George Hirst has scored twice to give the Blues a 2-1 half-time lead over Blau-Weiß Linz at their Hofmann Personal Stadion.
New signing Azor Matusiwa was among the first-half starters for the Blues. The Dutchman, who recently signed from Rennes in France, was in central midfield alongside Cameron Humphreys.
Alex Palmer was in goal with Ben Johnson and Conor Townsend the full-backs and Dara O’Shea, who skippered in the absence of Samy Morsy whose move to Kuwait SC is set to be confirmed, and Elkan Baggott the centre-halves.
George Hirst was the number nine with Jack Clarke on the right, Sammie Szmodics in the middle and Jaden Philogene on the left behind him.
The Blues, wearing their red away strip, were first to create an opening, Johnson crossing from the right towards Szmodics at the far post in the third minute, but the Irish international was knocked off the ball and claimed a penalty, which wasn’t forthcoming.
On six, Matusiwa was fortunate not to be caught in possession inside the Town box from a goal-kick but managed to shake off a Blau-Weiß Linz attacker and get out of danger.
The Blues had made a scruffy start with the ball given away too often but with last season’s sixth-placed Austrian Bundesliga side having similarly surrendered possession easily.
In the 14th minute, Townsend whipped over a corner from the right which flashed across the six-yard box and out for a goal-kick with no one able to get a touch.
A minute later, the Blues were awarded a penalty. Hirst laid the ball out to Philogene on the left and the England U21 international cut inside into the box and was clipped. The referee pointed straight to the spot and Hirst confidently stroked the ball to Viktor Baier’s left as the keeper dived to his right.
On 21, Townsend took a sharp free-kick, playing Szmodics on the left of the box but the former Blackburn man’s cross was blocked. The ball eventually made its way back out to Townsend and the left-back sent over another cross which Hirst headed over, the Scotland international clearly unhappy he hadn’t done better with the opportunity.
Town began to look more cohesive and on the half-hour, they made it 2-0. A strong spell of Blues possession ended with a move straight through the middle of the Austrian side, Matusiwa feeding Szmodics ahead of him and the one-time Colchester man moving it forward to Hirst inside the box and the striker confidently beat Baier to his left.
Palmer was forced to make his first save in the 37th minute, catching a header across the box from the right.
The Town keeper was subsequently penalised for holding onto the ball for too long and, under a new rule introduced by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) ahead of the new season, a corner was given to the home side, much to skipper O’Shea’s annoyance.
In the 43rd minute, Palmer was penalised again, this time for apparently for picking the ball up twice, much to the keeper’s annoyance, feeling he hadn’t done so, while O’Shea was booked his protests.
As a result, Linz were awarded a free-kick 10 yards out with all bar one Town player on the line. The ball was laid off to Brazilian forward Ronivaldo, who found the top corner.
With the the game in the second minute of injury time, Baggott was yellow-carded for pulling back a Linz attacker after losing possession. Matusiwa held onto the ball preventing the free-kick from being taken, leading to a brief dust-up which led to the Dutchman being shown a yellow card.
At the whistle, Blues keeper-coach Rene Gilmartin approached the referee, clearly unhappy with the decisions given against Palmer, while O’Shea spoke to the fourth official.
Town had been in charge throughout even if their display had been a little scrappy during the early stages.
However, they improved as the half wore on and deserved their goals with Linz showing little until the latter stages when the referee gave them a significant helping hand.
New man Matusiwa showed his physicality in midfield, although had been inconsistent in possession, and was far from a holding midfielder alongside Humphreys, who along with fellow youngster Baggott had impressed.
Hirst looked sharp throughout, while Szmodics was a good foil in the number 10 role. The Blues will change their entire XI ahead of the second period.
Blau-Weiß Linz: Baier, Bakatukanda, Maranda, Briedl, Moormann, Pasic, Anderson, Pirkl, Seidl, Maier, Ronivaldo. Subs: Turner, Goiginger, Wähling, Wetschka, Dantas, Knollmüller, Soares Alves, Huskovic, Varesi-Strauß.
Town first half: Palmer, Johnson, O’Shea (c), Baggott, Townsend, Matusiwa, Humphreys, J Clarke, Szmodics, Philogene, Hirst.
Town second Half: Walton, Greaves, Kipre, Woolfenden, Davis, Taylor, Barbrook, H Clarke, Broadhead, Chaplin, Al-Hamadi.