Craig Bellamy, Wayne Bridge, Nedum Onuoha and Michael Johnson were all in action alongside a good deal of talent to have recently emerged from the City Academy.
Andy Welsh made a couple of changes from the side that started last weekend at Altrincham, with Wayne Bridge starting and Abdi Ibrahim coming into midfield.
Staly’s keeper was in action almost straight away, tipping a Joan Roman header over in the opening seconds. He denied Craig Bellamy, as lively as last Saturday, with his feet in the 13th minute and shortly after his side was ahead. As with the game at Altrincham, City fell behind to penalty, Phil Marsh converting from the spot after the referee had blown for a foul in the area.
But it did not take long for City to level, and it was no surprise that it was Craig Bellamy who got on the score sheet after 20 minutes. The Welsh striker was found in acres of space on the left and he easily beat Budtz into the far corner.
City were ahead within two minutes, thanks to a deft effort with the outside of his right boot from Joan Roman, although Budtz was wrong-footed by a wicked deflection. Abdi Ibrahim braved the wrath of Bellamy by ignoring him when spinning round to make it 3-1 after 37 minutes, and Joan Roman added a second just before the break when he slid the ball across Budtz.
Meynell pulled one back after 56 minutes, beating Karius at the near post. Shortly after, Bridge, Bellamy & Johnson came off after a satisfactory work out for the trio, leaving Nedum as by far the most experienced player on the pitch until he was replaced by Kieran Kennedy with a quarter of an hour left. City ended the game with the kind of young side that will kick off the NextGen league in a few weeks time.
