Positives taken from Saints test (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Positives taken from Saints test

3:00pm Monday 14th July 2008

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Basingstoke Town 2
Southampton XI 5

A STRONG Southampton side gave Basingstoke Town a tough match in their opening pre-season friendly -striker David McGoldrick hitting a hat-trick as the Championship outfit ran out comfortable winners at the Camrose on Saturday.

Town took an early lead through striker James Faulkner, but were soon pegged back by a Saints team featuring Bartosz Bialkowski, Bradley Wright-Phillips and England under-21 international Andrew Surman.

The visitors took a 2-1 lead into half-time and added another three goals before the hour mark. Basingstoke then got back into the match, but were only able to score once more, Matt Warner slamming the ball home from the penalty spot.

Town manager Frank Gray watched his first game in charge from the stands and was pleased by the performance put in by his team, which featured a number of trialists.

"It was a good workout," he said. "Southampton were always going to have a lot of possession, but I think we handled them well and there were a lot of positives.

"A lot of players have come in on trial and there will be a few more coming in over the next few weeks for me to look at. A number of the lads impressed me today, though, which is a good start.

"We have only had two training sessions and the most important thing is to get fitness and match fitness into the players. That is the way it will be for the rest of the pre-season games, right up until August 9."

Click here to see a photo gallery containing pictures taken at the match.

The match kicked off 15 minutes late as 1,120 people made their way through the turnstiles but, when it did begin, the Basingstoke starting 11 featured six men who played for the club last season.

Joe Dolan, Jason Bristow and Rob Watkins took up their usual places in defence, with Matt Warner on the left wing and Sean Hankin employed in the centre of midfield. The rest of the side was made up of trialists, including a pair of Portuguese midfielders.

Striker James Taylor was not in action after damaging his collarbone during training. He is expected to be out for a couple of weeks, while midfielder Ben Wells has signed for Weston-super-Mare.

"We had come to an agreement with Ben but he has decided to go to Weston," Gray explained. "I am disappointed because I thought we had an agreement but that's life."

McGoldrick missed a sitter eight minutes in when he skied over the bar from six yards out and it was Basingstoke who opened the scoring shortly after.

Saints 'keeper Bialkowski flapped at a Warner corner and, following a scramble, the ball was headed home by Faulkner, a 20-year-old striker who scored 15 goals in 25 games for Aylesbury United last season.

This seemed to spark Southampton into life and, having twice forced good saves out of Town 'keeper Ross Ketteridge, they equalised just before the half-hour mark, Adam Lallana producing a fine left-foot strike from the edge of the area.

Siddy Jombatti and Warner were both denied by Bialkowski before McGoldrick opened his account with a header from a fine Jeffrey Imudia cross to put Southampton ahead five minutes before the break.

Saints came out for the second half looking like they meant business and scored three times in the space of 15 minutes to put the game beyond Basingstoke.

Wright-Phillips got the first, cutting in from the right, beating Rob Watkins and blasting past replacement 'keeper Tom Taylor, before McGoldrick took centre stage, poking home a low Surman cross from close range and then curling a free-kick over the Basingstoke wall to complete his hat-trick.

Basingstoke substitute strikers Carl Gibbs and David Tarpey failed to make the most of decent opportunities as Town got more into the game but they did score a second goal after 70 minutes, Warner converting from 12 yards after Gibbs had been brought down by Wayne Thomas.

More substitutions disrupted the flow of the game after this and the score remained the same until the final whistle, Tarpey missing the best chance of the closing stages, shooting just wide after being put through by Gibbs.

Of the trialists on show, right-back Aiden Lewis and strikers Faulkner and Phil Ruggles caught the eye, while Jidi Ogunbote made a good impression during a second-half cameo on the right wing.

Basingstoke Town: Ross Ketteridge (sub Tom Taylor 45min), Aiden Lewis (sub Marc Vockins 78min), Rob Watkins (sub Scott Perkins 82min), Jason Bristow, Joe Dolan, Sean Hankin (sub Jidi Ogunbote 65min), Ruddi (sub Andy Savage 45min), Siddy Jombatti (sub Scott Murphy 82min), James Faulkner (sub David Tarpey 45min), Phil Ruddles (sub Carl Gibbs 45min), Matt Warner (sub Luke Williams 74min) Southampton: Bartosz Bialkowski (sub Tommy Forecast 45min), Jeffrey Imudia (sub Kyle Davies 84min), Wayne Thomas, Lloyd James (sub Callum McNish 78min), Morgan Schneiderlin, Andrew Surman, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Simon Gillett (sub Aaran Ricine 78min), David McGoldrick (sub Jamie White 65min), Adam Lallana, Lee Holmes Attendance: 1,120

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