Town's second pre-season tour game against Zulte Waregem ended with the same outcome as the first, a 1-1 draw. Ian Westlake netted for the Blues just before half-time, the home side grabbing a controversial equaliser after the break.

The game started slowly which was hardly surprising as the temperature had been measured in the 40s earlier in the day and wasn't much lower by the evening.

There was a scare for the Blues in the 10th minute when the defence was caught out by a ball played over the top, but Jason De Vos did well to get back to concede a corner.

Town were a bit disjointed, particularly in midfield where Finnish trialist Marko Kolsi looked nervous.

The game was niggly throughout and almost boiled over in the 25th minute when Danny Haynes was put through and caught the advancing goalkeeper with his boot. The keeper made much of the challenge and was joined by a defender who remonstrated with the Town striker who pushed him, the Zulte Warengen player dramatically collapsing to the ground in a Cristiano Ronaldo-esque manner.

The upshot of the incident was a yellow card for Haynes. Two minutes later Ian Westlake somewhat harshly joined him in the referee's book.

On the half hour there was a drinks break. Soon after, Danny Haynes had a shot blocked. In the 37th minute Kolsi was booked for a late tackle.

Town's best spell of the game came just before the break. A good passing move saw the ball played wide to Sito, the Spaniard sending in a low cross. Bowditch allowed the ball to run to Haynes who played it into his strike partner's path, the former England U19 international seeing his shot well saved.

On 44 Currie played the ball through to Haynes who was forced wide and returned the ball to the midfielder. Currie sent in a cross to the far past where Westlake headed powerfully into the net.

At half-time Billy Clarke replaced Bowditch up front, the period getting off to another slow start.

Chris Casement replaced Sito, prior to indecision by Lewis Price causing De Vos to put the ball out for a corner while under pressure.

Just before the hour mark, the home side got back on terms in dubious circumstances. Scott Barron replaced trialist Indridi Sigursson but wasn't given time to take up his position before the Belgian side took a freekick.

Inevitably the ball went into the area vacated by the Icelander, from where it was crossed into the box. Price did well to save a header and appeared to have the ball kicked out of his hands by Lander Vansteenbrugghe into the net. The keeper and De Vos protested at length but to no avail.

Nicky Forster, Darryl Knights and Vemund Brekke Skard took over from Kolsi, Bertin and Haynes in the 64th minute, shortly before Forster had a well-struck volley saved from an excellent Westlake cross.

There was another drinks break in the 70th minute before Richard Naylor and Fabian Wilnis replaced De Vos and Algerian trialist Mehdi Méniri at the centre of the defence.

Peters took over from Westlake to complete the massed substitutions which caused the game to stall in the latter stages.

The home side saw a decent chance go wide before the referee failed to award Nicky Forster a freekick on the edge of the box after a blatant trip.

With five minutes left, the impressive and very lively Billy Clarke had an overhead kick saved. Not long before the end Price also saved well, but did little that is likely to convince Jim Magilton to give him the nod ahead of Shane Supple come the season proper. The final chance of the game came from a Currie freekick, Richard Naylor heading wide.

Of the four trialists involved, Bertin had probably his least impressive game, perhaps to some extent due to Kolsi's lack of contribution alongside him. However, the Frenchman has shown that he is strong in the tackle and distributes the ball well in all his games and looks likely to win a deal if that is the sort of player Jim Magilton is keen to sign.

Icelander Sigurdsson is clearly a strong tackler but failed to make much of an impression from an attacking perspective. Algerian Méniri is strong in the air and looked comfortable alongside De Vos, even involving himself in organising the defence at points during the game.

Billy Clarke was amongst the more impressive performers with Nicky Forster also looking sharp. Jason De Vos was commanding at the back, while Sito had a good game both going forward and defensively.

Town: Price, Sito (Casement 53), Sigurdsson (Barron 58), De Vos (Wilnis 72), Méniri (Naylor 72), Bertin (Skard 64), Kolsi (Knights 64), Westlake, Currie, Bowditch (Clarke 46), Haynes (Forster 64).

Thanks to Colin Kreidewolf for the report.

Photo: Action Images

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