SOBS V VALLECANO

Thunderbolt of Vallecas came to the SoL for our final warm-up, and the Lads, hot on the heels of a 1-0 win in Augsburg yesterday (although not the same starting eleven for reasons of jetlag)... well, didn't do much although 0-3 was a tad harsh. I know it was only a friendly, but it makes all our "mad" summer spending all the more understandable. What was effectively our second string were made to look very much that by a neat and effective Rayo side who made the most of the chances they were presented with. The passable chances we had in the second half - we didn't take.

As has been the norm this close season, incoming transfers have been in the air with Arthur Masuaku doubling our contingent from the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

(Sadiki - keep up at the back!) while centre half Omar Alderete looks like he might be the 23rd nationality in our squad. Paraguay, in case you missed it.

An early start from Bishop preceded a canny wander around a sunny town centre before the team news arrived...

Patterson, Huggins, Lavery, Triantis, H. Jones, Neil (C), Le Fée, Rigg, Browne, Roberts, Isidor. Not a bad "second string", really - well, on paper (insert Brian Clough quote).

... and a bench of: Blondy,, Aleksić, Ogunsuyi, J. Jones, Bainbridge, Middlemas, and Tutierov.

I assume the rest were at customs, being held up as is normal at Ponteland for anyone with an SAFC connection.  

I took my seat the the Roker (completely by chance next to Brian the Poolie, who I've sat next to since the ground opened, and thankfully with his usual stash of ket - boiled sweets - while I'm saving the Jelly Babies for the real games). In the sunshine, we kicked off towards the Roker End, where the bulk of the crowd was, and indulged in a bit of tappy-lappy stuff for the opening minutes, with the visitors having a few chances which they fired into the empty seats, until Neil fired one in without troubling the keeper, then Rigg (with a failed twazzle)) made a bit of a mistake and the visitors popped it past a helpless Patto on 19.

Perhaps a little against the run of play, but perhaps not, as if you don't shoot you're never going to score. As we grumbled, the gulls (much more numerous than around my usual seat) got even cheekier as they sought chips and scared the life out of some of our younger fans. Roberts did what we've been howling for him to do forever but did so with his boot up and thus the challenge drew more of a sympathetic "oooh" from the crowd, rather than an appreciative "gerrin", with Iain Munro and Joe Bolton both shaking their heads in disbelief as they watched online videos, as Paddy hadn't made any sort of contact.

Obviously enraged, the visitors pulled a yellow of their own by tickling the ball away from a Sunderland free kick then moaning about it. Dirty buggers. We settled a bit without ever looking really dangerous, as our final ball was all too often way off target, with Isidor looking isolated thanks to lack of service and barely touching the ball.

No added minutes, and no changes for us for the second half, although the opposition, apparently, made loads - which I missed.

Anyway, within minutes of the restart a bit of a lucky bounce in the centre circle was pounced on by the Spaniards, who crisply cut forward and again gave Patto no chance.

Oh dear.

It got worse when a half-clearance fell perfectly for Rayo 20 yards out and it was blasted home for 0-3. Again, no chance for Patto but another opportunity for the haters to pipe up. Give it a rest, eh? We'd still be in the Championship but for him.

Anyway, with half an hour to go we took him, Rigg, Isidor, and Lavery off, bringing on Blondy, Aleksic, J. Jones, and Tuiterov - the last of which immediately started with the Big Bustling Centre Forward stuff. When he got onto an Aleksic pass he looked to have been fouled in the box (bring on VAR!) but the ref wasn't interested. 

On 74, a nice run from Tuiterov looked promising but he was tackled before he could shoot, then Roberts, who'd been his usual self (needing an Amad to interact with) put in a low cross but it was cleared.Other than a weak shot by Aleksic which the keeper languidly collected, that was it, really. The fact that Neil and Le Fee did reasonably but got nowhere shows what we're up against in the coming season 

A disappointment, and while not really worthy of 0-3, that's what you get for moments of slopidity (trademark), bad luck, and not working the keeper. 

Man of the Match? I actually thought Huggins did well in difficult circumstances, but for having the most positive impact (if you can actually do that without scoring) I'll give it to Tuiterov.