Billy On Pre-Season Opener

Last updated : 21 July 2003 By
Billy Dearden
The Magpies started their pre-season campaign with a victory thanks to goals from last season's top scorer Mark Stallard, Irishman Paul Heffernan and Tony Hackworth.

"It was a very good work out for us," Dearden told the Evening Post.

"Overall I was pleased with our performance. It would have been nice to get a few more goals, because there were the opportunities there.

"We could have been 3-0 or 4-0 up in the first half alone. The only other disappointment is that we didn't manage to keep a clean sheet.


"The new players looked OK, they all settled in fairly well. Tony (Barras) is OK, we just took him off as a precaution really. He has picked up a bit of a knock on his ankle." Added Dearden.