PRE SEASON ROUND UP
As with many clubs the close season has been a busy time with changes to both management and playing personnel alike.
On the management side we welcome two new additions with Gary Wood joining from Dedham Old Boys to assist first team manager Kevin Ketley and ex Stanway Rovers Manager Jimmy McIntyre joining to take charge of the reserves. Simon Goodey, having joined midway through last season, continues his excellent work as club coach and Charlie Holloway continues in the same capacity assisting Jimmy.
On the player front it has also been a fruitful summer with both sides adding to their already strong squads. Acquisitions such as Kieran Johnson, Ben Murphy, Martin Colclough, Andy Miller and Ashley Collins have further enhanced the first team with Josh Eley, Wayne Spires, Rocky Mateer and Leighton Bloss adding to the undoubted quality assembled in the reserves. Good news also is that Bergholt legend Mark Farthing has shelved plans to retire. His enthusiasm and quality has not only been an inspiration to the younger players in the club but has seen him score four goals in two games. A hat- trick against Capel Plough Reserves was followed up by another goal against Rowhedge, showing he still knows where the goal is.

PRE SEASON RESULTS
Capel Plough 2-1 West Bergholt
With four training sessions under our belt we headed off for a double header with Capel Plough who finished runners up to Brantham last season in the SIL and provided a stiff test on one of the hottest days of the year so far. Despite having the lions share of the chances we only had a Peter Johnston strike to show for our afternoons work. Capel took their goals well leaving us to rue missed chances in the 2-1 defeat.

West Bergholt 4-0 Boxted Lodgers
A midweek visit from Boxted Lodgers saw us produce an excellent team performance and run out 4-0 winners, with Ashley Collins registering a hat-trick and Peter Johnston netting his second goal in successive games.

West Bergholt 2-0 East Bergholt
On a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon, our good form continued as we kept our second successive clean sheet with a professional 2-0 win against East Bergholt. Another two goals for the ever-improving Ashley Collins saw us on our way with every squad member playing their part in a pleasing win.

Harwich & Parkeston Res 0-3 West Bergholt
Next on the road to match fitness was a Thursday-night trip to face Harwich & Parkeston Reserves. Noted for their excellent brand of football Harwich Reserves provided an excellent test but again we turned in a pleasing performance winning 3-0. Darren Revie, back to the form he showed last season, gave us a slender 1-0 lead at half time. The 2nd half though was mainly one-way traffic and saw us finish as the stronger and fitter side with further goals from Gary McIlwaine and Ashley Collins contributing to an excellent 3-0 success. The victory was built on another solid defensive performance as we dominated the game from start to finish.

West Bergholt 5-2 Heybridge Swifts Reserves
Heybridge Swifts reserves having previously beaten Wivenhoe and Brantham provided our latest test which, again, we passed with flying colours. Having recorded his first assist at Harwich, summer signing Andy 'Lurch' Miller got his Bergholt goal tally off to a flying start with two far post headers in the first five minutes. Swifts second string reduced the arrears with a scrappy goal before Gary McIlwaine increased our lead with another header after good work from Ben Murphy. The prolific Ashley Collins then added a fourth before swifts again reduced the deficit to trail 4-2 at half time. Now full of confidence we dominated the second half with Ashley Collins showing great strength to shrug off the attention of three defenders to complete the scoring, netting his second and our fifth. Despite playing our second game in 72 hours we put in another good performance showing we have good fitness levels as well as a reasonable depth in the squad.

Capel Plough Res 1-3 West Bergholt Reserves
West Bergholt Res 3-1 Boxted Lodgers Reserves
West Bergholt Res 2-0 East Bergholt Reserves
West Bergholt Res 3-3 Rowhedge

Previous good results saw confidence high within the squad and the visit of first division championship favourites Rowhedge held no fears as we swept into a 3-0 lead. New signing Wayne Spires came on in the second half and scored the goal of the game, collecting a Glen Morrison clearance before despatching it into the net from fully thirty five yards. Having already scored a hat-trick against Capel Plough, old-timer Mark Farthing added another goal of high quality scoring with a rising shot from twelve yards following a partially cleared corner. Not to be outdone near-veteran Leighton Bloss increased our lead sliding the ball home just minutes into the second half. We remained comfortable for most of the second half but with Jimmy ringing the changes, Rowhedge started to fight back finally levelling the scores, much to their delight, and our regret, late in the game. Despite the late-equaliser and the disappointment of not winning, this was an excellent game to watch. The players can draw much confidence from their performance and the praise they received and from everybody from the opposition to the watching first team was well-deserved.

West Bergholt Res 6-2 Wormingford
Next up was the visit of Wormingford. After the draw with Rowhedge perhaps confidence was too high as the reserves huffed and puffed through the first half in what can be best described as an abject display. However Jimmy identified the problems at half time and once the side settled into their rhythm they eventually ran out comfortable winners 6-2 with goals from the impressive Wayne Spiers (3), the old Leighton Bloss (2) and the rotund Jamie Thomson.
Pre season has seen Jimmy McIntyre mould his team into a solid unit who have played some attractive football on their way to four wins and a draw and the future looks bright for both sides as they embark on their final pre-season friendly at Woodbridge Athletic this Saturday 9th August.