A round-up of pre-season friendly matches played on Wednesday night involving Football Conference clubs....
Striker Sam Higgins made his first appearance in a Chelmsford City shirt in a slender defeat to a strong Colchester United team at Melbourne in what Head Coach Glenn Pennyfather described as one of the highlights of the evening, Kayode Odejayi’s scrambled goal proving all that separated the sides.
Higgins, a young prospect who bagged over thirty strikes for East Thurrock United last season, has been recuperating from an operation over the summer and he played roughly an hour on his return as the Clarets performed admirably against a U’s side which mostly consisted of players with first-team experience.
Pennyfather welcomed Higgins to the fold and reinforced that, with time, he could be the provider of many goals.
“I think there were a lot of plus points that came out of the match,” he explained. “Ricky Modeste continues his good vein of form but I think the biggest plus was to see Sam on the pitch. He’s done a lot of rehab work with Chris Duffy, our Physio, and he showed what a good footballer he is. I think, given time and patience and some good guidance, he’s going to prove to be a super acquisition and hopefully get the goals we’re after.”
There was early defensive work for City to concentrate on when ‘keeper James Pullen was forced into a double save to thwart Sam Corcoran from close range after a lightning sprint from Simon Hackney down the left. At the other end, Simon Thomas latched onto a through ball and sent his arrowed drive inches over the bar from a difficult angle.
Colchester had an array of talented players on show and at times they displayed exactly why they’re capable of figuring in new boss John Ward’s plans with some slick football. On 23 minutes a deep cross found Odejayi at the far post who headed on into Pullen’s hands while the Clarets stopper then did well to block Corcoran’s next effort point-blank in a separate attack shortly afterwards, before another Odejayi header over.
With five minutes of the half remaining, Chelmsford worked themselves a clear opening when a threaded pass gave Thomas a sight of goal from just inside the box though a desperate lunge from a defender did enough to put him off and his side-footer could only find the body of goalkeeper Mark Cousins, keeping the scores level at half-time.
Beyond the break, Hackney also found himself with a shooting opportunity near the goal only to hit straight at Pullen who finger-tipped over the bar. But Colchester moved ahead on 53 minutes as Ashley Vincent’s cross brought a further header out of Odejayi which triggered a frantic scramble. The assistant referee on the Athletics Centre side indicated the ball had already crossed the line and a goal was awarded to the front man.
Just before the hour a venomous, in-swinging dead ball from Anthony Cook flew just wide of the far post and he also executed a brilliant one-two on the right before sending a ball across the face of goal which evaded all his team mates. But, other than a goalbound Daniel Lopez volley which was knocked wide for City and a touch of anger briefly boiling over between opposition players towards the end, that’s how the score stayed.
“I felt that overall for the 90 minutes it was the best we’ve played,” Pennyfather added. “We worked extremely hard and we were sharp around the pitch. It was a strong Colchester side and it was a good test for us. Now we want to start putting clean sheets together and keep moving the ball well as I think people are seeing in pre-season that we’re trying to pass it and we’re back with the ball on the floor, working from back to front.”
Blue Square Bet Premier side Wrexham held npower Championship club Preston North End at the Racecourse Ground.
Danny Mayor gave the visitors a 21st lead as the midfielder ran onto Billy Jones' pass to score on manager Darren Ferguson's return to Wrexham.
But Andy Mangan levelled for the hosts 10 minutes later after a quick break and his shot deflected in off Sean St Ledger.
Mangan missed two late chances for Wrexham as the game finished 1-1.
Wrexham`s league rivals Rushden & Diamonds hosted League Two Southend, with the game ending goalless, despite the visitors having the better of the chances.
Blue Square Bet South side Welling United won 4-2 away at newly-named Kent League neighbours Erith & Dartford Town.
Tommy Whitnell equalised after the hosts had taken a 15th minute lead. Lee Clarke then scored from the spot to give the Wings the lead and they added further goals from Sam Billings and Joe Healy.
Welling`s reprieved league rivals, Weston-super-Mare, went down to a 3-0 Woodspring Park defeat to League Two side Torquay United.
Chris Zebroski gave the Gulls a 31st minute lead that Elliott Benyon eventually added to on 63 minutes, with Martin Gritton making it 3-0 with 15 minutes remaining.
Another Blue Square Bet South outfit, Bromley, entertained their second high-profile opposition in a week, going down 2-0 to two late goals against a youthful Charlton Athletic side at Hayes Lane.
Charlton scored twice in the space of 2 minutes near the end through substitute Lewis Perkins and a Tamer Tuna penalty.
Goals either side of half time from new signing Matt Tubbs (pictured) saw fancied Blue Square Bet Premier side Crawley Town to an impressive win against a strong QPR team at the Broadfield Stadium.
