Weston-super-Mare AFC took on Cardiff City’s U21s squad this weekend in their fifth pre-season fixture of the summer.

Seagulls Manager Scott Bartlett fielded a much-changed side for the game which included four trialists in the squad, leading to a topsy turvy game that saw Cardiff open the scoring on the 12th minute and Weston reply straight from the second half kick-off to produce a 1-1 draw.

After the game Bartlett said: “I thought we were a lot better second half than first half which was to be expected with us mixing the teams up a little bit.

“We were just a little bit brighter, a bit more experienced in the second half and I think that showed.

“It was good, there were obviously difficult conditions with the pitch being very dry and the temperature being hot, but it’s set us up well for the first few games of the season.

"All the players have worked really hard, you search for perfection in pre-season but you know you're not going to get it so there will always be something to be frustrated about but all in all, when we put our strongest 13/14/15 players out there, we look in a good place.

“The lads have had a tough week, they’ve played three games and been training really hard so we knew they were going to be a bit fatigued, that’s why we limited it effectively to two teams for each 45 minutes."

To mix things up even more for Weston, striker Nick McCootie also left the pitch early in the first half with a suspected injury.

Bartlett addressed the situation after the game. He said: “It’s precautionary really, you can’t risk anyone or anything in pre-season.

“Nick’s a powerful, explosive player and he had a bit of a hamstring tweak, so we just took him off.

“We think he’ll be fine, we might just rest him Tuesday and he’ll have a session with the physios to get him right for Thursday and Saturday.”

Weston now go on to play their last two pre-season games of the 2024 summer, Merthyr Town tonight (July 30th) and Yeovil Town on Saturday August 3rd.

Bartlett was looking forward to the games ahead. He said: “We knew the two academy games against Bristol and Cardiff would be quite similar, possession based, which helps get us ready for teams that play like that, like in our opening game of the season against Worthing.

“Now we’ve got games against these senior sides, Merthyr are going to be a really good test, Tiverton were a really good test and we know how hard that league is so those games are always difficult.

“And then obviously we finish with the big game against Yeovil which will be a mixture of the two really because they do play and they do dominate possession, and they’re also big and physical so that’ll be a great test for us and hopefully for them.”

The game against Merthyr Town tonight (Tuesday July 30th) kicks off 7:45pm with tickets still available online, and then at home against last season’s league champions Yeovil Town on Saturday August 3rd, KO 3:00pm.