George Hirst scored twice and Ali Al-Hamadi and Leif Davis one apiece as Town comfortably beat Blau-Weiß Linz 4-1 at their Hofmann Personal Stadion at the end of their week-long Austrian pre-season training camp.
New signing Azor Matusiwa was among the first-half starters for the Blues, who fielded a different team in each 45 minutes. 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 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.
Town switched their entire XI at half-time - the home side, who are further through their pre-season, stuck with their starting team - with Christian Walton in goal behind a back three of, from the right, Luke Woolfenden, new loan signing Cedric Kipre and Jacob Greaves.
Harry Clarke and Leif Davis were the wing-backs with Jack Taylor and Finley Barbrook the central midfield pairing and Nathan Broadhead and Conor Chaplin behind lone out-and-out striker Ali Al-Hamadi.
The Iraq international was straight into the action, forcing Baier into a save within the opening seconds. The ball stayed in the danger area and Chaplin saw a shot blocked.
Harry Clarke was next to threaten with the half still less then two minutes old, skipping in from the right and hitting another effort which was diverted away from goal.
After a spell in which Linz threatened for the first time, the Blues made it 3-1. Taylor did well on the left, cutting back onto his right foot before lifting a cross towards the far post where Al-Hamadi nodded back across the keeper and into the far corner of the net.
Linz had seen more of the ball in the second half and made more forays into the final third and in the 63rd minute Oliver Wähling, who had just come on, shot well over from the edge of the area.
Within a minute, it was 4-1. Broadhead played a deftly weighted pass into the path of Davis breaking into the area on the left and the wing-back shot low across Baier and inside the far post.
On 68, the Blues passed their way through the Linz midfield, Broadhead again doing well before finding Al-Hamadi, whose effort was blocked.
With 12 minutes remaining, Chieo Ogbene made his long-awaited return following the achilles rupture he suffered in October last year replacing Barbrook, leading to a shift around with the Irish international at right wing-back and Clarke into a deep midfield role.
Taylor forced Baier into a save in the 85th minute, looping an effort from the edge of the box after a corner had been half-cleared, the keeper flipping it over. From the resultant flag-kick, the ball fell to Chaplin but the forward failed to make contact with Al-Hamadi behind him perhaps getting under his feet.
With three minutes remaining, youngster Leon Ayinde took over from Al-Hamadi and almost immediately found space breaking towards the area but was closed down by a defender.
As the game moved into injury time, Chaplin did well to get in behind the defence on the right but his cross somehow avoided everyone.
Moments later, with the game’s last action, Ogbene cut in from the right and across the edge of the area, however, the former Luton man screwed his shot well wide.
Linz showed more of a threat in the early stages of the second half but the Blues backline, with new loan signing Kipre looking a solid presence in the middle of the three, was able to prevent them from forcing Walton into making a single save.
The Blues’ tenacious pressing stopped the Austrian side from looking comfortable in either half with youngster Barbrook putting in a combative display in midfield during his time on the field.
Al-Hamadi started the second half very positively and took his goal well, while Broadhead caused a lot of problems and created the fourth for Davis, whose strong running down the left was too much for the home team.
Overall, manager Kieran McKenna will be pleased with the way both XIs and the later subs performed with the Blues next in action at Aberdeen next Friday.
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 (Ogbene 78), H Clarke, Broadhead, Chaplin, Al-Hamadi (Ayinde 87). Att: 2,900.