Saints didnt win the Memorial Trophy but will be pleased with their return to action against top quality opposition.

If anyone was expecting to see a plethora of Arsenal or Anderlecht stars for the tournament they were to be sadly disapointed, but with this game needing to be slotted in so early in pre season to accomodate the arrival of the Olympic torch, competitiveness was never going to be high on the agenda, but a good workout to blow out the cobwebs was.

Saints as expected mixed and matched the two teams that they put out, to give virtually everyone in their squad a game, although sadly there would be no Steven Davis and no Tadanari Lee, both presuambly still injured.

In the opening game, Saints in their new red kit lost to the Blegium side 1-0 after De Sutter scored for the visitors after kelvin Davis couldnt hold on to a shot, although the game had its moments, Anderlecht probably had the better of them and held on for the win.

In the second game Anderlecht were beaten by the same 1-0 score by Arsenal, meaning that the destination for the trophy hinged on the final game between Saints and Arsenal.

In the second match Saints switched to the white away kit, it was a swithc in personaly too with Dan Seabourne returning to action and Tommy Forecast in goal to name but two, on 31 minutes Saints took the lead with Jay Rodrigues heading home, but the lead didnt last long and Arsenal equalised through Gervinho for minutes later, with no points for a draw possible, it meant the game went to penalties which the Gunners won 5-4 to take two points and ensure that they collected a piece of silverware.

All in all there is little to take from this day as a pre season workout apart from the blowing out of the cobwebs, with five weeks still to go before the season a professional club usually wouldnt be playing this type of fixture, they would be at Eastleigh or the such like and even that is usually in the last four weeks, however this had to be played on this weekend to make it special with the Olympic Torch making an appearance. 

Photo: Action Images

arthurfane added 10:02 - Jul 16 We WON on penalties vs Arsenal - and cracking penalties they were all too!!! Sad to see Tadanari not playing, looking forward to seeing him next season . . . I reckon we would play Sharp and Rodrigues, or Lambert and Lee as a strike combo...
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redandwhitedee added 11:27 - Jul 16 Did you actually watch the game ? Arsenal did not win the penalties. The other team did.. you know the one's who go by the name of the saints. Unbelieveable.
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1teeminants added 11:47 - Jul 16 oh dear
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bstokesaint added 12:21 - Jul 16 Yeah, bit of a reporting faux pas there Nick. I think the added bonuses are there we know how to take penalties (who knows if that could be relevant in a future cup competition) and Jay Rod can score goals. That was a good spring to take his goal and given the aerial threat of Lambert we know decent balls into the box will be rewarded.
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Whatsforpud added 12:43 - Jul 16 You'll be telling us next that Harding didn't get a kick!
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simmo400 added 12:48 - Jul 16 I saw Chung (Lee) in east street on saturday afternoon. Looked fir enought to me getting in his sporty Merc.
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1962saint added 13:24 - Jul 16 I did go to SMS on Saturday but having no squad numbers in the programme or names on the backs of the Saints shirts, I didn't recognise one or two of our players. Does anyone know who wore the number 8 shirt in the first game? I thought it was Steve davis but apparantly not. I'm also a bit peeved at the lack of information that should be available from the club. Tadanari Lee picked up his foot injury a few games before the end of last season and, at the time, it didn't seem too serious. However, after the summer break still no sign of him playing. Does anyone know when he is due back?

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NPsaint1 added 13:35 - Jul 16 A lot of people were wondering who the mystery number 8 was in the first game.
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SaintNick50 added 13:47 - Jul 16 I was not there but I believe the no 8 was Calum Chambers a 17 year old acadamy attacking midfielder. TOGETHER AS ONE!
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BlackRod added 13:54 - Jul 16 I just hope that playing a competitive match so long before the start of the season hasn't ruined our pre-season build-up. The players should still be training not playing in tournaments. Now they run the risk of not being at peak fitness for the first game. Arsenal sent their reserve youth team and Anderlecht's season kicks off in a couple of weeks so they don't have the same problem.

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1teeminants added 14:25 - Jul 16 Yep Callum Chambers no 8 .
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EasternSaint added 21:34 - Jul 16 Lee's foot is out of the cast and he can walk fine, I guess he can run a little now too. But he's nowhere near match fit yet.
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DJI added 08:14 - Jul 17 Do any of you ever listen to the interviews coming out of the Club?! Nigel stated on Friday that 1) Tadanari has just started running and will be ready by the end of pre-season and 2) Steven Davis was carrying an injury from last season which was still not fully recovered. As for 1962saint, the team sheets were read out (and put up on the big screens) twice before the games on Saturday including the numbers on the shirts! And Nick, I am surprised at this piece! Normally you go into detail on who and what but today, you have brushed over most and got a fact wrong! Saturday was a chance to see the four youngsters that were now part of the full Squad but no mention of it? And to clarify the situation with the games. Nigel stated (again on Friday) that our pre-season would consist of playing as many games as they can against top opposition to help acclimatise the players to the new level they are expected to play at. The implication being that there would be nothing to gain from playing Eastleigh when heading into the Premiership this time round.

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