The hosts ran out narrow winners in the traditional pre-season curtain raiser at the Abbey Stadium. With the visitors fielding several triallists the line up was a mix of new and familiar faces and it was they who threatened first as Richard Smith headed Josh Stachini’s deep corner past the target before a loose clearing header saw Ashford Blake’s speculative effort go well wide for the hosts.
A corner then fell to Hincks who hit the Robins’ left hand post and a through ball saw Swallow denied by Ashton’s keeper but on the quarter hour Stachini fired home the opener from 20 yards with the equaliser arriving 6 minutes later as a loose clearance fell to Rhys Webb who rifled home from 25 yards out.
Seven minutes after the restart and a ball through the middle found Nico Collins sliding home to give the home side the advantage and ten minutes later Yaw Gyimah ran clear from halfway for the Robins before hitting the bar at the second attempt but the equaliser arrived shortly afterwards as Charlie Duke placed a nice strike into the far corner after being put clear on the right side of the area. The final word fell to Abbey Hey as Webb beat the offside trap and provide a tap-in for substitute Adam Farand.