Wanderers succumbed to their first reverse of pre-season after Fleetwood Town recorded a 2-0 win at Highbury.
Goals in each half from Jordy Hiwula and Conor McAleny ensured the Cod Army marched home with a victory in basking hot sunshine on the Lancashire coast.
The starting XI contained Wanderers’ strongest line-up of the pre-season so far with Jem Karacan recovering from the knock he picked up against Fylde.
Wanderers got underway with a 3-5-2 formation but found themselves defending a corner within a minute of kicking off.
The 1,000-strong fans, some of whom were bedecked in the brand new purple away kit, were in fine voice from the onset.
The hosts should have taken the lead when a cross came in from the right hand side, but Jordy Hiwula prodded wide from close range whilst under pressure from Dorian Dervite.
During the opening exchanges, Fleetwood appeared to be the more threatening of the two sides.
Bobby Grant saw a right footed curler deflect for a corner after Wanderers lost possession in attack.
The opening goal came after 18 minutes thanks to a header from the unmarked Hiwula who polished off Amari’I Bell’s cross.
McAleny’s shot from distance went wide as the Cod Army looked to increase their lead and capitalise on their dominance.
The visitors’ first attempt came just after the half-hour mark after some clever play from Ameobi found Vela whose left-footer curled over Alex Cairns’ cross bar.
No changes were made to the Wanderers team as they came out for the second half.
Hiwula wasted a glorious chance to double his tally moments after the restart when he was put through by Bobby Grant. But the frontman fired wide with only Howard to beat.
McAleny was the next to try and increase the hosts’ lead only to see his low drive deflect for a corner.
Parkinson made his first change of the afternoon bringing on Adam Armstrong and Adam le Fondre for Ameobi and Buckley just after the hour.
The double change immediately saw Wanderers become more potent as an attacking force, winning three corners in quick succession.
But the visitors left themselves with a mountain to climb after McAleny’s deflected strike from distance curled in past Howard.
And their afternoon was summed up when Le Fondre put the ball over the bar after some neat work from Karacan in winning possession.