The trialist Hereford United side played virtually the entirely of their game with lower tier team Droylsden against 10 men, and struggled defensively in a 5-5 draw.
With two weeks to go to the start of the new season, and no further pre-season games announced, the trialist XI took to the field in last season's home kit, still bearing the Conference logos, rather than a new kit that had been claimed to be ready.
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| Pics - Bryan Pace (Twitter) |
While the club's official Twitter posted pictures of the team eating a pre-match 'traditional Islamic' meal - a tweet that caused a storm due to Ramadan taking place currently - having not bothered to travel to the game, it was left to Droylsden sources to report on the actual scoreline.
The Bloods endured a 47 game winless run lasting nearly a year to this March, and had suffered two straight relegations. They fielded over 100 players last season, and ended up with a zero playing budget due to attendances collapsing at the Butchers Arms ground. They broke their winless run in front of just 135 spectators, barely a third of their average attendance in the season before.
Despite having a man sent off in the opening minutes, the Bloods raced into a 2-0 lead through a Ciaran Kilheeney double before the trialist side pulled one back through "Obi". The hosts scored a third through captain Ben Deegan before "Bilal" pulled one back and, after a series of changes for the Evo-Stik Division 1 side, "Deqin" netted a third for the trialists.
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| Faces, but no names |
Sub Sefton Gonzalez then netted a rebound from the spot, the second penalty of the game for Droylsden, to make it 4-3 before, in the final few minutes, a controversial goal saw "Deqin" net again for 4-4 before the trialist side took the lead for the first time with "Deqin" netting for 5-4.
In the dying moments a diving header saw the hosts claim a 5-5 draw through sub Chris Ahmadi.