Sone Aluko and Marcus Harness were on target as Town beat Slovakian top flight side Spartak Trnava 2-1 in the first of today’s two friendlies in Austria.
The 40-minutes-a-half game was played behind close doors at Thayapark, the home of lower league Austrian club SC LAA in Laa an der Thaya, north of Vienna, where the Blues have been training this week.
Vaclav Hladky was in goal behind a back four of Janoi Donacien, Luke Woolfenden, Lee Evans and Leif Davis.
Massimo Luongo and Cameron Humphreys were in central midfield with Harness, Aluko and Nathan Broadhead behind central striker Kayden Jackson.
Town went ahead in only the fourth minute when Broadhead brought the ball forward and fed Aluko, who found the top corner to claim his second goal of pre-season.
Aluko went close to a second a minute before the break but Trnava keeper Dominik Takac made a double stop and the half ended 1-0 to the Blues.
Town added to their lead five minutes into second half, Harness running from the halfway line before finding the net, the former Pompey man’s second goal of an impressive start to pre-season. On 50, the Blues swapped Donacien for Elkan Baggott.
The Slovakians pulled a goal back via Marco Djuricin in the 56th minute following an error in the Town defence.
On 70, Blues keeper Hladky saved well with Marek Ujlaky’s strike on it’s way into the top corner of the net.
Seven minutes later, Town switched Aluko and Broadhead for youngsters Ryan Carr and Leon Ayinde, who joined the club in January from Carlisle United and Cork City respectively, then in the final minute Fin Barbrook took over from Humphreys, the development squad players having joined up with the squad on Thursday.
The Blues will field a different team in this afternoon’s second friendly as they face Austrian side Flyeralarm Admira, also known as Admira Wacker, at their motion_invest Arena in Mödling at the revised time of 4pm CEST (3pm BST).
Town: Hladky, Donacien (Baggott 50), Woolfenden, Evans, Davis, Luongo, Humphreys (F Barbrook 80), Harness, Aluko (Carr 77), Broadhead (Ayinde 77), Jackson.