Brentwood Town opened their pre-season campaign with a 3-2 victory away to Saffron Walden Town.
The game provided an opportunity for Blues fans to see new signings Benas Vaivada and Rob Harvey in action, whilst Brentwood Town Under 18s EJA product Harry Elsey also got the opportunity to showcase himself, with the young defender getting his first run out with the senior side.
It wasn’t an ideal start for Keith Rowland’s side, going 2-0 down after 24 minutes. The hosts opened the scoring from close range with 10 minutes played. Despite goalkeeper Melvin Minter tipping a header onto the post, the Saffron Walden forward was able to tap home the rebound. The Bloods then doubled their lead in the 24th minute, capitalising on a loose pass outside the box and finishing with a low strike past Minter.
Brentwood halved the deficit in the 37th minute, with Shad Ngandu coolly converting from the penalty spot after Jon Nzengo was fouled in the box.
The Blues trailed 2-1 at half time and Keith Rowland made five changes, with Harvey, Agyakwa, Jeremiah, Freeman and Scales replacing Nzengo, Stephen, Hogan, Ngandu and Sykes. Vaivada was then replaced by Olukolu after 57 minutes, having looked lively on his first outing in a Brentwood Town shirt.
Brentwood continued to push for the equaliser, and created plenty of chances, including Andy Freeman heading just wide from a corner. Sam Jeremiah had a few good opportunities as well, firing just over the bar after a clever run; whilst also forcing the Saffron Walden ‘keeper into a great save from close range.
Eventually the Blues found the equaliser, courtesy of a wonderful strike by Agyakwa. The attacker levelled the score with a curling effort into the top corner from around 25 yards out.
The Blues finally took a well deserved lead in the 86th minute, with Jeremiah scoring a screamer of his own. In similar fashion to Agyakwa, Jeremiah also curled one in from distance to put Brentwood ahead.
The Blues held out for a 3-2 win in their first Pre-season friendly. Speaking post match, midfielder Connor Hogan was delighted to start with a win. "We’ve hit the ground running and have had a solid start to Pre-season. It’s been a lot of hard work and I thought that showed towards the end of the game. We showed our quality and fitness levels to unpick them and get the win".
The Blues' next Pre-season tie is away to Wingate & Finchley on Tuesday 16th July (19:45 KO) at The Football Pad, Barnet, EN9 2DN.
Words by Adam Farmer
