THE first friendly of a new season should never be paid too much attention but Albion's loyal followers left Woodside Road on Saturday happy that they had seen a resounding 4-0 win in which there were, at least, some encouraging signs.

These came largely in the performances of some of the triallists Mark McGhee is looking at, and the hint of a fledgling 'Little and Large' striking partnership.

The first half XI gave the Albion a 1-0 interval lead courtesy of a Dean Hammond penalty after Stephane Biakolo was upended in the box. Biakolo gave some glimpses of the sort of hold-up play our forwards have lacked.

Second half left back Zoumana Bagayoko was arguably the pick of the bunch of triallists, showing pace, aggression and composure.

The 2nd half XI looked altogether more lively, with the tall new striker Alex Revell looking the part, and scoring on his debut, and Jake Robinson looking more like the player he was when he first broke into the Albion first team, notching two goals.

One was a fine glance from Martin Brittain's right-wing cross and the other a quality solo effort when Worthing played in vain for offside.

Worthing offered little genuine resistance, although a first half hack by Michel Kuipers earned a penalty which was blazed wide and the bar was rattled later in the same period.

Brittain looked like he could certainly offer something with his crossing ability, and it would be good to see a bit more of Biakolo and Bagayoko.

Doug Loft was disappointing on the left of midfield in the second half and Colin Kazim-Richards didn't make much impression in the first.

Several of the younger players on show - like Scott Chamberlain and Dean Cox - could find themselves playing on loan with non-League teams rather than being genuine contenders for first team duty.

Nick Turrell

Labels: Friendly, Nick Turrell