LANCASTER City's pre-season campaign got off to a losing note with a 3-0 defeat against a Blackburn Rovers XI on Wednesday night.

Two second goals in the final 15 minutes from Marcus Marshall and Alex Marrow sealed victory for a young Rovers team made up of mainly of reserve team players.

The Dolly Blues had impressed early on, with captain Michael Stringfellow controlling the game in the middle of the field, and Dave Foster and Mark Jackson looking lively up front.

With City playing a more physical game, the technique and pace of the young Rovers team began to take hold as they dominated the second half of the first period.

They had two penalty appeals turned down, one from a handball by Scott Greenwood and another from a foul by Neil Marshall.

Rovers eventually took the lead through midfielder Josh O'Keefe who rose above the City defence to score from a right-wing free-kick.

Having struggled to string passes together the towards the end of the first half, Lancaster started the second half brightly.

They controlled the play during the opening exchanges, with Dave Foster forcing a save from Faroe Islands Under 21 International goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen.

The game became disjointed as more and more substitutions were made, and the superior fitness of the Blackburn side took hold as they counter-attacked to score the two decisive goals.

The final scoreline was hard on City who competed well for large parts of the game and never stopped with new face Paul Fildes looking lively up front after coming on as a substitute.

Captain Stringfellow even forced a save low to his right from replacement stopper Michael Hall, with time almost up.

Lancaster City: Thornley, Uberschar, Marshall, Swan, Greenwood, Heffernan, Rushton, Stringfellow, Foster, Jackson, Entwisle. Subs Rigby, Swarbrick, Cudworth, Fildes, Price, Love, Helliwell.