17-07-2024, 07:52
SOUTHPORT 2 PNE 1
Mads Frøkjær was on the scoresheet for North End as Ryan Lowe’s side were beaten 2-1 by Southport.
The hosts went ahead in the 19th minute thanks to a Marcus Carver header, before Frøkjær levelled matters after half an hour with a tidy finish.
PNE had chances to take the lead after that through the likes of Stefán Thórdarson and Will Keane, but it was a Southport trialist who scored the decisive goal in the 73rd minute.
Carver had the first opportunity of the game inside the opening four minutes as he tested Freddie Woodman, while Brad Potts soon sent an effort wide on the end of a Robbie Brady cross.
PNE were seeing all of the ball but they fell behind in the 19th minute when Nathaniel Knight-Percival’s ball into the box was headed into the far corner by Carver.
North End were level on the half-hour mark as Brady got on the end of a clever pass from Thórdarson and the Irishman pulled it back for Frøkjær, whose effort took a nick off a defender to help it over the goal-line.
Sam Greenwood called Southport’s trialist goalkeeper into making a good save in the 42nd minute and he made an even better stop on the stroke of half-time to prevent Thórdarson expertly finding the top corner.
After the break, Potts fired a powerful strike over the crossbar, and just after the hour mark the lively Frøkjær picked the ball up on the half turn, ran towards goal and saw a low strike saved.
That was his last action as nine changes were made in the 64th minute. One of those, Kacper Pasiek looked promising straight away as he put in a dangerous cross, and when he did the same a few minutes later, Jack Whatmough’s header back towards Keane was nodded over from just a few yards out.
In the 73rd minute, a defensive slip allowed a Southport trialist to cross for another, and he cushioned a volley home from inside the area.
With nine minutes left on the clock, Duane Holmes sent an excellently drilled pass through for Keane, and after receiving it back he couldn’t quite find the target with a first-time effort.
Keane was needed at the other end in the last meaningful action of the game two minutes from time to block a header on his goal-line, meaning the hosts took a 2-1 victory.
PNE starting XI: Woodman; Storey (Whatmough, 64), Lindsay (Bauer, 64), Hughes (Taylor, 64); Potts (Seary, 64), Whiteman (Ledson, 45), Thórdarson (Holmes, 64), Brady (Pasiek, 64); Greenwood (T.Mawene, 64), Frøkjær (Stewart, 64); Riis (Keane, 64).
Attendance: 1,142 (420 PNE fans).
FANTASTIC'S VIEW
After two games of pre-season, Ryan Lowe knows his side have work to do but he’s also seen positive results of “new principles” given to the team.
Following the opening friendly out in Spain against Lincoln City, PNE went to Southport on Tuesday and were beaten 2-1 by Jim Bentley’s side.
Mads Frøkjær was on the scoresheet for North End at The Big Help Stadium where 21 PNE players were given a runout, and they’ll build up more minutes on Wednesday night against Bamber Bridge.
Ryan said: “We’re early stages, aren’t we? We’ve given them some principles in and out of possession. It’s principles of what we want to do going forward and I’ve seen that in possession and out of possession.
“The goals are scruffy, we know that. It’s something to work on. Jack [Whatmough] slips and the kid just crosses it and he scores, but there’s some good moments in there in terms of moving the ball.
“We played Mads and Sam [Greenwood] in the two tens today, and Whitey [Ben Whiteman] and Stefán [Thórdarson] as two fours, and I thought that looked exciting at times with the interchange and the runs forward.
“Listen, I’ve been a non-league player myself and you’re right up for these games. You don’t want to lose but there’s no points gained at this moment in time.
“It’s more for us to get the fitness into the lads, hence why it was 60-30 [minutes] and tomorrow at Bamber Bridge the lads who finished will play 60 and the lads who started will play 30. It’s getting the minutes in.
“We’re disappointed with the two goals, of course we are. We’ve just had a word with the lads in there. We’ve got to ramp it up, keep the back door shut and score more goals.”
While the majority of the squad are working on building match fitness, Ali McCann, Dai Cornell and Kian Best are yet to feature in pre-season.
The gaffer said there’s nothing to worry about with that trio, although midfielder Ali is still at least a couple of weeks away from returning, having suffered a setback since the end of last season.
For the rest of the squad, they’ll make the traditional short trip to Bamber Bridge on Wednesday, before playing a couple of behind-closed-doors friendlies.
Ryan said: “We’ve got the opportunity to go to a Premier League training ground on Friday and pit our wits against a top, top, top Premier League team and we’re privileged to do that.
“We’ve got today, tomorrow, and we’ll do some stuff at the training ground on Thursday and then play a game against a Premier League team and pit our wits against them. That’ll be good because we probably won’t have large parts of the ball. Again, it’s good for us out of possession and in certain games there’ll be loads of good stuff for in possession. We’re looking forward to it.
“We’ve also got a training game next Tuesday and then we follow it up with the Fiorentina game which, again, is a top game.
"We’re two weeks in now and we’ve had two games. I’ve seen some good things and I’ve seen some things that are not good. I’m not going to lie. We’ve got to work on them and be a little bit better.”
Mads Frøkjær was on the scoresheet for North End as Ryan Lowe’s side were beaten 2-1 by Southport.
The hosts went ahead in the 19th minute thanks to a Marcus Carver header, before Frøkjær levelled matters after half an hour with a tidy finish.
PNE had chances to take the lead after that through the likes of Stefán Thórdarson and Will Keane, but it was a Southport trialist who scored the decisive goal in the 73rd minute.
Carver had the first opportunity of the game inside the opening four minutes as he tested Freddie Woodman, while Brad Potts soon sent an effort wide on the end of a Robbie Brady cross.
PNE were seeing all of the ball but they fell behind in the 19th minute when Nathaniel Knight-Percival’s ball into the box was headed into the far corner by Carver.
North End were level on the half-hour mark as Brady got on the end of a clever pass from Thórdarson and the Irishman pulled it back for Frøkjær, whose effort took a nick off a defender to help it over the goal-line.
Sam Greenwood called Southport’s trialist goalkeeper into making a good save in the 42nd minute and he made an even better stop on the stroke of half-time to prevent Thórdarson expertly finding the top corner.
After the break, Potts fired a powerful strike over the crossbar, and just after the hour mark the lively Frøkjær picked the ball up on the half turn, ran towards goal and saw a low strike saved.
That was his last action as nine changes were made in the 64th minute. One of those, Kacper Pasiek looked promising straight away as he put in a dangerous cross, and when he did the same a few minutes later, Jack Whatmough’s header back towards Keane was nodded over from just a few yards out.
In the 73rd minute, a defensive slip allowed a Southport trialist to cross for another, and he cushioned a volley home from inside the area.
With nine minutes left on the clock, Duane Holmes sent an excellently drilled pass through for Keane, and after receiving it back he couldn’t quite find the target with a first-time effort.
Keane was needed at the other end in the last meaningful action of the game two minutes from time to block a header on his goal-line, meaning the hosts took a 2-1 victory.
PNE starting XI: Woodman; Storey (Whatmough, 64), Lindsay (Bauer, 64), Hughes (Taylor, 64); Potts (Seary, 64), Whiteman (Ledson, 45), Thórdarson (Holmes, 64), Brady (Pasiek, 64); Greenwood (T.Mawene, 64), Frøkjær (Stewart, 64); Riis (Keane, 64).
Attendance: 1,142 (420 PNE fans).
FANTASTIC'S VIEW
After two games of pre-season, Ryan Lowe knows his side have work to do but he’s also seen positive results of “new principles” given to the team.
Following the opening friendly out in Spain against Lincoln City, PNE went to Southport on Tuesday and were beaten 2-1 by Jim Bentley’s side.
Mads Frøkjær was on the scoresheet for North End at The Big Help Stadium where 21 PNE players were given a runout, and they’ll build up more minutes on Wednesday night against Bamber Bridge.
Ryan said: “We’re early stages, aren’t we? We’ve given them some principles in and out of possession. It’s principles of what we want to do going forward and I’ve seen that in possession and out of possession.
“The goals are scruffy, we know that. It’s something to work on. Jack [Whatmough] slips and the kid just crosses it and he scores, but there’s some good moments in there in terms of moving the ball.
“We played Mads and Sam [Greenwood] in the two tens today, and Whitey [Ben Whiteman] and Stefán [Thórdarson] as two fours, and I thought that looked exciting at times with the interchange and the runs forward.
“Listen, I’ve been a non-league player myself and you’re right up for these games. You don’t want to lose but there’s no points gained at this moment in time.
“It’s more for us to get the fitness into the lads, hence why it was 60-30 [minutes] and tomorrow at Bamber Bridge the lads who finished will play 60 and the lads who started will play 30. It’s getting the minutes in.
“We’re disappointed with the two goals, of course we are. We’ve just had a word with the lads in there. We’ve got to ramp it up, keep the back door shut and score more goals.”
While the majority of the squad are working on building match fitness, Ali McCann, Dai Cornell and Kian Best are yet to feature in pre-season.
The gaffer said there’s nothing to worry about with that trio, although midfielder Ali is still at least a couple of weeks away from returning, having suffered a setback since the end of last season.
For the rest of the squad, they’ll make the traditional short trip to Bamber Bridge on Wednesday, before playing a couple of behind-closed-doors friendlies.
Ryan said: “We’ve got the opportunity to go to a Premier League training ground on Friday and pit our wits against a top, top, top Premier League team and we’re privileged to do that.
“We’ve got today, tomorrow, and we’ll do some stuff at the training ground on Thursday and then play a game against a Premier League team and pit our wits against them. That’ll be good because we probably won’t have large parts of the ball. Again, it’s good for us out of possession and in certain games there’ll be loads of good stuff for in possession. We’re looking forward to it.
“We’ve also got a training game next Tuesday and then we follow it up with the Fiorentina game which, again, is a top game.
"We’re two weeks in now and we’ve had two games. I’ve seen some good things and I’ve seen some things that are not good. I’m not going to lie. We’ve got to work on them and be a little bit better.”
Why should a man go to work, if he has the health and strength to stay in bed?