By Sam Cox at Meadow Park
An Arsenal XI side produced a fine comeback in our first match of pre-season to come away with a draw at Meadow Park.
The hosts took the lead early on through Tyrone Marsh when, following a free-kick deep into our box, Karl Hein initially denied the forward but could not prevent him poking the rebound into an empty net.
The National League side then doubled their advantage in the 15th minute when Kabongo Tshimanga played the ball into the path of Pedro Mingoia, who slotted home.
We grabbed one back with five minutes remaining of the first half when Matt Smith slotted calmly past former Gunner Ryan Huddart following smart work by Zech Medley.
Four minutes later the hosts’ two-goal advantage was restored by Adam McDonnell after Tshimanga pinched the ball and played it back to the midfielder, whose low drive deflected past Hein.
We started the second half brightly and came close to pulling a goal back as Tyreece John-Jules saw an effort cleared off the line and Dominic Thompson’s strike came back off the post.
John-Jules’ performance off the bench was rewarded with a goal 15 minutes after the restart when he drilled a shot low past Huddart.
We were given the perfect opportunity to equalise when Mark McGuinness won a penalty after being pulled down at a corner and John-Jules stepped up and dispatched the spot kick to complete the comeback.
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