Gary Brabin was pleased with Tuesday's opening pre-season friendly at Ely City. Trialists Grant Robbins and Tyrone Amory were on target in the first half and Chris Holroyd netted late on as the increasingly heavy rain had an effect on proceedings.

"I was delighted with the attitude of the lads; we've had quite a few training sessions as well so they've worked hard," said the manager.

"I was delighted with Ely as well - they were good competition and played in good spirits. It was competitive without being silly so I was delighted with their attitude as well and they were good opponents. It was a good test for us."

All of the players played 45 minutes, apart from first year pro Darryl Coakley who played 90 minutes in the centre of defence and was captain for the night, and Courtney Pitt who replaced Anthony Tonkin in the first half and played the rest of the game.

"We've tried to split it up a bit tonight; they worked hard this morning in training and I've told our lads that it was important we did the right things tonight, and I think we did," said Brabin.

"We've got a few new faces in and we've tried to give everyone 45 minutes, but unfortunately Anthony Tonkin had to come off with a little bit of a groin strain so Courtney played a bit more than that, and young Daz Coakley played 90 minutes and looked solid."

The first half scorers were two of the four young trialists on show last night, with striker Robbins and winger Amory joined by former MK Dons and Millwall keeper Laurie Walker and former Northwich and Kingstonian winger Dean Lodge. Out-of-contract midfielder Daryl McMahon also played the first half.

"They've come in and worked hard and showed little glimpses of what they can do, and it will be interesting to see what they can do for the rest of the week," commented the manager.

"As for Daryl, he's a quality player and I think he showed it there; he was outstanding and the best player on the pitch, which shows his attitude because he's desperate to come back and play for us.

"He knows the situation at the club at the moment and he respects that, but rather than go on trial to other clubs or signing for a club that he doesn't feel 100% happy with, he's come in with a different class attitude and put in a display like that."

With a reduced budget in place for this season, Brabin is currently unable to offer a new deal to McMahon and still trying to agree a deal to re-sign defender Phil Bolland for the forthcoming season, and he added, "I respect totally the situation at the club and so does Macca, but he's coming in and getting himself fit and it won't do him any harm."

United are in action again tonight (Wednesday) at Cherry Hinton FC in a match at the Recreation Ground to help the Kershaw League side mark their centenary year, and Brabin plans to start selecting different sides to balance the demands of the forthcoming fixtures.

"First of all we need to see how everyone is after their first match. They've worked hard and there have been long days so we need to be sensible and see how everyone is," he said.

"A few of the lads will have the morning off and a group of them will be in, and we'll be managing them and looking after all the bodies.

"We analyse everyone individually and we'll assess them all on the day and see who we've got available for the game."

[Match Report] [Fixture List]

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