George Hirst netted his second goal in two games but the Blues fell to their second friendly defeat of the afternoon as Stevenage ran out 2-1 winners at the Lamex Stadium. Jamie Reid gave the League One side the lead in the fifth minute, then Ben Thompson made it 2-0 four minutes after the restart prior to sub Hirst pulling one back on 68.
Christian Walton was in goal with Dominic Ball again at right-back with Greg Leigh on the left and George Edmundson, back after an ankle problem, and Elkan Baggott the centre-halves.
In central midfield, skipper Sam Morsy was joined by Jack Taylor with Kayden Jackson, Sone Aluko and Kyle Edwards behind Nathan Broadhead, the central striker.
Hirst was among the subs although not listed on the teamsheet, but Wes Burns (calf), Janoi Donacien (tendon) and Harry Clarke (tendon) weren’t involved in either of this afternoon’s matches. Cameron Humphreys missed out having suffered a concussion at Preston on Wednesday.
League One Stevenage included former Town forward Jordan Roberts in their starting line-up.
The game kicked-off in heavy rain on a fast, wet pitch. Due to the conditions, keeper Walton struggled to claim an early high ball following a corner but will have been relieved to have been given a fairly generous free-kick by referee Will Finnie.
Boro had started brightly and in the fifth minute they went in front. The ball was played in from the right by Alex MacDonald and Reid turned and hit a shot through Edmundson and then through the unsighted Walton.
Town gradually began to adjust to the conditions and on 14 Taylor smashed a shot from the edge of the box which deflected wide.
With Stevenage still having had more of the game, Edwards let fly from 25 yards in the 24th minute but saw the ball land well into the empty stand behind the goal.
Three minutes later, Town old boy Roberts robbed Baggott just outside the box to the right and took the ball on before curling a low cross-shot which Walton gathered at a stretch.
As the game moved to the half hour mark, Aluko played a superb ball through for Edwards to chase but home keeper Kristian Hegyi was quickly off his line to block on the edge of the area.
As the half drew to a close, the Blues were seeing more of the ball but still without looking particularly convincing and were still a goal down when the whistle blew.
Town had started slowly and gave away what manager Kieran McKenna will feel was a disappointing early goal.
From there, the Blues never really got going in the sodden conditions with Aluko’s through ball for Edwards the highlight of a not overly enthralling and scruffy half from a Town perspective.
Having shown little threat in the first half, the Blues introduced Hirst for Edwards at the break with Broadhead moving back.
A minute after the restart, the Welshman lost the ball a long way inside the Stevenage half and Roberts was sent away towards goal and was only halted when Morsy tripped him on the edge of the area.
And from the resultant free-kick, Boro doubled their lead. Alex MacDonald’s free-kick flew under the jumping wall, it hit the post and Ben Thompson headed into the net.
On 66, the previously subdued Town support behind the goal made themselves heard after Broadhead had been bodychecked as he burst towards the area but with referee Finnie seeing no foul.
Three minutes later, the Blues pulled a goal back. After Hirst had been fouled, Morsy clipped the free-kick to the far post and eventually the ball fell to the Blues’ half-time sub, who stabbed home his second goal in two games in front of the Town support.
A minute later, the Blues had another free-kick in virtually the same position, but this time Broadhead’s flicked header was too close to Stevenage sub keeper Taye Ashby-Hammond.
In the 82nd minute, Morsy exchanged passes with Aluko on the right before eventually hitting a shot from the edge of the box which left Ben Thompson in a crumpled heap and requiring treatment.
Two minutes later, Reid cut in from the left and curled a shot towards the far top corner which wasn’t too far away.
As Walton prepared to take the goal-kick, Town swapped Walton, Taylor, Aluko and Baggott were replaced by recently signed keeper Cieran Slicker and youngsters Osman Foyo, Nico Valentine and Zak Bradshaw.
Bradshaw almost marked his first appearance for the senior side with an own goal when he passed back to Slicker but with the keeper already well out of his goal and the centre-half, who spent time on loan at Bromley and Braintree last season, was fortunate to see the ball roll just beyond the post.
There were no further opportunities at either end and referee Finnie’s whistle confirmed Town’s second defeat of the afternoon.
The Blues were better in the second half in terms of control but were still under par and created very little aside from Hirst’s predatory finish.
Town struggled to get to grips with the conditions more than the home side and may have been feeling the effects of what’s already been a very busy pre-season schedule.
The Blues are next in action against Premier League opposition on Tuesday when they take on Luton Town at Colchester United’s Jobserve Community Stadium, before they end their pre-season fixtures with two 60-minute games against Bundesliga sides RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen at the Innsbruck Cup in Austria.x
Stevenage: Hegyi (Ashby-Hammond 63), James-Wildin, Butler, N Thompson, Piergianni (Skyers 90), MacDonald (March 74), Roberts (Alexandrou 89), Smith (Freeman 49), Reid, L Thompson, B Thompson (Hicks 86). Unused, Trialist.
Town: Walton (Slicker 84), Ball, Edmundson, Baggott (Bradshaw 84), Leigh, Morsy (c), Taylor (Foyo 84), Aluko (Valentine 84), Edwards (Hirst 46), Broadhead, Jackson. Unused: Slicker, Bradshaw, Foyo, Valentine. Referee: Will Finnie (Luton). Att: 1,826 (Town: 788).