Pre-season progress has pleased Blues head coach

Newbury begin their league campaign at the start of September

PAUL Archer was glad to see his Newbury Blues side get some pre-season minutes as they faced Tottonians in a friendly last weekend.

Despite Blues falling to a defeat, the head coach was happy with how his team approached the game.

He said: “It was a learning experience for everyone I think.

“We took a relatively strong squad and have about six or seven guys who played for us last year.

“Everyone got a lot of game time and we saw what everyone was about.

“I felt that the boys really applied themselves and, as the game went on, we started to see some of the game plan.”

It was the first pre-season game for Newbury ahead of their season opener against Stratford-upon-Avon on September 1.

“We are half way through our pre-season journey with a few weeks to go, but I was pleased with the boys,” said Archer.

“Some of them have approached me on what they should be working on as individuals, but it’s difficult to know that after one game.”

Since the Monks Lane club were relegated from the South West Premier last year, Archer has replaced Lee Goodall as head coach and there have been some changes within the squad.

He said: “I thought the boys came out with a lot of positives and it’s important we don’t just work on things in the development pile, we allow people to bring their strengths to the team.

“We didn’t set too many boundaries or goals, we told them to go out and enjoy themselves.”

Newbury’s second pre-season game takes place at Monks Lane on Saturday, when they welcome Old Halesonians.

Archer said: “There is still a long way to go in the pre-season and we’ll look to make a step forward again this weekend.

“We’ve got some really good ideas from the game, nothing that’s a weakness, there are just a few things to concentrate on.

“A lot of it is just skill-based stuff and how we approach certain games and how we can apply individual skills as well.”

After Saturday’s friendly, Blues welcome Havant (August 23) in their third and final friendly of the summer.

After travelling to Stratford on the league campaign’s opening day, Archer’s side welcome Swindon to Monks Lane on September 8.