SWINDON Town manager David Flitcroft felt this afternoon’s opening pre-season friendly at Swindon Supermarine was a more than worthwhile exercise after his tenure began with a one-sided 7-1 victory.

Paul Mullin was one of seven summer signings to run out in Town colours for the first time at the Webbswood Stadium and marked his maiden appearance with a fine second-half hat-trick.

Conor Thomas, John Goddard, Luke Norris and trialist Jordan Slew were also on target for Town – the latter one of five trialists that Flitcroft cast an eye over as he continues to strengthen his squad size.

Although the contest was unsurprisingly one-way traffic for large periods, Marine did at least have a goal to show for their efforts through Callum Parsons after the break.

With Flitcroft running the rule over his squad on the training pitch for the past fortnight, today’s game gave him the first chance to see them in a competitive environment and the Town chief was pleased with what he saw.

“Every training session, every day, we have been learning about the group, learning about the staff and learning about the club and the supporters,” said Flitcroft.

“Whoever you are playing, you have still got to commit to what we want and commit to our plan and our strategies and I thought they did that brilliantly.

“There is still loads of stuff to work on but certainly, as the first outing, when we review the GPS and the data, I’m sure it will be where I wanted it to be.

“That was the main focus, that our physical data was high, and that’s a pre-requisite of any Swindon Town team going forward.

“We are trying to settle the squad down, we are trying to get the boys integrated and coming here, we have been able to pull the group together.

“We have played two different teams and looked at different strengths and different weaknesses so it’s been a good day for us.”

A large crowd were in attendance at the Webbswood Stadium, with many fans eager to make the trip for what is likely to be their only chance to see Town play in Swindon during pre-season.

In his first outing as Town boss, Flitcroft saw a feel-good factor off the pitch as well as on it.

“We have had a fantastic day down here, we’ve been really welcomed,” added Flitcroft.

“It’s a great set-up here and I am really glad we took the game on because it’s really important we support the local community and get people talking about Swindon from all areas. I have enjoyed that.

“There is a good vibe here, a good energy, all the kids were on the pitch at the end of the game so it’s been a great day and it’s something that we should commit to and we’ll try to do that more.

“It was also a good insight into some of the players are where we are at fitness-wise so it was a good workout for us.”