Report: Pre-season concludes with Münster win

A slow start was compounded by Felix Higl’s well-taken strike just past the 10-minute mark, before the visitors struck back quickly thanks to Leo Scienza’s effort to ensure the scoreline matched an evenly contested opening 45 minutes.

Dominating the second half, Saints looked like they were going to be frustrated by the hosts, until Lewis Dobbin continued his run of contributing in every pre-season game, demonstrating his composure to net a late winner.

In action a week before the season opener at Colchester United in the Carabao Cup, Saints took advantage of their final day in Germany to get two outings against their 3. Liga opposition.

A behind closed doors 70-minute morning match-up saw a strong XI add some final match minutes to their legs, with Cameron Archer’s first-half strike cancelled out by Mikail Demirhan’s effort.

Saints had great support in North Rhine-Westphalia

In the afternoon’s main event, Under-21 midfielder Joe O’Brien Whitmarsh was the only starter outside of Tonda Eckert’s first team core.

Despite Saints’ strong line-up, it was the German third division side who started on the front foot, taking the lead on 13 minutes after a bright start at the LVM-Preußenstadion.

A ball over the top looked comfortable for Taylor Harwood-Bellis to clear, but by misjudging the flight of the ball, Higl was allowed to pinch possession and deliver the ultimate punishment with a rasping strike into the top corner from the edge of the box.

Yet to truly test Morten Behrens’s goal, the visitors levelled with their first meaningful attempt just four minutes later.

Scienza looked to link-up with Lewis Dobbin, but when his pass ricocheted back to him just inside the box, the Brazilian clinically picked out the bottom corner with a pinpoint low effort.

Leo Scienza sharpened his sights ahead of the season starting

With parity restored, the two sides traded spells of territory, each marked with chances to retake the lead before the break.

Charalambos Makridis saw his curling strike from 20 yards fall a yard wide of Daniel Peretz’s far post, before Lucas Zeller forced Saints’ number one to get a hand to his misdirected cross that was destined to sneak in at the near post.

From the resulting corner, Matsuki was needed to head Niko Koulis’s shot off the line, while in the final act of the half, Harwood-Bellis headed home Scienza’s wide free-kick only to be denied by the linesman’s flag for offside.

Attacking the stand housing the travelling Southampton faithful after the restart, Eckert’s side upped the tempo, largely camping themselves in the Münster half.

A number of promising positions failed to yield anything more than a flurry of corners up to the hour mark, until a set-piece almost paid off.

Scienza’s out-swinging corner found the head of Harwood-Bellis perfectly, but this time Saints’ captain for the day was denied by the strong left hand of Behrens.

Lewis Dobbin grabbed his third goal of pre-season

Unable to find a breakthrough, youngster Nick Oyekunle took Ben Brereton Díaz’s spot for the final 20 minutes, moments before Nico Preißinger lashed a long-ranged strike over the bar as the hosts registered their first attempt of the half.

Oyekunle could’ve made an instant impact when a cross from the left fell kindly, but his scuffed effort was simple for Behrens to gather. When the goalkeeper was finally beaten, Matsuki saw his shot from 12 yards cleared off the line by Tim Dietrich, but a winner was to be found.

Matsuki this time turned provider, sliding in a pass for Dobbin who took one touch before rolling the ball into the back of the net via the post to round off pre-season on a positive note ahead of the round one cup trip to face the U’s next Saturday evening.

Morning match

SC Preußen Münster: Harsman (Schenk 36’), Sertdemir, Paetow, Stuhlmacher, Demirhan, Korte, Tasov, Schulz (Vilhelmsson 36’), Varelmann, Scharlau, Noack.

Goal: Demirhan (33’).

Booked: Paetow.

Southampton: Long, Roerslev, Stephens, Quarshie, Manning, Charles, Bragg, Robinson, Archer, Akachukwu, Downs.

Goal: Archer (21’).

Booked: Bragg, Quarshie.

Afternoon match

SC Preußen Münster: Behrens, Kolbe, Dietrich, Zeller, Adeh, Mees, Makridis, Preißinger, Koulis (c), Ndikom (Schulz 67’), Higl (Tasov 81’).

Unused substitutes: Harsman, Korte, Höffling.

Goals: Higl (13’).

Booked: Zeller, Preißlinger, Makridis, Dietrich.

Southampton: Peretz, Bree, Harwood-Bellis (c), Wood, Welington, Downes, O’Brien-Whitmarsh, Matsuki, Dobbin, Scienza (Sugawara 83’), Brereton Díaz (Oyekunle 73’).

Unused substitutes: Dobson-Ventura, Kayi Sanda.

Goals: Scienza (17’), Dobbin (89').

Attendance: 10,357.