B Team coach Matt Craddock wants Wanderers’ youngsters to keep showing their quality after hitting the goal trail at Longridge Town.
The B team collected their first pre-season win with a 5-2 victory at a rain-lashed Recycling Lives Ground.
Arran Pettifer and Trevon Bryan, with a sweetly struck free-kick, were on target before the break after Wanderers had repelled a bright start from the North-West Counties outfit.
Summer signing Ben Andreucci and Finn Lockett (below) added to the tally with tidy finishes in the second half before Gio Loureiro notched the fifth as Wanderers’ pressure paid off.
And Craddock hopes to see plenty more of that after the young Whites negotiated their latest test to keep heading towards their second season as a development side in positive mood.
“Fair play to them (Longridge),” said Craddock. “It’s a good set-up here and it’s a good little club. They do everything right and they try to play football.
“It’s really positive for the area and for young players who have maybe missed out on academies who come into here.
“I thought they started like a house on fire and it took us too long, for my liking, to get to grips with their rotations and movement. They didn’t create that many chances, although they had the possession and it was frustrating.
“But we do have quality and we talked about when we steal it we have to be incisive and effective with our use of the ball and I thought we did that towards the end of the first half.
“Once we got the goals it probably kicked us into gear a little bit. It opened up the game a little bit and I thought that swung our way.
“We have got real quality and I have faith in the lads once we get together. I said last year we had flashes and we have to make the flashes last longer and more often. When we do that we have real quality and it came together in moments.”
Wanderers used 22 players at Longridge as they gave opportunities to some of the youth team and spread game-time around the B squad in a fixture deliberately picked to add to a varied games’ programme.
The Whites now go to Atherton Collieries on Saturday lunch-time for another test against senior Northern Premier League action with the benefit of a victory behind them.
“I was pleased to get the win, pleased for them to score goals and pleased for the lads who got goals as well and thought they deserved it with their work-rate,” Craddock added.
“We finished with pretty much, bar one or two, maybe an U18s team which was really pleasing to see they’re still trying to the right things and play the way we’re trying to ingrain into them, which is really positive as well.”