TUFC 3
(Wright, 49′, Holman, 56′, Player A, 78′)
Chippenham Town 0
United ran out comfortable winners in their penultimate pre-season friendly, as they beat Chippenham Town 3-0 at Plainmoor.
Danny Wright notched his third goal of the warm-up campaign to put his side ahead just after the restart, with his freshly-signed strike partner Dan Holman doubling the advantage shortly after, before an excellent strike from Player A rounded off the victory in style.
With United announcing the dual signing of both Chiori Johnson and Holman just before kick-off, manager Gary Johnson named both in the squad, with Holman starting, whilst the Gaffer’s namesake took his place amongst the replacements.
The Gulls’ new striker wasted little time trying to impress the Yellow Army, with the former Cheltenham man striking the crossbar twice with stinging efforts inside the first ten minutes.
Thereafter, it was the men in yellow who continued to enjoy the bulk of possession, and after some indecision in the visiting backline it was Holman again who was presented with a chance from the edge of the box, however on this occasion, his rising drive was just a little too high to trouble the woodwork.
Armani Little’s effort from 25 yards shortly after suffered a similar fate, however it appeared to be only a matter of time before the hosts would break the deadlock.
In the face of almost constant pressure though, the scores remained level up at the halfway stage.
That all changed within four minutes of things getting back underway.
Keelan O’Connell found himself in enough space down the left wing to go on a run down the touchline before looking up and planting the ball perfectly onto the head of Wright at the back post, who headed past Chippenham’s trialist goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
Seven minutes later, and the lead was doubled – with O’Connell once again involved.
After the former Bournemouth winger’s persistence left Town’s right-back with no other option than to pass the ball backwards, Holman was quick to seize upon the opportunity by charging down a hasty clearance from the visiting glovesman, before producing a sublime chip from a narrow angle to lift the ball into the back of the net.
The introduction of the intriguely-named Player A for the last half-hour had already brought another dimension to proceedings, before he produced a remarkable moment of individual brilliance with twelve minutes remaining.
Seizing upon a loose ball in midfield, he looked up before sending a rocket of a shot into the roof of the net from 30 yards, as United began to pull well clear.
There will no doubt be tougher challenges ahead for Johnson’s men, however as those present will testify, things are beginning to look very interesting, following a display which Torquay bossed from start to finish.
With the start of the season getting ever closer, United’s final pre-season friendly takes place on Tuesday evening, as Bournemouth U23s head to Plainmoor for a 7.45pm kick-off.
TUFC: 1. Mark Halstead, 2. Ben Wynter, 4. Tom Lapslie (11. Jake Andrews, 67′), 5. Ali Omar, 9. Danny Wright, 10. Armani Little (c), 15. Dan Holman (17. Player A, 57′), 16. Keelan O’Connell (3. Dan Martin, 60′), 19. Klaidi Lolos (14. Chiroi Johnson, 70′), 21. Dean Moxey (26. Louie Slough, 82′), 31. Joe Lewis.
SUBS NOT USED: 23. Marcin Brzozowski (GK), 20. Scott Piper, 22. Alex Moyse.
Attendance: 621