REDDITCH United are shaping up nicely for the 2022/23 campaign after beating Rugby Town 2-0 in their latest pre-season outing.
Summer signing Ryan Nesbitt opened the scoring on 17 minutes when he ran in behind the Rugby defence and finished clinically across goal into the bottom left corner when one-on-one.
And Dylan Hart made sure of the win in the second half when he rose highest to plant a header past the Rugby goalkeeper from Lewis Hudson’s inswinging delivery.
That came after a thrilling 3-3 draw against Pershore Town as the Reds came from two goals down to rescue a draw.
Pershore raced into a two-nil lead after just 12 minutes thanks to a pair of set-piece goals before Bernard Mensah halved the deficit on 23 minutes from Nesbitt’s cutback.
However, the Plums restored their two-goal cushion in the second period with a well-worked move.
And Calum Flanagan proved Redditch’s unlikely saviour with two excellent goals the first of which came on 76 minutes as he drove forward with the ball before rifling a low shot into the bottom right corner from 25-yards out.
The defender struck again on 87 minutes when he volleyed home with the outside of his left boot after a flick on at the near post from his brother Reece Flanagan’s corner.
Prior to that result, the Reds eased to a 3-0 win against Studley thanks to goals from Nesbitt, Mensah and a trialist.
Redditch opened pre-season with a huge 6-1 win against Cradley Town as Nesbitt scored a brace along with captain Jack Byrne, Robbie Bunn and two trialists.
