Town continued their run of pre-season wins with an easy 3-1 victory over Danish side Helsingør IF. Darren Bent scored twice and Marcus Bent notched a third with the home team scoring late on.

Early on Pablo Couñago and Marcus Bent had decent efforts before Drissa Diallo headed a corner over the bar when he might have done better.

At the other end a rare Helsingør attack led to a 40 yard freekick attempt from Henrik Pedersen was straight at Javier Sanchez Broto.

The Blues went ahead just after the half hour. Marcus Bent's toe-ended stab was blocked by Mads Hamberg in the Helsingør goal. However, the ball ran to Chris Makin on the left and the full-back crossed to Darren Bent at the back of the box who headed home.

On 40 Bent junior was unlucky not to score again but a defender got back to clear off the line.

A minute later, however he did put the Blues further ahead. The home side's keeper and one of his defenders got in a mess and Bent chased the ball down and slipped it into the net.

Town made one change at the break, Gerard Nash coming on for Drissa Diallo, and the large Blues support didn't have long to wait for another goal.

Darren Bent played a ball into Marcus Bent inside the area, the former Blackburn man turning his man before lashing an eight-yard shot in off the crossbar.

The rest of the half was much as the latter stages at Mjällby, lots of substitutions and no more Town goals. The home side pulled one back when Stefan Ellehammer's volley left Broto with no chance from the edge of the area.

Of the new players and trialist, it was Georges Santos that most left the ground talking about. He was a strong presence at the heart of the midfield and looked well capable of playing that role against better opposition.

Keeper Javier Sanchez Broto again had a less than perfect night. His kicking was erratic while he and Richard Naylor got into a mess on one occasion in the second half. He also failed to come for a couple of corners.

Not the most fluent performance and once again subs Alun Armstrong, Martijn Reuser and Dean Bowditch looked desperate for a goal. The failure of the subs to break down a side as lowly as the Danes is a concern should the Blues go through an injury crisis at some stage of the season.

Town: Broto, Wilnis, Makin (Westlake 62), Naylor, Diallo (Nash 46), Santos, Murray, Westlake (Abidallah 60), Couñago (Armstrong 52), M Bent (Bowditch 48), D Bent (Reuser 48).

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls