City open pre-season campaign with Salisbury draw

City opened their long-awaited 2020-21 pre-season campaign this evening with a 1-1 draw at The Raymond McEnhill Stadium against Salisbury FC. It was the Whites – with six pre-season games (and wins) already under their belts – who took the lead on 14 minutes through Diaz’s stunning 20-yard effort. With three unnamed trialists in City’s starting XI plus three of their four summer signings it was understandable that the home side enjoyed the majority of possession during the rest of the first half. However, two minutes before the interval City drew level when a mistake by keeper Beauchamp allowed one of the trialists to lift the ball home from a difficult angle. The second half saw City introduce three further trialists along with latest arrival Ryan Harley and they enjoyed a greater share of the game without creating any clear-cut chances. In the end the closest either side came to grabbing a winner was when a free-kick almost caught out the Romans substitute keeper but he managed to recover and turn the ball over the bar.

City are next in action on Saturday when they travel to Weston Super Mare.