Pre-season round-up: Slough Town defeat Virginia Water with youthful line-up

Burnham score in Saturday’s 6-2 friendly win over London Samurai Rovers at the 1878 Stadium. Photo: Paul Butler/Burnham FC

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Several teams kicked off their pre-season friendly matches this weekend, with Slough Town getting the better of Virginia Water with a 3-1 victory at Arbour Park on Friday evening.

A few of the club’s new summer signings were given a run out in warm evening sunshine, alongside six trialists, which manager Scott Davies has high hopes for given the recent success of David Ogbonna and Leon Parillon, who joined the club as trialists.

Some of them grasped their opportunity with Trialist F scoring a brace and setting up Slough’s third.

Davies took the opportunity to assess a youthful and experimental side against Virginia, with the Rebels line-up also featuring players from the club’s Elite Development Squad (EDS).

Despite fielding a youthful side, the Rebels dominated on their own patch with Dan Roth’s early strike deflected behind for a corner.

New signing Tarik Gidaree also looked lively during the first half and came closest to scoring when his low drive was well saved by Virginia Water’s keeper.

Josh Adepoju and Jaiden Drakes-Thomas both had shots saved by the visitors as Slough continued to be thwarted through till the break.

Wholesale changes followed as Davies freshened up the entire line-up in their first pre-season match. More academy prospects and trialists were introduced and the home side’s luck changed six minutes into the half when a free kick was swept home by Trialist F.

Virginia Water equalised in the 67th minute with an equally impressive curling strike but Slough finished the stronger - despite having only been in training since Tuesday. Trialist F fired home a second goal from range to restore their lead in the 84th minute and then played a key role in the side’s third which was calmly slotted home late on after a neat cut back.

Slough will likely play a few more of their summer signings and senior players in Tuesday’s home game against Southall at Arbour Park (7.45pm kick-off).

Marlow may have been relegated from the Southern League Premier South last season following a torrid campaign, but they began their friendly fixtures with a convincing 6-0 win over Woodley United on Saturday.

The Blues, who are back in action at Aldermaston tomorrow evening (Tuesday), have also announced a few new signings and players retained from last season at step 3.

Having announced Mitch Parker being retained last month, the Blues have also managed to keep hold of club captain Chris Ovenden, last season’s top goalscorer Naheer Nawaf and midfielder Josh Masters.

Goalkeeper Ryan North - who is part of Slough Town’s Development squad - has also been signed from Leverstock Green.

Manager Mark Bartley said: “A young man with a big future ahead of him! Huge thanks to Slough Town for trusting us to support his development.”

The Blues have also signed 21-year-old defender Pelumi Maxwell who previously played for North Leigh, and midfielder Ezekiel Williams who played for FC Romania last season.

On Pelumi, Bartley said: “He is a tenacious defender who enjoys defending.

“Nearly joined up with us ahead of the last campaign, but now the timing is right, and I’m extremely pleased to have him on board.”

On Ezekiel, he said: “Someone who trained with us towards the end of last season and really impressed. Energetic midfielder who uses the ball extremely well. Looking forward to working with him this year.”

New signing Jordan Antonio-Brown scored a couple of goals as Burnham defeated London Samurai Rovers 6-2 in pre-season this weekend.

Antonio-Brown netted the first two goals before a trialist scored the hosts third to make it 3-0 at half-time.

Mo and Omar Bakali’s side scored three more in the second half to complete a comfortable victory.

Holyport and Flackwell Heath have also resumed pre-season training and kick off their warm-up matches this week.

The Heathens host National League South side Maidenhead United at Wilks Park tomorrow evening (7.30pm kick-off) while Port’s new management team will run the rule over their squad for the first time in a match situation tomorrow when they play Berks County at Furze Platt (7pm kick-off).

Holyport’s new league rivals Windsor & Eton played their first friendly against Deportivo Galicia on Saturday and visit Dial Square tomorrow evening (Tuesday).

The friendly will take place at Surrey Sports Park (floodlight 3G pitch), Richard Meyjes Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7AD.