It is three seasons since we last faced this Saturday’s opponents Trafford in a friendly game. There were familiar faces on both sides that day, with current squad members Gary Lilley, Scott Mason, Mark Rogers and Rick Gleave turning out in black and white – while Nia Bayunu and Joe Shaw turned out for the visitors.

Shaw missed a penalty that day, but that still wasn’t enough for West to salvage a result thanks to a Paul Ashton goal, which sealed a 1-0 win for Trafford. With both sides hugely change in the intervening 3 years, the forthcoming friendly will act as a major opportunity for either team to lay down a marker for the long road ahead.

West play Trafford FC at Brookburn Road this Saturday. Kick off is at 3pm, and normal ticket prices (£5 for adults, £3 concs, U12s free) apply, and free admission for WDCFC season ticket holders. You can read the full match report of our last friendly encounter below:

West continued their pre-season preparations with a narrow 1-0 loss at home to Evo Stik Pemier League side Trafford. In the absence of manager Andy Nelson, assistant manager Steve Settle took charge for the evening and fielded a strong side with Paul Hughes, Alex Baird and Callum Jones restored to the starting line-up.

The game was played with a high tempo from the start with Trafford looking to assert their status as a higher level side with their fluid football whilst West had to be content with trying to hit them on the break through Lee Malkin, Jerome Byson and Lewis Schofield.

Trafford almost took the lead mid-way through the first half when West sub Andy Johnson was adjudged to have handled a Trafford cross, however Joe Shaw’s penalty cannoned off the cross bar to keep the scores level. Trafford took the lead on the stroke of half time with a ball from the right found Paul Ashton in the middle 15 yards out and his shot found its way into the bottom left hand corner.

The second half saw both sides ring the changes, and although the tempo slowed, the quality did not as West came back into the game and could have walked away with a draw as Lee Hendley had the best chance of the half but went for placement instead of power and the Trafford keeper was able to save.  Substitute Kalene Baxter had a goal disallowed as a free kick was launched into the box and knocked down for Baxter to fire home.  However the linesman adjudged that there had been a foul in the heading of the knockdown for the finish.  Baxter then went close again but was adjudged to have been offside and, with Trafford still threatening on the break, time ran out before West could find the goal to bring it level.

In all, it was a very even encounter and the West management team could take plenty of positives from matching a side two divisions their senior for large majorities of the game.

West Starting Line-up: Hughes, C.Jones, S.Jones, Baird, Rogers, C.Schofield, Byson, Mason, Malkin, Gleave, L.Schofield Subs: Hitchen, Poole, Lilley, Summers, Taylor, L.Hendley, Curzen, Baxter, Johnson,

Trafford Starting Line-up: Read, Welsh, Ashton, Mason, Bayunu, Andrews, Palmer, J Shaw, Freakes, Hackney, Oates Subs: Black, Fallon, Schofield, Moores, Beadle, Darbyshire, Smith