A stirring second-half display saw Avro beat Chadderton 4-1 in an entertaining friendly at the Vestacare Stadium on Saturday.

During the week, joint manager, Mike Norton, had told the media team at Avro the squad were determined to play entertaining and attacking football.

And in the first home friendly of pre-season, that is exactly what fans witnessed.

In a close first-half, the visitors got an early present when Avro netted soon after kick off but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Midway through the first half and Avro had another great attempt on goal that was effectively dealt with by the Chadderton defence.

It was the away side who drew first blood after they netted off a set-piece around half an hour in.

Avro managed to claw one back before the break and drew level thanks to a remarkable free-kick that saw Jake Cottrell beat the keeper.

This goal, combined with Cottrell’s high workrate, saw him awarded the man-of-the-match vote and helped get Avro back into the game.

From the moment Avro walked back on after half time, they were the stronger of the two sides.

Avro started to press more and the attacking players turned on the goal tap, netting three more before the final whistle.

“It was a tough game, I thought Chadderton did really well,” said joint manager David Birch.

“They are a good team. I don’t think our formation was great in the first half, we struggled a little bit.

“In the second, we changed it. I thought we did really well and it was a good performance in the end.”

The second half performance, in particular, illustrated exactly what Norton had stressed in the build-up to the game.

Norton, who recently joined alongside Birch, came with a reputation across the Manchester area for playing and managing football.

The duo were at Abbey Hey last season where they steered the team to success and have made an immediate impact at The RO with now nine goals in two friendly outings.

Norton said; “We have come into the squad with around 15 lads who have stayed on and we are more than happy with them.

“AJ Warburton, from Droylsden, and Benito Lowe, from Bury, have been brought into the side.

“One of the aims this season is to play nice, attractive football and score a lot of goals.

“It would be great to see more fans through the gate and we believe our style of football will encourage bigger crowds.

“We can’t wait to get the season started now.”