Stevenage's pre-season campaign continues with a positive test against Sky Bet League Two opposition Colchester United...
Stevenage returned to The Premier Plus Stadium in St Neots for their biggest test of pre-season so far, coming up against League Two side Colchester United. Manager, Steve Evans, opted for a back five of Kane Smith, Luther James-Wildin, Nathan Thompson, Carl Piergianni, Dan Butler to start the game, in front of goalkeeper Taye Ashby-Hammond.
Ben Thompson, Nick Freeman and a trialist made up the midfield three behind Jamie Reid and Jordan Roberts leading the line. Stevenage were dominant for the most part, with some impressive passages of play on display as they looked to break down the Colchester defence.
Nick Freeman appeared to be Boro’s danger man from midfield, constantly looking to drive forward with the ball and pick out one of the attackers. He even had a couple of chances on goal himself, forcing Colchester’s Sam Hornby to get down and deny.
Despite Boro largely being on the front foot, it was their opponents, Colchester who struck first. Jayden Fevrier picked the ball up on the edge of the area before sending a curling effort into the bottom right corner.
Just three minutes later though, Stevenage deservedly found the back of the net. It was Jordan Roberts who saw an opportunity from just outside the area as his fierce effort found its way into the top right corner to level the scoring.
At half-time, Steve Evans made just one change, with Trialist A making way for Louis Thompson. Boro started the second half the way they played the first, high in intensity and on the front foot.
There were a couple of goalmouth scrambles in the early stages of the second half for Stevenage, but Colchester defended well, and the score remained level.
Just after the hour mark, Evans made six changes. Taye Ashby-Hammond, Dan Butler, Nathan Thompson, Nick Freeman, Jordan Roberts and Ben Thompson were replaced by Jake Forster-Caskey, David Hicks, Alex Macdonald and three trialists.
Whilst the second half saw fewer chances for both sides, it remained a solid test for Evans’ men who were facing Football League opposition for the first time this season.
Alex Macdonald came agonisingly close to giving his side the lead with fifteen minutes to go, but his effort was smartly saved by Colchester’s Owen Goodman.
The final fifteen remained competitive, but with no goals to show for it as the referee blew his final whistle. It was a good pre-season test for Stevenage who now look ahead to Saturday’s home clash with Championship side Ipswich Town.
Attendance: 301