U’s make putty of Putten

CLASSY Colchester United eased to a 3-0 win over Dutch side SDC Putten in their first friendly of their mini-tour of Holland this evening.

The U’s dominated against their opponents from the fourth tier of the Dutch League, in front of a crowd of about 300.

John Ward’s men were 2-0 up at half-time, thanks to goals from two defenders.

Centre-half Pat Baldwin headed United in front, before summer recruit Michael Rose doubled the lead with a well-struck free-kick.

Striker Steven Gillespie added the third in the second half, converting a penalty after he himself had been upended by the home keeper.

It could have been a far bigger victory, because the U’s also had two goals disallowed in the second period, with Anthony Wordsworth the unfortunate victim on both occasions, both for offside.

Midfielder Wordsworth had also had a goal disallowed for offside in the U’s first pre-season friendly last week, in the 4-0 win at Maldon & Tiptree.

So this was a very satisfactory work-out for the U’s, who have been based at their Dutch training camp for the last three days, sharing the facilities with Greek Super League team PAOK Thessoloniki.

Aberdeen had also been staying at the camp, which gave former U’s striker Scott Vernon a chance to catch up with a few ex-team-mates.

Vernon, 27, spent two-and-a-half seasons with the U’s before moving on a free transfer to Aberdeen last summer. He ended last term as the Dons’ leading scorer with 15 goals.