County continue their warm up for the new season with a friendly game against Skelmersdale United of the Evo-Stick League Division One North (formerly Unibond). The match should prove nothing more than an aid in gathering match fitness due to the level in which our opponents play.
The lack of future surrounding the manager and owners towards the end of last season meant that County were unable to put any plans in place for pre-season friendlies and this is evident by the fact that we are playing meagre opposition in our warm up matches. We are preparing for a season in League Two with friendly games against sides in levels 7 and 8 of the Football Pyramid which hopefully won't backfire on us as we take on Southend United on Saturday 7th August. The only decent match we can look forward to comes on Monday night, as we take on Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonia Thistle.
It isn't new manager Paul Simpon's fault or the new owners that we are not being challenged about what lies ahead. Nor is it the fault of former manager Gary Ablett, who was keen to arrange things for pre-season but couldn't due to the uncertainty surrounding his and the clubs future. Instead I think we'll blame Jim Melrose and his consortium, as they strung us along for so long when they were trying to unsuccessfully take over the club. If they'd have pulled out of the race earlier than they did then it may not have taken until July for us to come out of administration.
On Tuesday we played our first warm up game and we thrashed Northwich Victoria 5-0 following goals from Danny Swailes, David Poole, Greg Tansey (penalty), Danny Pilkington and Ritchie Partridge. Today's match once again gives manager Simpson the chance to cast his eye over players who have been training with the club in the past few weeks the chance to earn a permanent deal.
One man who has benefited from a similar scenario this summer is 20-year-old defender Jordan Rose. The former Weymouth player has just signed a one-year deal at Edgeley Park after enjoying a successful trial spell.
On Tuesday County played two separate sides in each half and more of the same is expected at the wonderfully named Stormy Corner ground today. Kick off is at 3pm and admission prices are £8 for adults, £4 for pensioners and £2 for children.