Angels: 0

Brentford: 0

ALTHOUGH not much can be read into pre-season results, Saturday's creditable goalless draw against League One outfit Brentford gave Angels manager Tommy Warrilow a great sense of satisfaction.

The whole day could be considered a success with a decent sized crowd, 486, turning up to see how the new look Angels lined up for the first time and to welcome back former player Leon Legge to the Longmead, who played 24 minutes after coming off the bench. Brentford were suitably impressed and have indicated they plan to return to the Longmead in the future.

Angels played well in patches, especially in the second half, and six of the new signings made their debuts alongside the players that have remained from last season, so it will undoubtedly take a little time for everyone to gel.

"I was more than happy with what I saw on Saturday," Warrilow said. "It was our first match and I didn't want us to lose three or four nil, but I thought we more than held our own against a pretty much full strength Brentford side. The performance could have been better, but for the first match I was quite happy.

"In the first half, they had the lion's share of possession and we were kicking into a bit of wind so it was always going to be difficult.

"However, we came into it more in the second half and could have perhaps snatched a goal. It was good to give some minutes to some of the players on the bench and I thought they did well when they came on."

He praised the defence for their performance, including Scott Kinch, and said that this is an area he is looking to improve on after last season's somewhat disappointing goals against tally.

With Lee Worgan away on holiday, Warrilow called in a favour from his friend Gary Wilson at Eastbourne Borough, drafting in Seb Barton to fill the void. New signings Peter Hawkins, Danny Walder, Lee Browning, Jacob Mingle, Frannie Collin and Jake Beecroft all got a starting place. Jon Heath, Scott Kinch, Liam Harwood and Paul Booth made up the rest of the team.

Brentford were the better of the two teams in the opening half, with Booth and Collin, who had some elegant touches, nullified by the well drilled defence.

Barton saved well at his near post from a close range header from Myles Weston 10 minutes before the interval, but in truth Angels defended well as a unit throughout the match. Hawkins and Harwood striking up an almost instant understanding and Heath was his usual consistent self.

Angels picked up the tempo in the second half and nearly took the lead in the 53rd minute. Beecroft's corner from the left found an unmarked Harwood, but his goalbound header was blocked on the line.

Charlie MacDonald nearly profited from a generous decision from the linesman, he came back from an offside position, but his 68th minute shot, perhaps rightly, bounced off the post.

Kinch nearly scored a spectacular goal seven minutes later, when he let fly from 25-yards, however the effort went narrowly wide of the far post.

Warrilow made a number of changes in the second half with triallists Anthony Joseph, Ryan Rook – brother of prolific striker Carl making an appearance, along with Paul Semeluka – impressive with his distribution. Jack Brivio and Matt Hollyoak all got minutes to impress.

Kirk Watts came on and treated the crowd to a show – beating his full-back on several occasions, but Sonny Miles, who was nursing a jaw injury, was not risked.

Angels played two pre-season friendlies on Tuesday and Wednesday. Frannie Collin scored the goal in the 1-1 draw with VCD Athletic on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Angels' Reserves drew 0-0 with Erith & Dartford Town.

Tomorrow (Saturday), Angels welcome Eastbourne Borough to the Longmead and play Rusthall in the George Piper Courier Cup at the Culverden. Both matches kick-off at 3pm.

In other news, Angels begin their Ryman Premier League campaign away at Billericay Town on August 21 and have their first home game the following Tuesday when they host newly promoted Bury Town.