NEW SIGNINGS Marc Wilson and Kenwyne Jones bagged their first goals in Stoke City colours to help set up a 3-1 victory over Crewe Alexandra in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the Clayton Wood Training Ground on Tuesday afternoon.
Wilson and Jones struck in the first half before Ricardo Fuller sealed the win after the break as manager Tony Pulis made the most of an opportunity to give most of his first team squad some valuable match action during the international break.
It also presented Pulis with the chance to assess the fitness of many of the new faces who were all given a 45-minute runout including the transfer deadline day captures Wilson, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Jermaine Pennant and, of course, Salif Diao.
The game was barely two minutes old by the time Wilson opened the scoring with a superbly taken strike from 25-yards to round off a superb passage of play.
The lead could have been doubled moments later when Jones just failed to make contact with Walters' centre, after he did well to cut inside and deliver a teasing ball across the penalty box.
A spanner was thrown into the works by the visitors though as Byron Moore capitalised on an uncharacteristic Robert Huth mistake to round goalkeeper Carlo Nash and level the scoreline.
However, normality was resumed 15 minutes later as Trinidad and Tobago striker Jones superbly executed a volley to turn Matthew Etherington's corner into the back of the net from 10-yards.
Further chances came City's way as they dominated proceedings, but Wilson saw his effort saved well by the Alex goalkeeper, while Walters flashed an effort just wide from the edge of the penalty box in what was a one-sided first half.
Gudjohnsen showed glimpses of brilliance during an extremely worthwhile 45 minute outing, while Wilson and goalscorer Jones also enjoyed impressive work-outs.
Pulis introduced an entirely different eleven following the interval, bringing on the likes of Ricardo Fuller, Diao and Pennant, and they looked equally as sharp as they immediately set off in search of a third goal in the early stages of the second half.
Rory Delap, who was thrown on as a makeshift striker to provide the foil for Fuller, looped a header inches wide after rising to meet Pennant's centre in the 58th minute, while the former Arsenal man himself went close with a powerful effort shortly after.
Fuller was frustrated when he over-ran the ball after beating three men, but he was smiling soon after as he neatly controlled a long punt forward, swivelled and lashed an unstoppable effort into the top corner of the net.
Further goals seemed inevitable as Stoke continued to look the more likely of the two sides to add to the scoreline.
Delap smashed an effort goalwards, only to see it canon back of the post, while Pennant headed inches wide with a few minutes remaining.
At the other end Joel Grant was unlucky not to have halved the deficit when he saw his header hit the post, whilst Fuller was unlucky not to have grabbed a brace right at the death after the woodwork came to the visitors rescue for a second time.
CITY (1st Half): Nash; Huth, Shawcross, Faye, Collins; Walters, Wilson, Whitehead, Etherington; Gudjohnsen, Jones.
CITY (2nd Half): St. Louis-Hamilton; Lund, Shotton, Higginbotham, Davies; Pennant, Diao, Tonge, Soares; Delap, Fuller.
