PNE boss Alex Neil happy with victory at Bamber Bridge

The annual pre-season friendly clash saw North End run out 7-0 winners, the same scoreline by which they won 12 months ago.

Summer signing Graham Burke set them on their way to victory in the fifth minute, with Billy Bodin quickly doubling the lead.

Sean Maguire then struck a hat-trick in 20 minutes as the visitors went in 5-0 up at the interval.

A different XI took to the pitch in the second half with Louis Moult and Josh Harrop finding the net.

Neil said: "I thought some of the movement and passing in the first half was excellent.

"It ended up being 7-0 and could have been more than that, we missed a penalty as well.

"What I did see was that our pattern, movements and quality on the ball was a big improvement to when we played here last season although it was the same scoreline.

"We set the foundations during last season and we are looking to build on them.

"Certainly when Bamber Bridge came out and tried to play against us, our first-half team showed their quality.

"In the second half they sunk back in to try and limit the damage if you like but we still managed to pick them off and score a couple of goals.

"All in all, we didn't pick up any injuries and we got what we needed out of the game."