Neilston co-manager Martin Campbell has challenged his side to continue their fine form after they kicked off their pre-season fixtures with a 2-1 victory over St Andrews United at Barnetts Park.

A brace from Dylan Fletcher ensured the Brig O’ Lea side got their pre-season off to a winning start against the East of Scotland outfit.

Campbell was impressed with what he saw from his side and has demanded more of the same in the coming fixtures and Sectional League Cup later this month.

He said: “We’re pretty pleased with the performance. We played some great football. We had a mixture of boys from last year, some new signings and some trialists as well so it was a good mix. For all the boys to come together the way they did was great. We’ve only had four sessions since the end of last season so for us to put a relatively new team on the park and perform the way they did was good.

“We were very comfortable winners despite just winning 2-1. We more than deserved that.

“They gave us a good test. They were quite physical but we stood up to it well. Dylan scored two great goals. If I’m being honest he probably could have scored one or two more but it was good performances all round.

“I’d say they gave us a similar standard as to what we’re expecting this season. They have a lot of boys who have been involved in professional clubs’ youth ranks so they’re good players. They drew with East Fife just last week and also with Petershill so for us to go up to their park and win 2-1 is decent.

“The boys have set a good standard and unfortunately for them we’re not looking for them to drop that standard. That’s the challenge for them. I hope they’ve not built themselves up too quickly. The whole management team was pleased with the standard.”

Campbell and fellow boss John-Paul Dow handed debuts to Mark Blakey and Robbie Halliday, the latter linking up well with Fletcher to assist his second goal, as well as fielding a number of trialists to look over and Campbell admits he was happy with what he saw.

He said: “We had four trialists playing and they all done really well so this week we’ll hopefully sit down with them. The trialists were a left back, two centre midfielders and a goalkeeper and we were impressed. The idea of the trip was a bonding session between the players from last season and the new guys. We had a wee drink after the game in the social club and things like that make a huge difference towards the spirit between the boys. It was a great day all around.”