A Town reserve side comfortably beat Great Yarmouth 4-1 at their Wellesley Recreation Ground on Saturday afternoon. A hat-trick from centre-back Tom Eastman and a free-kick from Alan Quinn secured the win, before Stewart Roach pulled a goal back for the home side late on.
Town fielded a largely young side, with the exception of Carlos Edwards, who started wide on the right, Alan Quinn, who skippered the side from central midfield, and out-of-favour striker Kevin Lisbie.
Lisbie could have put Town in front within the first couple of minutes after getting the better of Yarmouth centre-back Stewart Roach, but his tame volley was straight at Michael Hilton in the Bloaters goal.
Lisbie then pulled a shot wide before setting up Reggie Lambe who side-footed wide from six yards out.
Town were creating all the chances and Lambe’s overhead kick dropped over the bar before Yarmouth had their first serious effort on goal; Andy Hayton’s 20-yard strike flying just over with the home side appealing for a corner, but to no avail.
Lambe again shot wide, prior to Lisbie putting a free header wide of the post following a Quinn corner.
Centre-back Tom Eastman showed Town’s frontmen how to put the ball in the net on 27 minutes when Billy Clark’s shot was well blocked following a corner, and Eastman slotted home.
Soon after, Clark worked a way through the home defence but his effort was straight at the keeper.
Yarmouth’s Fernando Vide then hit a shot into the side-netting, Jake Reed then saw his effort hit the Town post, but the striker had already been flagged offside.
Four minutes before the break, Eastman doubled Town’s advantage after Yarmouth keeper Hilton failed to deal with a cross from the left and the Clacton-born centre-half stroked the ball into the unguarded net.
Town made two substitutions at half-time with Lisbie and Clark being replaced by Irishman Ronan Murray and trialist Robbie Burns, who has been training with the Blues throughout pre-season, as TWTD revealed last month.
Bermudian international Lambe had another chance to score soon after the break but his powerful strike was parried away for a corner by Hilton.
Left-back Seb Dunbar then hit a rasping drive just over the bar and sub Murray saw his effort blocked on the line following good build-up play with Lambe.
Town’s final change saw Jamie Griffiths replace David Cawley in central midfield, shortly before Quinn saw his side-foot volley go wide of the post.
The home side had a glorious chance to pull a goal back just after the hour mark when Mark Thompson lifted his effort over Ian McLoughlin, but also over the bar.
However, Town scored their third on 73 when Murray was fouled on the edge of the box and Quinn hit a freekick into the corner of the net.
A minute later, Eastman completed his hat-trick when Murray was again upended, this time inside the penalty area, by Will Ferguson. Eastman stepped up and sent sub keeper Jake Jessup the wrong way.
Yarmouth pulled a goal back with ten minutes remaining, captain Stewart Roach meeting Gareth Palmer’s cross from the right and sending a looping header into the corner of the net.
Overall, a good workout for Town with Quinn showing a lot of energy in the centre of the park. Lisbie again failed to catch the eye during his time on the pitch, whilst Edwards had a largely quiet game on the right.
Right-back Aaron Jones continued his impressive pre-season, whilst sub Murray looked bright and showed some good touches when he came on.
Town XI: McLoughlin, Jones, Dunbar, Cawley (Griffiths 57), McKeown, Eastman, Edwards, Quinn, Lisbie (Murray 46), Clark (Burns 46) and Lambe.
Report and photo James Ager