This was Kevin's report from Sunday...
"A nice bright morning saw the Saints travel to Knaphill for their first friendly of the season. With an enlarged squad following numerous additions it was a chance to see how the new guys fitted in with the rest of last years squad. Keeping the same formation we started with Josh, Joe R, Ben, Martin and Ross at the back with Julien, Mike Donne, Connor Duke, Alex M and Ollie in the middle with Tom up front. It took a while to get going but we soon settled and a crunching tackle by Ross fed the ball to Tom who in turn sent Julien through and it was 1-0 Saints. Whilst it was still 1-0 Knaphill had a couple of half chances but Josh kept them out. A few changes saw Matt Burton, Alex Wells, Nathan Barnes and Christian come on. Minutes later Alex W deftly flicked in a corner to make it 2-0. But credit to Knaphill they came back at us and scored a well taken goal that gave Josh no chance. Still Saints took charge again and another well worked passing move between Julien and Tom R soon restored the two goal advantage with Tom burying his shot past the 'keeper. This then led to the worst passage of defending I have ever seen from a Saints team when they allowed Knaphill from the kick off to run on to goal and put his shot past Josh. Not one Saints player tried to make a tackle and this must not ever happen again!!
The second half was a little less frantic with substitutions from both sides disturbing the game but Saints looked in control and Josh only had to make two saves of note. Our defending was a little tighter but a couple of players are still diving in instead of staying on their feet. The new lads showed up well as I changed their positions and it was Joe R who finished a neat move down the left again started by Ross. Not to be outdone Tom R came back on and outdid his brother by slotting his second and Saints fifth.
Not a bad first match, but we need to be a touch quicker with our passing, being aware of what our team mates are doing and taking responsibility for covering or tracking back. The new lads, Connor, Mike D, Joe R, Matt & Alex W all did well - Mike Donne really impressed. The regular squad players did what I know they are capable of and just need to maintain this level and that includes Nathan Barnes who again looked like he has never been away. However my man of the match was Ross Pearn... with a tan he could be our Ashley Cole!!!" (Ed's note - and that's supposed to be a compliment???)
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