| BRANDON TOWN | 1-1 | HAVERHILL ROVERS |
Haverhill's first friendly before the 2008/09 season begins ended with a draw against Anglian Combination League side Brandon Town after a late goal for both sides.
A new look away side, which would see three players make their debuts and two return to the fold before the end of the match, started strongly when Paul Jenkin headed a Mark Abbs cross over the bar.
Brandon then hit the woodwork twice in the space of a few minutes, the face of the bar with a header followed by the face of the near right post after goalkeeper Jamie Smith had been rounded.
Craig Cutts was unlucky not to give Haverhill the lead in the opening half, Jamie Challis hitting the Brandon upright from 20 yards out and Cutts netting from the rebound, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside, and his shot after a good turn was smothered by the Brandon goalkeeper.
The second half brought full back and striker changes with all four being replaced, the debuting Mark Abbs seeing his 20 yard shot across goal finger tipped wide by the home 'keeper ten minutes after the restart and a home defender flicking a low cross just wide of his own goal with the 'keeper helpless five minutes later.
Not taking all of these chances almost led to the away side's downfall after the hosts went ahead in the 84th minute, a clearance by half time substitute Ryan Holder coming off a Brandon striker and the ball going past the helpless Smith.
Fortunately, though, a clearance by the Brandon shot stopper two minutes into added time went straight to substitute Cody Frazier; he played in fellow replacement Paul Stokes, who rounded the 'keeper before putting the ball past the two defenders near the goal line and into the far bottom right corner of the net for the equaliser.
ROVERS : Jamie Smith, Brad Deeks, Lee Hurkett, Jim Hollingsworth, Gareth Thomas, Jamie Challis, Marc Abbott, Joe Harvey, Paul Jenkin, Craig Cutts, Mark Abbs.
Subs - Paul Abbott (for Brad Deeks, 46), Ryan Holder (for Lee Hurkett, 46), Paul Stokes (for Paul Jenkin, 46), Richard Heller (for Craig Cutts, 46), Cody Frazier (for Jamie Challis, 58), Sam Holmes (for Jim Hollingsworth, 64), Ryan Kent (for Marc Abbott, 77).
Goals - Paul Stokes (90+2).
| BRANDON TOWN RESERVES | 1-6 | HAVERHILL ROVERS RESERVES |
An emphatic win for Haverhill saw them get their friendly campaign off to a good start, a wonder goal from "Will" Jones being the talk point of the match.
They went ahead after 11 minutes from a Tom Shearer free kick on the left wing, player manager Ben Cowling running in to head the ball past the goalkeeper.
Jamie Challis scored the second 12 minutes later, his 20 yard effort going straight into the bottom right corner of the net with the goalkeeper still stationary on his line.
The third Haverhill goal of the opening half came in the 29th minute when the Brandon 'keeper was unable to hold a low cross from the left by Shearer and Cowling bundled the ball over the goal line for his second of the match.
The second half saw 16-year-olds Luke Stockings and Jack Jones (making his reserve team debut) as the new strikers up front for the visitors, Stockings scoring just two minutes after coming on when he took advantage of an error between the goalkeeper and one of his defenders.
Jack's brother "Will" then entered the fray and produced a wonder goal after 62 minutes; after coming on a throw in was taken and "Will" played a one-two with his brother before unleashing a delightful left foot 25 yard drive that curled into the top right corner, leading to a mixture of amazement and celebration from players and supporters alike.
A minute later Brandon pulled a goal back when away goalkeeper Jamie Smith brought down a striker just inside his penalty area and the same player got up to net past Smith from the spot kick as he sent him the wrong way.
The final goal came Haverhill's away after 71 minutes, an indirect free kick being awarded in the Brandon penalty area for a "back pass" and Ross Elkins laying the ball back to Sam Holmes who, after making his debut for the first team earlier in the afternoon, hammered a shot that was too powerful to keep out of the goal from just inside the area.