Falmouth Town manager Andrew Westgarth was pleased with the performances of his new recruits during Saturday’s win over Peterborough United under-18s in their first pre-season friendly of the summer on Saturday.

Luke Brabyn, Tim Nixon and returning winger Olly Walker scored the goals that secured victory for Town over the side managed by former Premier League football and Falmouth youth-team player Matty Etherington.

New signings Luke Barner and Ben Oliver made their first appearances in a Falmouth shirt, while Walker donned the jersey for the first time since leaving the club to join South West Peninsula League rivals Newquay just under a year ago.

The pacey winger wasted no time in reminding the Bickland Park support of his lightning quick pace and high energy, which helped him to grab the second goal of the game early in the second half.

 “It’s great to have him back,” Westgarth said. “You never like to lose any player, but Olly was a tough one to take because of the qualities that he can bring and that was evident today.

“Every time you give him the ball it just sends a fear into the defence and that epitomised it with the second goal from a tight angle, he’s done well to nick it off the defender and it’s a lovely little finish.”

Barner was one of few players to play the full 90 minutes as Westgarth made full use of the rolling substitute rule, and the 22-year-old forward, who signed from University of Exeter’s SWPL side, made an early impression on his new manager.

“I’m really impressed,” he said.  “One thing he did bring to the team was work rate, and he had that bit of quality about him, being a captain of Exeter University. I thought it was a great debut for him.”

Centre-back Oliver was introduced as a half-time sub and showed glimpses of his ability. He played the second half alongside captain Joe Cooper, with whom he will hoping to strike up a good partnership after the departure of the skipper’s former colleague James Ward to Truro City.

“Proper old school defender, Ben, completely different to Wardy,” Westgarth said. “Wardy’s a ball player and he’s irreplaceable but Ben’s come in and you can see his love of defending. Proper, committed, wins headers, wins tackles and looks like he enjoys doing it.”

There was also room for two of Town’s promising youngsters, Reuben Talbot and Regan Hall, to make their first appearance for the first team. Centre-back Talbot played the first half alongside Cooper in the heart of defence, while midfielder Hall came off the bench to play the final 15 minutes.

“It’s great to see the next generation coming,” Westgarth said. “For the five years I’ve been here now we’ve had a string of them; Harry Clarke, Olly Walker, Sammy Pickup, and they’re the next on the production line.

“They’ve been training with us now, like the others in the past have done, for the last two seasons and it’s just the natural progression.”

  • Falmouth’s next pre-season friendly is at Mullion on Monday, July 15 (kick-off 7.30pm).