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Gillford Park were at the wrong end of a defeat on Saturday, but their manager is remaining philosophical. Darren Addison scored Gillford's sole goal as the Carlisle side went down 3-1 to Shildon, but speaking after the match with the Northern League side Gilly manager Jimmy McMurdo heralded the friendly, and the pre-season it rounded off, a success. Asked if he was pleased with Saturdays outing he replied, "Absolutely, it was fantastic. You don't really gain much from winning six or seven nil against teams that are below you, and that's why we've chosen to play against these higher teams like Shildon and Lancaster. "These are friendlies and even if you do end up losing by five or six goals you will always learn more from playing against the higher opposition." And who can disagree with him. While other teams scrabble around for confidence boosting victories over teams of a lesser calibre Gillford, who enter the season as First Division champions, have faith in their ability and look instead to pit themselves against the best on offer and will enter the season prepared for the challenge that lies ahead. His side may have won only one of their four fixtures so far, but the Gillford boss is certainly pleased with his pre-season preparations despite having had a less than certain fixture list, but admits he would still like to bring a couple more players to Gillford Park. "It's been very good. Although we've lost 2-1 on Wednesday and 3-1 today, the lads have taken a lot of positives from the games and I've learnt that they are willing to battle for sixty or seventy minutes even when they're losing, and when we take that into our league games it'll do a lot of damage against the teams that are at the same level as us. "Even so, I'm always looking at new players, and would like to bring on board anyone who will improve the squad. If someone is going to come in and take the club forward then you've got to look into that." Gillford will hold a speakers evening with England and Everton legend Dave Watson this Friday, prior to their first Premier Division outing, away to Gateshead Leam Lane, (formerly Wallsend,) to which the supporters bus will be running free of charge the following day. Their first match back in Carlisle will be at the Sheepmount on the 15th August against Northbank, while a week later they will play their first home game, when Carlisle City visit the Gillford Park Stadium. |