Peterhead manager Jim McInally spent the evening of his tenth anniversary of joining the club by leading the Blue Toon in a closed door friendly against a League 2 side.
It was a competitive encounter with Peterhead finding the net four times with Jim using the match as an opportunity to give some players game time, help others pick things up after injury, try a three at the back approach as well as running his eye over three trialists.
One of the trialists made a huge impact as he grabbed a second half hat-trick with Niah Payne also finding the net with Jim saying: “We got the chance of this game earlier this week and I thought it was important to take it. I wanted Lenny Wilson to keep sharp in goals and we also needed to have the likes of Danny Strachan and Lyall Cameron on the pitch for a good while as well.”
“Jordon Brown got some game time after his injury which will help him a lot.”
Jim added: “I also tried playing with three central defenders in David Wilson, Andy McDonald and Jason Brown for a period of the game. There have been some games this season where we have been too open and I wanted to see if switching formation would help.”
“It is fair to say that despite not keeping a clean sheet their performances have given me food for thought.”
As for the mystery man who grabbed a trio of goals Jim said: “He is a free agent and available to come in straightaway. He has trained with us and looked very good but it was important to see him in a game environment.”
“He produced in that environment and I now need to see what his expectations are and if we can match them. The other two trialists have more complicated situations so I do not think anything can happen short term with them.”
