Craig Brown fielded two trialists in this first outing of the season. Chris Shuker, a diminutive winger formerly of Tranmere, and Corlos Gazapo a tall 25 year old Spanish striker.
As expected we dominated the opening period but no early goal came our way. Murphy was just wide following a corner but a knock forced his replacement by Sutton after twenty minutes.
The game soon degenerated into the usual pre-season fare and there was little to excite the few hundred fans (probably the away supporters had the balance). We almost suffered an embarrassment just after the half hour when a Reynolds error gave possession to the home side. The ball was fed to Malloy but he spared our blushes with a high effort.
A corner from Forbes five minutes before the break was met by Craigan and threatened. Lasley followed up and hit the woodwork. Any spies from Iceland would have little to report.
The second half provided better fare. Unusually in these pre-season affairs, we made no half time substitutions.
The goals started to come within minutes of the restart. Sutton pounced on the loose ball after Gazapo’s effort was blocked to open our account. Forbes followed that up with one of his specials and Lasley slammed home a 25 yard effort for a three goal lead.
New ‘keeper Randolph was beaten by a deflection to give Brechin a consolation with fifteen minutes remaining.
The wee winger might deserve another look by all accounts but the feeling in the travelling support was that Gazapo didn’t impress. Still, it’s early days……
Team: Randolph, Saunders, Hammell, Reynolds, Craigan, Forbes, Shuker, Jennings, Murphy, Lasley, Gazapo