on the right hand side of the box before chipping the ball delightfully over Sullivan.
Evo-Stik League Premier side Frickley Athletic earned a creditable draw against Blue Square Bet Premier visitors Mansfield Town at the Tech5 Stadium.
New signing Leon Henry grabbed the Blues' goal, latching onto a cross from Adam Lee to blast into an empty net.
The Stags equalised with a fine effort from Adam Smith in the second half.
David Dunn’s 40-yard strike put the seal on a conclusive win for Blackburn Rovers at Haig Avenue against blue Square Bet newcomers Southport.
Dunn, one of several Premier League first-teamers on show, wrapped things up with 18 minutes remaining, unleashing a fine half-volley past Dean Porter after a clearance from Southport’s substitute goalkeeper had been flicked on by Alan Judge.
Morten Gamst-Pedersen shot over in the early stages, before the Norway international provided a 17th-minute corner from which Pascal Chimbonda converted a header to start the scoring.
Blackburn were dominant for most of the first half, with Maceo Rigters doubling the visitors’ lead following good play involving Alex Marrow.
Blue Square Bet Premier side Kettering Town slipped to defeat against a strong Charlton Athletic side at the Elgood's Arena.
The League One side took the lead on 32 minutes when Akpo Sodje capitalised on a mistake by Ian Roper and drew in Nathan Abbey before setting up Guilem Bauza to score into an empty net.
The Poppies struggled to create any clear-cut chances due to a lack of options in attack and Charlton doubled their lead on 53 minutes when Scott Wagstaff crossed for Sodje to head home.
The third goal arrived with 11 minutes to go when Miguel Llera's free kick took a wicked deflected to leave Nathan Abbey, who pulled off some impressive saves, wrong-footed.
And Charlton rounded off a comfortable afternoon with 2 minutes left when Tamer Tuna was left unmarked.
Newly-named Blue Square Bet North Hyde FC went down to a 2-0 Ewen Fields defeat to a Manchester City XI.
Ahmed Benali gave the visitors the lead 5 minutes before half time and Chris Chantler netted City`s second 7 minutes from time.
Gary Woods scored the only goal of the game at Damson Park as Blue Square Bet North side Solihull Moors were beaten 1-0 by Championship visitors Doncaster Rovers.
Blue Square Bet Premier new boys Bath City’s game at Almondsbury ended 3-3 after they were pegged back by two late goals from the hosts.
Strikers Jake Reid and Joe White – the son of ex-City assistant-manager Steve - were on the scoresheet for the visitors.
Fellow triallists Terry Burton, Alex Kite, Gordon Rieck, Toby Osman and Mitchell Bryant were also in the starting line-up, while City old boys Jason Wood and Mark McKeever featured for Almondsbury.
Blue Square North newcomers Nuneaton Town earned a good 3-2 win at Liberty Way against Blue Square Bet Premier Kidderminster Harriers.
Kevin Holsgrove gave Harriers a 14th minute lead that Justin Marsden cancelled out a minute after half time.
Danny Spence then gave the home side a 57th minute lead that Keith Briggs equalised 12 minutes later.
But 10 minutes later Tom Bates notched what proved to be the winner for Boro.
Championship side Watford won 2-0 at Clarence Park against Blue Square Bet South outfit St Albans City, but the Saints can take heart from an improved defensive display following the five-goal reversal against Leyton Orient the previous night.
Watford’s goals came from skipper John Eustace on 34 minutes and Stephen McGuinn on 57 minutes.
Paul Bastock, making his first appearance of the summer, pulled off a number of decent saves and made light of his 40 years with a superb save to his right late in the day from Hornets` midfielder Rob Kiernan.
The City starting eleven included three triallists in right-back Joe Clemo, right-sided midfielder Scott Sinclair and left-sided midfielder Glodi Kweme, who made four appearances for the City reserves last season.
Wycombe Wanderers continued their winning start to the pre-season campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Blue Square Bet Premier side Hayes & Yeading United in which former non-Leaguers Scott Rendell and Kevin Betsy (2) scored the Chairboys` goals and a triallist striker netting the home side`s consolation.
