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A Bolton Wanderers XI beat Chorley FC 1-0 in the two teams' annual friendly match, (in memory of Chorley's former club secretary Harold Taylor) on Wednesday night.
Despite not actually going to the game, due to work commitments, the reports I've seen caught my eye for a number of reasons;
1. New trialist
An unfamiliar name on the team sheet was that of number 11, George Newell. A little bit of research reveals that he is an 18-year-old centre-forward who graduated from the highly-rated Everton academy. He was a key member of their U18 team who won the title in 2013/14 but he was released at the end of last season. Newell seemed to have a lively game against Chorley managing to set up the only goal of the game. His father Mike was also a professional footballer, best-known for his spell at Blackburn Rovers in their (very brief) glory years. Sean Conaboy and Harry Reilly also continued their trials.
2. Kaiyne Woolery
The youngster continued his pre-season form with another goal, taking his tally to three in as many games. It's encouraging to see someone who may perhaps feels like he should have been with the first-team for pre-season in the first place rising to the challenge. Him and Jamie Thomas should form a deadly partnership in the U21s this year and may both get chances early on in the season, especially with our lack of strikers.
3. Players who didn't impress in Austria
There were a few players on show who travelled with the first team to Austria, with the most high profile being Medo. Moreover Andy Kellett, Niall Maher and Ross Fitzsimons were also involved. Medo's potential exit has been well publicised with him being a relatively high-earner and not fitting into Lennon's philosophy, Partizan Belgrade seems to be his most likely destination. It could be argued that Andy Kellett's inclusion is harsh, he didn't set the world alight by any means but he looked much more comfortable in the team than Filip Twardzik, for instance.
I can unfortunately see a similar deal to the one that saw Joe Riley leave last season. Niall Maher comes as no shock after looking out of his depth and a loan move away may be imminent for him once we bring in a new right back. Finally the inclusion of Ross Fitzsimons probably confirms that we are in the market for a back-up goalkeeper and that Fitzsimons isn't seen as more than third choice at this point, despite not letting anybody down in Austria.