HARROGATE TOWN 7 CITY 2

AN ARTIFICIAL pitch – and a completely artificial indicator to the new City campaign.

With the Shrewsbury curtain raiser now less than a fortnight away, Michael Collins once more decided to keep his pre-season powder dry.

The result was humiliation at the hands of non-league hosts holding nothing back in their own preparations for their debut in fifth-tier football.

Possibly feeling a little bit disrespected by the opposition team selection, Harrogate went for the jugular from the off.

Their tally of six by half-time could have been 10. Even allowing for a slither of City resistance after the break, you sensed Simon Weaver’s side would have hit double figures if they had kept the throttle down.

It was a sobering experience for the travelling fans but one that will have minimum impact on their team’s fortunes in Shropshire.

Tyrell Robinson was the only player to feature who is likely to be involved against the Shrews, although a hastily-deleted tweet from his agent highlighted the general dissatisfaction about naming such a young team so close to opening day.

The watching Collins stood by his decision not to risk more established names on Harrogate’s artificial surface, which is one of the better of his kind in the country.

But it did beg the question why schedule such a friendly at this stage knowing that it was a plastic pitch.

The answer to that probably lies in the uncertainty that shrouded the first half of City’s summer. With the convoluted search for Simon Grayson’s successor, you sense pre-season almost became a scrabble of what fixtures were left available.

The only impact Saturday’s shelling will have on club morale is the obvious indication that some of the development group remain a way off being ready for the proper game.

City’s lack of squad depth was exposed by a string of injuries around the middle of last season. On evidence like this, you wonder again about the under-belly however strong the recent recruitment has become.

Those on the fringe will not fill anyone with confidence.

The first half was one long procession towards George Sykes-Kenworthy’s goal.

The teenager, who is set to be loaned out again for non-league experience, got the full 90 minutes. It will have felt much, much longer as he resembled a sitting duck in a shooting gallery.

From the moment Dominic Knowles rattled one wide after just 10 seconds, the pattern was set.

Collins later berated the questionable attitude of his youngsters as Harrogate strolled forward at will. This was men against boys, quite literally.

Knowles touched in Liam Kitching’s knockdown for the opener and Jack Emmett took a painful clatter from the advancing Sykes-Kenworthy to lob number two.

The midfielder slammed a well-taken third and the floodgates were well and truly open.

Jack Muldoon, Knowles again and Aaron Williams piled on the agony as Harrogate always seemed to have spare men lurking in front of goal.

City could not lay a finger on them. One botched free header from Tom Clare was the only response as the coaching staff showed their displeasure by hooking Omari Patrick five minutes before the break.

Ellis Hudson’s late lunge on Harrogate skipper Josh Falkingham to start the second half highlighted the frustration. But at least there was a hint of bite about City after an interval rollicking.

Clare struck twice in the space of seven minutes, sliding home Robinson’s cross and then charging down a fluffed clearance by home keeper Jamie Belshaw.

A couple of further scrambles inside the Harrogate box went unpunished before the hosts got their act together again. Sykes-Kenworthy pulled off a good save to thwart Knowles before Williams did make it seven with a smart reaction volley.

The first couple of bars of “Always look on the bright side of life” broke out as the visitors warmed down afterwards – before the Harrogate music man thought better of it.

But those City players still had the full force from the reaction of their coaches in the dressing room ringing in their ears.

Collins had told the young team beforehand to make the most of the opportunity and show why they would be worthy of a place in the first-team mix.

He knows exactly where they stand in the pecking order now.

HARROGATE: Belshaw, Fallowfield, Howe, Burrell, Kitching (Parker 46), Falkingham, Emmett, Thomson, Muldoon, Williams, Knowles (Agnew 77). Subs: Langmead, Lees, Stewart, Cracknell.

CITY: Sykes-Kenworthy, Devine (Gunner 36), Wood, Colville, Hefele, Isherwood, Patrick (Powell 40), Peters, Clare (Bruenker 76), Hudson, Robinson. Subs: Basic, Darke.