Friendly Round Up

Friendly Round Up

Just one week to go and for many of our League Two rivals it was the last day of pre-season matches for them. All the hype around Boston was the debut of Gazza as they ran out 4-0 winners over Newcastle’s 2nd/3rd string. Martin Carruthers netted a hat-trick whilst Mark Greaves scored the other.

The Memorial Stadium was witness to four goals as Bristol Rovers drew 2-2 with League One side Swindon. Junior Agogo and Jamie Forrester put Rovers 2-1 ahead in the first half after they had fallen behind within ten minutes of the start but Craig Hinton’s own goal ensured a share of the spoils.

Bury were 2-0 winners at Stalybridge Celtic thanks to goals from Brian Barry-Murphy and Dave Nugent. Cambridge gained a respectable 2-2 draw against Championship side Brighton despite leading 2-0 at the interval. Daniel Chillingworth and Danny Webb seemed to have given the home side a great chance of victory but goals from Hinshelwood and Molango before the hour mark pushed the game towards the draw.

There was no confidence booster for Darlington as they were hammered 5-0 by League One side Peterborough at home. Platt, Willock, Constantine, Jellyman and Nolan were on target for the Posh leaving 600 Darlington fans extremely disgruntled.

Kidderminster though were in much better shape as they won 4-1 away at Redditch United. Despite being a goal down inside three minutes, Harriers found themselves 3-1 up at the break as Hatswell and Rickards (2) were on target – Simon Brown netted the fourth five minutes into the second half.

Leyton Orient’s pre-season programme ended with a 2-2 draw at Dagenham. Lee Steele and Gary Alexander both put the O’s ahead but on both occasions they were pegged back by their non league opponents. Lincoln also drew 2-2, at home to Championship side Watford and, the Imps too twice squandered the lead. Marcus Richardson scored the first after 55 minutes and Gary Taylor-Fletcher after 81 but a 2-2 draw was what they had to settle for.

Chris Brandon’s goal was enough to give Huddersfield a win over Macclesfield at Moss Rose whilst Mansfield won 2-0 at Bath City thanks to goals from Joe O’Neill and Derek Asamoah.

Scott McGleish and Steve Morison scored the goals as title favourites Northampton won 2-0 at Underhill, home of Barnet. Potential signing of the summer Tommy Mooney was on target twice as Oxford drew 2-2 with Bournemouth at the Kassam Stadium. Welsh international Carl Fletcher was on target for the Cherries.

Rochdale were unable to claim the Rose Bowl as they went down 3-0 to Oldham whilst Rushden were unable to build on their Isle of Man success as they lost 2-0 against Willem II at Nene Park.

There was better news for Scunthorpe as they won 3-0 at Halifax, Michael Rankin, Andy Parton and Cliff Byrne on target for the Iron. Shrewsbury ended their pre-season with a 1-0 reverse against Bradford, Ben Muirhead grabbing the goal.

Southend played out a 0-0 draw against Grays Athletic whilst Wycombe were beaten 3-1 by FA Cup Runners Up Millwall – Ahmed grabbing the goal for Wanderers, scant consolation as they were 3-0 down at the time.

Finally, there was a good win for Yeovil, who triumphed 4-2 at one of last season’s promoted teams, Torquay United. The intriguingly named Bartosz Tarachulski grabbed a hat-trick whilst Adrian Cacares scored the other one.

Why not check out the latest Vetch Verdict on the BBC site?