A first-half hat-trick from Lewis Dobbin helped Everton Under-23s to a 4-2 victory against Warrington Rylands in their opening pre-season friendly of the summer at USM Finch Farm.
After having a spell training with Rafael Benitez's First Team this month - including an outing at the weekend in a 3-0 practice match win against Accrington Stanley - Dobbin caught the eye in the young Blues' warm-up game on Tuesday night.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s pre-season or the last game of the season, strikers like to score goals and Lewis has started really well,” said Under-23s manager David Unsworth.
“He had a little taste with the First Team on Saturday and he’s followed it up with, not just his goals tonight, but also a great first-half performance.”
Dobbin scored the opening goal in the 13th minute when he intercepted a poor back pass and slotted a neat finish past keeper Graham McCall.
The second goal came on 20 minutes when Tom Cannon - who was on target in Everton's win against Accrington - headed home from close range after McCall had saved an effort from Stanley Mills.
Warrington Rylands then had their best spell of the first half and reduced the arrears two minutes later when Kane Drummond’s low drive beat Zan Luk Leban.
But two more goals from Dobbin put the outcome beyond doubt.
Just after the half hour he ran on to a superb through pass from Luke Butterfield before rounding the keeper - and then on 36 minutes he dribbled his way through the Rylands defence before placing a shot past McCall.
A plethora of second-half substitutions upset the Everton rhythm and Rylands were the better team after the break.
On 65 minutes they scored again when Steve Milne successfully converted a penalty awarded after Ryan Astley brought down Drummond.
Not long after, Callum Dolan weaved his way through the Everton defence and was unfortunate not to round it off with a goal. And before the end, centre-half Joe Denman hit the post with a powerful header from a corner.
Everton’s best effort of the second period came right at the end when Cannon forced a save from McCall after being teed up by Mills.
“We’ve really worked the lads hard for the last 10 days,” said Unsworth. “The volume of work left them a bit leggy going into the game, which is par for the course. It was a good workout and when we made the changes they came back into it.
“They’re a good team and I’d like to thank them for stepping in at the 11th hour to play the game after we had an opponent cancel on us.”
Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase at Wembley last season and are coached by Fraser Ablett, son of former Everton defender Gary, who Unsworth won the FA Cup with in 1995.
“It was fantastic to see Fraser,” said Unsworth. “I still can’t believe that his dad isn’t with us. It’s still heart-breaking but you couldn’t miss Fraser because he looks so much like his dad.
“It was lovely to have a word with him tonight – his dad is a true Merseyside football legend.”
