Villa were almost behind early on, but recovered well and Angel broke the deadlock on 21 minutes. Seven minutes later Liam Ridgewell, whose attacking ability is currently improving as fast as his defence is receding, doubled the lead with his fourth strike in pre-season before Phillips completed a comfortable victory at the start of the second half.
But it could all have been different if Fryatt had converted a gilt-edge chance on seven minutes after ghosting past Ridgewell but Thomas Sørenson saved well. That proved the wake-up call Villa so dearly needed and ten minutes later Paddy Berger combined with the impressive Steven Davis but could not find Angel with his final ball. But the Colombian was on hand three minutes later, curling a shot from the edge of the box.
Ridgewell doubled the lead before the half-hour mark, rising to head in Berger’s cross to net his fourth goal in three games, a remarkable record considering he scored just once last season. He is beginning to look suspiciously like Angel in the attacking third – it is just a pity he is beginning to look like Angel in defence too. Solano almost made it three prior to the interval, before Phillips did exactly that three minutes after the restart, firing home Gavin McCann’s centre. Angel, Phillips and Berger had chances to make it four but Tubb’s will settle for a 3-0 victory none the less.
Pre-season Results:
18July: 2-0 Wycombe Wanderers
21 July: 14-0 Gällstad FK
23 July: 1-1 Jönköping Södra IF (3rd div.)
26 July: 3-3 GAIS (2nd div.)
31 July: 1-2
1 August: 2-2
2 August: 3-0