TIVIDALE boss Ian Long is pleased with his team's showing during pre-season after they lifted the Joe McGorian Memorial Trophy.

The club's preparations for life in Division One South of the Northern Premier League have gone well and the players were rewarded with another piece of silverware thanks to a 1-0 victory against Quorn AFC last Saturday.

The annual pre-season fixture sees the winners of the Midland Alliance take on the winners of last season's league cup.

A first half strike at The Beeches by Nigel Penney secured the win for Tivi against their former league rivals.

Long said: "Pre-season has gone really well and it was pleasing to win another trophy.

"Even though it is still pre-season I told the players that they had to take it seriously when there is silverware up for grabs.

"It is a good confidence booster for us ahead of the coming campaign."

The boss also praised the players for the way they have performed so far.

"Preparations have gone well for us. The most pleasing thing has been how solid we have been at the back. It was a feature of last season so it is brilliant to have carried that on," he added.

"Despite losing Nathan Waite to Chasetown, the forwards have also played their part to and got their names on the scoresheet. They now have to step up and fill that gap."

Tividale were set to travel to take on Bromsgrove Sporting last night before welcoming Northern Premier League outfit Halesowen Town tomorrow night.

Long is hopeful the two games will provide a good test as he puts the final touches to his squad.

"We will be fielding different teams in the two games this week so we can continue to assess the squad. We will be looking to cut down our numbers before the season starts.

"Our main aim this season will be to survive. We want to stay in the league and consolidate our position," he said.