Stambridge United 0, City 4

Stambridge – or Great Stambridge, to give them the proper title – had never seen anything quite like it.

The tiny village in deepest Essex, population just 300, had never hosted a professional side before.

Peter Taylor was doing his old pals a favour and for City, it was the chance to shake out the effects of a sweltering day spent on the coach.

But for the lads who usually kick around in the Southend Borough Combination, this was a night that they can dine out on for months.

Despite a promotion and cup double last season, Stambridge still play their football nine levels beneath the Bantams – the equivalent of the West Riding County Amateurs.

If this was a boxing match, they would never have been allowed to share a ring. But it was the occasion that mattered for the locals and the home players, not the result.

The fire brigade had been called in to water the pitch beforehand with a hose on full to try to soften the parched grass in the goalmouth. But the temperature was still tipping 25 degrees centigrade at kick-off.

The first-half players may not have appreciated the initial heat but the six travelling City fans who had swapped the soggy north were not complaining. The supporters deserve a medal – not just for being there but managing to find the place!

Trialists Chris Simm and David Syers got another half each to catch Taylor’s eye. The City boss also gave a run-out to free agent Lewis Hunt at right back. That is one position where there is currently no specialist cover should anything happen to Simon Ramsden.

Hunt, 27, is in the market after being freed by Wycombe, where he played for Taylor – and scored the winner against the Bantams at Adams Park during their promotion season.

City, wearing their new all-white change kit for the first time, needed only eight minutes to grab the lead as Leon Osborne pounced on a scuffed clearance from goalkeeper Paul Horwood.

But while the traffic remained predictably one way for the first half hour, the hosts refused to crack. Stambridge literally translates as Stone Bridge and for a while they showed rock-like resolve in the face of attack after attack.

The bobbly surface was a leveller, with the visiting players wary of turning an ankle, but Stambridge were not rolling over.

The City pressure inevitably told, though, after 34 minutes as Scott Neilson found the time and space to control and drill a left-footer into the bottom corner.

As with the Ferriby game, City emerged for the second half with a completely fresh look.

First-team coach Junior Lewis was pressed into action at centre half because Steve Williams had stayed back at the hotel suffering with a slight temperature. But the main interest was the first sight of Jake Speight since his release from prison.

City’s attacking threat centred on James O’Brien, who had three pops at goal from distance and forced a good diving save out of Horwood.

Again the ball rarely crossed the halfway line but the Stambridge resistance was once more admirable. They were doing their special occasion justice.

Omar Daley’s first chance to stretch his legs created space for O’Brien to have another crack and Horwood bravely dived at the feet of Gareth Evans to foil his attempted follow-up.

But Daley broke the second-half stalemate seven minutes from time after Speight had intercepted an errant pass.

A misplaced Stambridge header then clipped their own post before O’Brien got his reward for persistence, the Irishman firing home City’s final goal four minutes from time.

But Horwood had the last word with an excellent double save from Daley and Evans.

All in all, it was a useful fitness exercise for City ahead of the multiple training sessions to come this week – and from a PR view, they may have gained a significant number of new admirers down south.

CITY – First half: Saxton, Hunt, Threlfall, Horne, Oliver, Rehman, Neilson, Adeyemi, Hanson, Simm, Osborne. Second half: McLaughlin, Ramsden, L O’Brien, Syers, Duff, Lewis, Daley, Bullock, J O’Brien, Evans, Speight.