LEWIS Beale is happy with his start to pre-season at Wimborne Town, insisting: “Match sharpness is always key.”

Beale followed up a goal in the 4-0 win over Verwood Town by scoring twice against National League Eastleigh, in a 4-2 loss at the Wyatt Homes Stadium.

Reflecting on the contest against the club who play two levels higher than Wimborne, Beale told club media: “It’s good to test yourself against higher opposition. Match sharpness is always key. I think we did well.

“We haven’t done too many patterns in training yet, because it’s still early days in terms of pre-season. But minutes in the legs and against good opposition, you can’t really complain.”

Eastleigh boss Kelvin Davis, the former Southampton goalkeeper, said: “It’s a good little runout for the lads.

"We’re lucky to be able to put out two teams, for 45 minutes. It was kind of an extended training session.

“You don’t want to lose, so we’ll take the win. But it was the performance that was more important.”

Wimborne’s next pre-season test comes tomorrow when they host Weymouth (7.30pm), before going to James Ellis’s Bemerton Heath Harlequins on Saturday (3pm).