So far this summer the Yellows have had three pre-season friendlies away from home at Cullompton, Barnstaple & Bideford and the main emphasis has been on player fitness, performance and progress over results. Having said that, there will be a slight tinge of satisfaction having won all three.
With several new faces amongst the ranks as well as some trialists, the new look Yellows have used their warm up matches to good effect so far and have scored 13 and conceded just two before the visit of Exeter City.
At Cullompton the Yellows were three goals up at the break and come the final whistle they’d added three more. Chris Shephard opened the scoring, Alex Fletcher added a brace, Jordan Bastin and Levi Landricombe got in on the act after coming off the bench at half time before a more than fortunate sixth goal eventually arrived before the end of the contest.
Barnstaple at Mill Road was next and although a fairly even contest was played out, the Yellows ran home five more goals. Jordan Bastin, Chris Shephard, Jared Lewington and the first of two own goals had the Yellows four goals up, Nathan Cooper scored for Barnstaple with only a couple of minutes left to play before the final kick of the match saw a second own goal of the night from the hosts.
Match number three and Bideford away which included the long awaited return of fans, who were treated to an excellent match and a superb winning goal. Ryan Turner struck for the hosts just a few minutes before the interval but spurred on after falling behind, Jared Lewington restored parity with almost the last action of the first half and summer signing Ed Butchers sweetly struck 25 yard effort on the hour mark proved decisive.
The Yellows now look ahead to Tuesday evening at home to Exeter City before travelling to Plymouth on Saturday to take on Elburton Villa.