Pre-season ends with another draw.

We ended our hectic pre-season programme with a rather dull and disappointing goalless draw at the Loop Meadow, although we were not helped by two early injuries to players. Isaac Osei-Tutu was struck in the face by the ball, and although he soon regained his feet, he was clearly dazed and had to be helped off and was replaced by Allen Bossman. Soon afterwards Nat Jarvis had a shot deflected wide off a defender, but he suffered a muscle tweak and was replaced by Mark Draycott, which seemed to be a wise precaution.
There were few goal-scoring chances although Paul Strudley twice made good saves when the home side threatened, and the first half ended goalless as the teams cancelled each other out with some solid defending and the second half proceded in a similar fashion.Near the end Marvin Martin was sent off for a fierce tackle on Allen Bossman, perhaps a harsh decision in a friendly match, although probably the inevitable decision in a league match.
Overall, the friendly results have been disappointing, but will count for nothing when the season starts in earnest next weekend with a difficult game at Paulton Rovers, followed by a home game with Poole Town who led the league for much of the season before being pipped by Corby in the final league game of the season. and then lost to St.Neots in the play-offs.

I assume that you will need early copy for the Poole game, now that we have opted for Monday midweek fixtures. Copy before the Saturday games will of course mean the the Monday programmes will be rather out-of-date..when they appear. Please et me know the deadline. Ron