Joe Thomas analyses Everton's performance after the first pre-season friendly of the summer at Accrington Stanley
Joe Thomas is the Everton FC correspondent for the Liverpool ECHO. He follows the Blues home and away, providing match reports, analysis and insight into events at Goodison Park, Finch Farm and beyond. Joe spent more than a decade covering news on Merseyside, working on award-winning investigations and extensively covering matters related to the Hillsborough tragedy - including the recent criminal prosecutions. Always grateful for tips and feedback, he can be contacted at joe.thomas@reachplc.com and on Twitter via @joe_thomas18
After three minutes, Harry Tyrer had the ball at his feet and was looking for options. The player to drop deep and help him was teenage midfielder Harrison Armstrong.
His run was tracked by an Accrington Stanley player but instead of sending a pass back to his keeper he turned, shimmied past Dan Martin and carried the ball into space.
It was a template for a first half in which most of the senior players available to David Moyes were involved - all but Beto and Jake O’Brien - but one in which it was the youngest in their number who stood out.
Armstrong broke into the awareness of Everton supporters this time last year. Amid a midfield injury crisis he was pulled into the first team squad by Sean Dyche, not known for blooding youth, and earned his first minutes at Salford City.
Six weeks later he had made his Premier League debut at Tottenham Hotspur and earned his first senior start in the Carabao Cup penalty shootout defeat to Southampton.
He ended last year helping to pull Derby County from a Championship relegation scrap - via a man of the match performance at Goodison Park in the FA Cup before leaving for the Midlands.
If last season was Armstrong’s breakout campaign then what the upcoming one will be for him is unclear. In a threadbare squad, the 18-year-old has an opportunity to show David Moyes he is ready to help provide an extra, enthralling option in the first season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
In a busy summer he may be one spot that does not need to be filled by a transfer.
At the Wham Stadium on Tuesday night he started to make that case. The first 45 minutes were goalless but Everton forced opposition keeper Ollie Wright into a number of good saves. He twice denied Youssef Chermiti, given the chance to lead the line.
The second save was a stunning reflex stop when a diving Chermiti met a clever ball from Tim Iroegbunam.
Carlos Alcaraz, in his first outing as a permanent Everton player, was dynamic but was forced to drift inside from his starting position on the left wing to try and influence the game - much as he had to when pushed wide while on loan last season.
Vitalii Mykolenko twice got beyond his full-back to deliver useful crosses but his forwards were unable to convert.
At the heart of it all was Armstrong - it was his pass that teed up Iroegbunam to cross for Chermiti, his threaded ball that allowed Mykolenko to almost find Chermiti at the near post and his curling 20-yard effort that almost beat the outstanding Wright.
It was also the teenager who found himself directing his elder teammates as he called for calm on the ball.
He was still on the pitch when Benn Ward, unmarked at the back post, headed in from a corner early in the second half.
Such was his desire to influence the game in the aftermath, his one lesson from this fitness test may be that he cannot do everything - as he was perhaps guilty of trying to do as he hunted down opponents in a bid to try and turn the game around.
The game burst into life after the opening goal but clear cut chances were few. As Everton were made to work to keep a punchy home side from a second, it was the introduction of two young wingers that proved revelatory.
Isaac Heath, just 20, signed a new deal with the club last week - a reward after earning the player of the year accolade in the Under-21s last year.
As he moved to the left an even younger prospect, Justin Clarke entered the fray on the right. Both injected positivity and menace, combining well to create chances for both Dwight McNeil and Nathan Patterson.
The equaliser came from the endeavour of Heath. He picked up the ball inside the Accrington half and surged at his rival full back, forcing him to totter backwards into his own area before sticking out a forlorn leg to fell his teenage counterpart.
Beto finished the job with an excellent strike and Everton left sodden but with useful minutes in the tank and confidence brimming from their starlets. Their brightest, Armstrong, continues to shine.