A young Stevenage reserves side beat Southend U23s 3-0 at Bragbury End on Tuesday afternoon.
The Boro team was made up of First Team players in need of minutes, Academy youngsters and a few trialists too.
Southend brought a predominently U23s team although there were also appearances for a number of First Team players.
Conlon, Wade-Slater, Vancooten, Ferry, Turgott and Liburd all started the game and it was Liburd and Ferry who got Stevenage off to a 2-0 lead early in the game.
Jamie Gray scored the third just after the break and despite a high number of changes in the second half, the players stood firm to keep their clean sheet and come out with a convincing win.
Speaking to StevenageFC.com after the game, First Team Coach/Goalkeeper Chris Day gave his reaction.
“Everyone showed a great attitude. Myself, I was particularly delighted with the two young goalkeepers keeping a clean sheet.
“Ryan coming in after a long lay-off and he swept up very well first half, whilst Harry was brave second half and made a couple of very good saves.
“Good for the back-line too, seeing a game out, keeping a clean-sheet and taking pride in that.
“Looking at the state of the game, the boys were reasonably clinical going forward.
“Although I felt we had the better of the play, chances were quite even so to show a ruthlessness in one box and a resilience in the other, if you can embed that into a football club at any level, you won’t go too far wrong.”
With an eye to Saturday’s home game against Grimsby, Chris Day says that the more senior players involved showed a great attitude.
“It is minutes in the bank and they are role models to the rest of the lads. In games like this, if they set a good standard, the youngsters usually follow, even though they are still young themselves.
“I thought James Ferry did particularly well in midfield and likewise for Tom Conlon to get some minutes in the bank and captain the team. He took responsibility, he made sure his voice was heard and looked after the younger lads in the team.
“He set the standard to the team and everyone watching. He led by example and the great thing is, Tom has done brilliantly well to get back to this stage and he just needs to continue working hard.
“Today will certainly give Darren a few selection headaches for the weekend and that is what you want.”
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