A youthful Coventry City XI were narrowly beaten by Stratford Town on Saturday afternoon.
Four trialists were named in the City starting line up against a strong Stratford side, which included former Sky Blues keeper Liam O'Brien and academy graduate Dan Lafferty.
It was Lafferty who opened the scoring for the hosts after 7 minutes. The former Sky Blues youngster won the ball back in the final third from a City defence looking to play out from the back and struck the ball into the net to put the Bards in front.
The Sky Blues brought the scores level after 16 minutes with their first attack of the game. A flowing move from City released striker Kai Andrews and he finished smartly from close range to make it 1-1.
However, Stratford would be the eventual winners of a tight encounter. In a second-half where substitutions unsettled the flow of the game, an 85th strike from sub Riley O'Sullivan would be decisive and enough for a pre-season win for the hosts.
Attendance: 514
Coventry City XI: Trialist (GK); Jayden Smith, MacKenzie Stretton, Trialist, Trialist, Trialist, Conrad Ambursley, Charlie Finney, Tom Costello, Kai Andrews, Rylie Siddall.
Substitutes: Ben Blakely (GK); Callum Perry, Dave Mantle, Jay Marshall, Lean Osaghee, Trialist, Trialist.