Brentwood Town kicked off their pre-season with a victory under new boss Dean Holdsworth after a 2-0 win over a Dagenham and Redbridge XI at the Brentwood Arena.
Two first half goals was the difference for the home side as retainee Robbie Rees scored the opener for ‘The Blues’ from a set piece. New signing Nick Symons who has had a previous spell at the club grabbed the second with a strike just outside the box.
New signings that featured in the match was striker Liam Hope from Enfield, Sam Letchmere from local rivals Billericay Town, midfielder Mitch Hahn from Cheshunt and assistant manager Tarkan Mustafa at right back.
Brentwood took an early lead 15 minutes in as a free-kick by Rees 30 yards out was whipped in deep and was spilled by the Dagenham keeper Lewis Moore into his own net.
‘The Blues’ continued their lively start as the ball broke to new recruit Hahn whose strike was well saved this time by Moore.
A Throw in by Brentwood was headed goalwards by Captain Martyn Stokes but was parried away for a corner by Moore. The resulting corner was put on a plate for Liam Hope but his header across goal went just wide.
34 minutes in ‘The Daggers’ showed their threat going forward as Reeco Hackett-Fairchild’s header inside the box was straight at the Brentwood keeper Martyn Guest.
Goalscorer Rees was substituted 38 minutes in after a knock and was replaced by Jordan Holdsworth.
Brentwood doubled their lead 38 minutes in as the ball was half cleared to the edge of the box for new signing Symons to lash his shot, from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
In the second half ‘The Daggers’ made a few changes to their side and as the half went on Brentwood made several changes which impacted on the second half.
With 17 minutes to go a corner for Brentwood was headed back into the box by substitute Andrew Freeman and was turned in by Ryan O’Rawe but was ruled out for offside.
Symons was awarded Man of the Match as Brentwood now look to their next test before the start of the season Colchester United XI on July 14th.
Brentwood Town Lineup: 1 Martyn Guest (76), 5 Ryan O’Rawe, 6 Martyn Stokes © (83), 3 Louis Baucutt (76), 2 Tarkan Mustafa (57), 7 Sam Letchmere (67), Mitch Hahn (57), Nicky Symons (62), 11 Robbie Rees (38), Shad Ngandu (67), 9 Liam Hope (62)
Players that featured: GK Tim Pitman (76), Matt Gill (62), Jordan Holdsworth (38), Andrew Freeman (57), Daryl Robson (67) Harrison Yates, Dave Collins, Tom Bradshaw, Richie Jones
Dagenham and Redbridge XI: Lewis Moore, Tyler McCarthy, Jimmy Nottage, Jimmy Shepard, David Nicol, Darren Foxley, Kai Heather, Henry Burnett, Reeco Hackett-Fairchild, Alfie Moulder, Jodi Jones
Attendance: 117
Players Retained: Ryan O’Rawe, Martin Stokes ©, Louis Baucutt, Robbie Rees, Shad Ngandu, Daryl Robson, Tom Richardson, Connor Hogan, Andrew Freeman, Sherwin Stanley
Players Released: Danny Dafter, Alex Akrofi (Maidstone), Jack Gardner (Bowers & Pitsea), Sam Bantick (Concord Rangers), Christian Mbulu, James Love, Ollie Bowles (Loaned from Concord Rangers to AFC Sudbury)
Dean Holdsworth Interview:
