Saints and Inverman play out competitive pre-season friendly

Match Report

The next stop in The New Saints’ pre-season campaign took them to Northern Ireland, where they faced Larne in their latest pre-season friendly.

After discovering earlier in the day that KF Shkëndija would be their UEFA Champions League opponents, the match at Inver Park provided another opportunity to get more minutes into the tank ahead of that important fixture.

It was the home side who had the better of the game in the early stages, and Craig Harrison’s side needed to remain alert to prevent their hosts from making the breakthrough.

Zack Clarke had his side’s first chance with 16 minutes on the clock but was denied by the goalkeeper, before Rohan Ferguson came to his side’s rescue again to prevent Mark Randall from scoring an own goal.

After an evenly matched opening half, there was nothing to separate the two sides, and they went into the half-time break with the score at 0-0.

Nine minutes into the second-half, however, the deadlock was finally broken, with Larne substitute Josh Kee the man on target.

With head coach Harrison making wholesale changes just before the hour mark, it gave more of the squad valuable game time, and the substitutions had an immediate impact on the scoreline.

Just three minutes after his introduction, last season’s Golden Boot winner Aramide Oteh wasted no time in making his mark on the game, as he curled beyond the goalkeeper to place the ball into the far corner.

It wasn’t long before the home side retook the lead, however, as Dan Bent swept home a well-worked breakaway from the edge of the six-yard box.

With just nine minutes remaining, it looked like the Saints were heading for their first pre-season defeat, but after some good work down the left from Ryan Brobbel, Ken Charles headed an equaliser past the goalkeeper at the near post.

The match ended level at Inver Park, and it was a useful exercise for both sides as they prepare for their respective European campaigns.

Starting line-up: Trialist (Thompson 58), Trialist (Smith 58), Astles (Marshall 70), McGahey (Bodenham 46), Doforo (Redmond 58), Holden (Clark 58), Canavan (D. Williams 58), Nadin (Lock 58), Bradley (Brobbel 58), J. Williams (Oteh 58), Clarke (Charles 58)