Steve Watt liked the look of Hythe in their friendly defeat at Tonbridge on Saturday.

The Cannons lost 4-1 to an Angels side who play two levels above them in National League South.

They made some errors but boss Watt was pleased with the performance against Jay Saunders’ side as new signing Jake Embery scored his first goal of pre-season.

“It was a good exercise,” said Watt. “You can see the difference in levels.

“They punished our mistakes but overall I was really pleased with how we played.

“Particularly the first hour, we were really good, we played some really good stuff and could have had a couple more goals ourselves.

“It was a good test against a very good side.

“The one thing I never care about in pre-season is results.

“It’s about how the boys play.

“We played hard, aggressive, pressing from the front.

“You can sit back in pre-season, go defensive and try and frustrate but I don’t see the point in that.

“I made the boys aware there was stuff we wanted to get out of the game - that’s what I’m more interested in.

“We had a lot of the ball - particularly in the first half we more than matched them for possession - and I came away really happy with where we are. I thought the boys were very good.

“Tonbridge have got really good players and that’s why I was so pleased with the way the boys played.

“Jay rested a few but still had a good side out and it was good for our players to see the level, particularly those with ambitions to play higher.

“They’ve seen you can’t switch off for a split-second, which is how two of Tonbridge’s goals were scored in the first half.

“All four goals have come from crosses into our box.

“That’s something we were good at defending in the second half of last season, so it’s good to get that little wake-up call.

“We need to sharpen up a bit on that but it wasn’t a disappointing performance at all.”

Hythe drew 1-1 at Larkfield & New Hythe on Tuesday night, Charles Noyelle the scorer.

They host Kennington on Saturday (3pm) and visit Canterbury, who groundshare with Margate, next Tuesday (7.45pm).

They were due at Larkfield & New Hythe last night (Tuesday).