Perry shows he means business

IT took less than an hour of Mansfield's first pre-season friendly to establish there is more than one Perry who means business at Field Mill this season.

Every Stags supporter knows the ambition of chairman Andy, whose No1 goal is to get the club back into the Football League.

But namesake Kyle looks to be just as driven in his quest for success – certainly if his Mansfield debut in South Wales is anything to go by.

Few, if any, of those who made the trip to Newport would have known what to expect from the striker, newly-acquired from Port Vale.

But after seeing him bag a brace against County, they now know the very least the 23-year-old has in his locker is the ability to score goals.

At 6ft 4ins, Perry is always going to be pigeon-holed as a target man – and the early indications are that he can win his fair share of headers and hold the ball up effectively.

Yet his finishing is likely to prove just important over the coming months if the Stags are to prosper. In that regard, the former Walsall trainee could not have wished for a better start with a well-taken double.

When the openings did materialise, Perry needed no second invitation with clinical strikes either side of half-time.

His first came thanks to a pinpoint 40-yard crossfield ball from Gary Mills that sent him racing clear into the penalty area.

Without hesitation, Perry picked his spot and, first time, he guided the ball wide of advancing keeper Glyn Thompson. It was a finish that was as adroit as it was confident.

The second half had hardly settled down when the Mansfield fans and Perry were celebrating again.

This time he faced a much more straightforward task – slotting a penalty neatly into the left-hand corner after Gary Silk had been tripped in the box by Martyn Giles.

Perry could have grabbed a hat-trick, but he was denied inside the box by a smart block from Thompson.

Still, the frontman could be well satisfied with his efforts before being replaced by Daryl Clare.

Perry, though, was not the only new boy to catch the eye. There were encouraging performances from other debutants too. Jason Bradley – still playing for a possible Mansfield future – did well, although he missed a gilt-edged one-on-one in the closing minutes that would have raised his stock.

Craig Armstrong performed at left-back with the minimum of fuss, as did second-half replacement Paul Heckingbottom. In the middle, Luke Jones in the first half and Luke Graham in the second, missed very little.

And in goal, substitute Tim Sandercombe took a couple of crosses with the aplomb that suggests he can be an able deputy for Alan Marriott.

Perhaps the most significant first impression was made by Mills, who, according to Holdsworth, is a similar player to last season's loan signing Ollie Hotchkiss, but with experience.

Taking the skipper's armband, the central midfielder showed a hunger and determination to win the ball back when not in possession.

And once he had the ball, the former Stevenage man knew exactly what to do with it.

There was, however, some disappointment, with Kyle Nix and Rob Duffy both sustaining injuries.

It was a particular shame for Nix, who had started brightly and struck the bar with a thunderous left-foot shot.

Even so, manager Holdsworth was rightly satisfied with the outcome – and not just because it saw him come out on top against his brother Dean, boss of Newport.

There may be no points at stake in pre-season friendlies, but getting off to a winning start is never going to harm self-belief.

Mansfield's next clash at home to Championship Leicester City tomorrow night will, of course, be an entirely different proposition.