Everton grab first win of preseason in behind-closed-doors friendly at new stadium

In a behind-closed-doors match, Everton beat Port Vale FC, a League Two side, at Hill Dickinson Stadium today, securing the Toffees' first win of a preseason campaign that has been decidedly mediocre thus far.

The win was 2-1 over the Stoke-on-Trent side, although the Blues did fall behind early in the match, and found themselves down 1-0 at halftime.

But Charly Alcaraz became the first senior men's team player to score on the new ground to level things in the second half, with James Garner slotting home a free kick to give the Toffees the victory.

The Argentine's goal was well worked from the Toffees, an encouraging sight given the state of some of the football in preseason so far.

For Garner, the free kick is the Englishman at his best, a top bin slot past the Port Vale goalkeeper.

Although Port Vale will go down as the first team to score in a match featuring Everton's senior team, it is good to see that Everton, reportedly using a side similar to Saturday's loss at Blackburn, were able to pull out the win.

Obviously, the historical notes will really kick in once the competitive matches begin when Brighton comes to Hill Dickinson for Matchweek 2, but it may always be a fun bit of trivia to think about this match and how it helped acclimate the players to the new ground.

But with the players needing more game time ahead of their trip to the United States to take on Bournemouth, West Ham, and Manchester United in three matches in three cities over nine days, this is the kind of match you like to see from Everton.

If nothing else, this serves as a reminder of how close Everton are to the first real match at the new stadium, although it does feel like the Roma friendly is going to be a great atmosphere too. The ground looks great empty; just how much better will it be full of Toffees?