Stapenhill 1-2 Dynamo

Report by Kieran King:

Loughborough Dynamo got back to winning ways in pre-season with a 2-1 victory over Stapenhill at Maple Grove on Saturday afternoon.

Second-half goals from Tristan Matthews and Curtis Burrows got Dynamo into the ascendancy, and although Sam Birks pulled one back for the Swans, The Moes held on to take the win.

Lee Attenborough made three changes from the side which lost at Loughborough University as Cavan Holford, Charlie Young and Karl Demidh replaced Dom Allen, Billy Blackshaw and Josh Riley in the Starting XI.

Despite there being two levels between the two clubs, it was Stapenhill who started the brighter of the two teams and had a couple of early opportunities. A mistake in the back-line allowed the ball to be drilled across the box and it just evaded Devante Reittie in the middle.

Matthews conjured-up a chance for himself when he played a one-two with Karl Demidh before driving into the area, but his low shot rolled just wide of target.

As the half wore on, Dynamo began to get a foothold on proceedings and Demidh almost found the back of the net just before the interval. The striker came inside onto his right foot, however, his effort was tipped around the post by the goalkeeper and it ended goalless at half-time.

The Moes began the second period much better than they did in the first and Attenborough’s men looked more likely to break the deadlock. Evan Garnett saw a volley fly just wide via a deflection, before Sibson got on the end of the resulting corner, but his shot was blocked.

However, it didn’t take long for Dynamo to take the lead and they did so on 58 minutes through that man Matthews once again. The midfielder picked up the ball on the edge of the area and fired a shot into the top right corner for his fourth goal of pre-season.

Just moments later, Dynamo's advantage was doubled and it came from the penalty spot after Josh Riley was brought down. Burrows stepped up and audaciously chipped the ball down the middle to put his side into a commanding position.

Even though Dynamo took a two-goal lead, Stapenhill kept pressing and they pulled one back with 14 minutes to go. as Birks pounced on an error to tap into into an empty net.

The hosts pushed in an attempt to level the contest but The Moes held out to claim a narrow pre-season victory in Staffordshire, with just one more friendly to go until the competitive season starts.