Adam firing on
ADAM Thomas again starred as County earned a third successive pre-season win on Saturday, easing past National League North side Curzon Ashton 2-0 at Edgeley Park.
The comfortable win also brought about a third successive clean sheet for Jim Gannon’s side, as The Hatters’ preparations for the National League season continued this week.
Striker Alex Reid grabbed his second goal in as many Edgeley Park outings, before the man in form Thomas completed the scoring on the stroke of half-time, in a fixture which also saw the return of club legend Paul Turnbull with his new Curzon side.
Gannon opted for six changes to the side which eased past Colne by the same score-line the Saturday before, with newly signed goalkeeper Josh Barnes making his first start for the club.
Gannon also opted for a back three as The Hatters continue to establish a ‘strongest’ side ahead of the new campaign, with the versatile James Jennings slotting in as the left-sided centre-half alongside Ash Palmer and Liam Hogan – with young centre-back Jamie Stott missing.through injury.
Another notable absentee was new boy Macauley Southam-Hales, who missed out through a knock after joining from Fleetwood Town for an undisclosed fee the week prior.
In Southam-Hales’ absence, Sam Minihan started as the right wingback, with the impressive Mark Kitching on the opposite flank.
And it was Kitching, signed earlier in the summer from National
League rivals Hartlepool Utd, who saw the first big chance of proceedings come and go, as he raced clear at the Railway End and clipped over the crossbar from the edge of the area, after good buildup play by striker Nyal Bell.
County did take the lead early on, however, when former Fylde forward Reid took advantage of an under- hit back-pass to round goalkeeper Cam Mason and slot into the empty net.
Despite a well-hit freekick by former County skipper Turnbull which was well-held by Barnes at the Cheadle End, County continued to dominate in the final third – with Minihan seeing his close-range effort saved from a tight angle, before one of the standout performers in Kitching saw his angled drive cannon off the crossbar.
Exactly seven days after the same feat at Colne, however, Adam Thomas doubled County’s lead bang on half-time – as the right winger cut in from the left after collecting Kitching’s cross, and rolled past Mason at the near post.
Earlier in pre-season, Gannon regularly made wholesale changes at the interval – but as the season draws closer, the County boss has looked more and more to his established first-team squad to play out the fixture – and this proved no different, as County resumed for the secondhalf with just one change in place.
Bell was replaced by big striker Richie Bennett, who joined The Hatters from Port Vale for an undisclosed fee but played just once before the coronavirus lockdown in March.
And it was Bennett burst straight into the action after the restart, racing down the right before cutting back for Reid to clip past the post via a healthy deflection.
Much of the secondhalf proved to be a quiet affair, with substitute Connor Jennings going closest to applying the polish to a comfortable win when his spectacular
volley flew inches past the post from a clever John Rooney flick.
Left-sided forward Jordan Williams entered the fray late on, and the former Fylde man fired well wide of the near post from a decent position, before County’s largely comfortable win was confirmed with the full-time whistle.
Gannon’s side were set to travel to Guiseley on Tuesday evening for their next pre-season fixture as the Express went to print, before a trip to National League North promotion hopefuls York City this coming Saturday (19th).
The National League season starts on the 3rd October for The Hatters with a long trip to Torquay Utd, before Gannon and company host Halifax on Tuesday 6th October – where, despite the government’s recent announcement on new restrictions, the National League are “confident” of spectators finally retuning to Edgeley Park at long last.