It was just over 3 weeks ago that we played our first pre-season game down at Gillingham. It seems like a lot longer than that. In that time Boro have played 11 games, winning 6, losing 3 and drawing 2. They have scored 30 goals, but have conceded 15. It has been a very intensive time for the players with fitness the main aim of pre-season. Boro played a friendly on average once every 2 days over the last 22 days.

So it all started on a sunny evening in Kent when Boro travelled to League 2 side Gillingham where ex manager Mark Stimson was now in charge as well as 6 members of last seasons squad. The friendly had been set up as part of the compensation package for Stimson’s departure, meaning Boro would get a substancial percentage of the gate receipts. Both clubs played different teams in each half with the first half finishing 0-0 after a youthful looking Boro side had held their own against the much stronger Gills side. Boro then brought out the “big guns” for the second half and took the lead through Steve Morison who lobbed former team mate Julian to open the scoring. Boro out played Gillingham at times and held out to record an impressive first win of pre-season.

Next up was a trip to neighbours Hitchin Town. Boro were 2-0 down at one stage, before goals from Daryl McMahon, Mitchell Cole, Anthony Thomas and again Morison turned the game around in Boro’s favour. The first home game of new manager Graham Westley’s second stint in charge of Stevenage was against one of his former clubs, QPR. The Championship club brought down a strong squad to Broadhall Way and were in second gear for most of the game. Boro were good in patches and certainly held their own against a much better side, but QPR I felt were still on holiday and didn’t have to do much to win the game. Iyseden Christie did net his first goal for the club with a header from a Mitchell Cole cross after he had done well down the left.

George Boyd and Peterborough were Boro’s next test and again they were a class above. In my opinion this was our worst performance of pre-season. We didn’t seem to get going and although I thought Posh didn’t look that impressive themselves, they won the game comfortably. The whole game was disappointing and the goals which were scored by ex Conference strikers Aaron McLean and Scott Rendell were quite scrappy. Boro though returned to form with a slightly weaker team by beating Hendon 4-1 away. Jerome Anderson impressed with a brace and new signings from Kettering, David Bridges and Craig Westcarr opened their Boro account to complete the victory.

Peter Taylor’s Wycombe were the next opponents at Broadhall Way. Wycombe were awful in the first half and Boro took the lead when Anthony Thomas ran onto a Steve Morison throw in and slotted past the Chairboys’ keeper. Stevenage should of extended their lead further on several occasions, but missed their chances which ultimately cost them. Wycombe improved in the second half and goals from Chris Zebroski and Scott McGleish were enough to win the game for the team from Buckinghamshire. A trip to the South coast followed the next day and Boro again stuttered, drawing 2-2 against the Conference South side. Boro’s goals coming from Craig Westcarr and Lee Boylan.

After a disappointing run of results, Boro hit top form destroying Boreham Wood 6-0! Goals from Morison, Anaclet, Boylan, Bostwick and a brace from Mitchell Cole gave Boro a morale boosting victory at Meadow Park. They followed this up with another win away at Northwood. After going 1-0 down Boro replied with 3 goals from Westcarr, Anderson and Wilson to give them a 3-1 win. A team consisting of youth players and “fringe” players seemed to play in the majority of games against non-league opposition, with the games against Hitchin & Boreham Wood the exception.

The last home game of pre-season was against League 1 opposition in the shape of Leyton Orient. This was effectively Boro’s last “first team” game with the game at Slough mostly consisting again of youth or squad players. Boro played well and took the lead through Steve Morison. He ran onto a good through ball by Eddie Anaclet and slotted the ball past Jones. The performance was encouraging as Orient were playing a very strong side as it was their last game before their league season started. You could see the improvement in fitness as very few changes had to be made and the effort throughout remained the same. Orient though did equalise after improving in the second half when Sean Thornton curled a free-kick in past the diving Ashley Bayes, meaning the score finished 1-1. The last pre-season game was away at Slough. After again going 1 nil down, Boro stormed back to win 7-1 with Lee Boylan hitting 5 goals.

Overall, I think we can look back on pre-season as a success. Boro put in a number of impressive performances, most notably away at Gillingham and at home to Orient and seem to be playing some good football at the moment. Quite a number of the new lads have impressed. Anthony Thomas has done well so far. His partnership with Steve Morison has caught the eye and fans will be hoping he can continue that into the league season. Scott Laird looks like a different player at left back and Gary Mills also seems to be a useful player in the midfield with a good range of passing. WIth a relatively new squad, it will take time to gel as a team, but early signs are positive going into the new Conference season.