Stockton Town 1 Darlington 3

• Second pre-season win for Quakers
• Mark Beck scored twice, and Dylan Stephenson notched the goal of the game right at the end
• Two goals scored in the second half

Darlington won their second pre season friendly with a 3-1 away win at Stockton from the NPL Premier Division.

Mark Beck scored a goal in each half – one of them a trademark header – while Dylan Stephenson scored a cracker right at the end.

Quakers took the lead on 8 minutes, from a corner which came about from a good save by the Stockton keeper from Dylan Stephenson.

The right wing corner was floated to the far post where Tom Platt nodded the ball down for Beck to turn home.

Stockton, who included former Darlington hero Stephen Thompson in their side, levelled with a setpiece of their own when Tom Coulthard set up Josh Scott to score from close range.

Quakers nearly regained the lead just on half time when Tom Platt was just off target from a corner, but they broke through soon after the break when the ball was crossed perfectly from the right for Beck to head firmly home.

Stephenson and Ben Hedley, who played in a midfield role when he came on, went close before Aidan Rutledge beat a couple of players and crossed well from the left for Stephenson to run forward and volley superbly past the keeper.

Teams:

First half

Bobby Jones, Triallist A, Toby Lees, Triallist B, Max Howells, Tom Platt, Ellis Stanton, Triallist C, Triallist D, Mark Beck, Dylan Stephenson

Second half

Bobby Jones (sub Liam Mason 75), Ben Hedley, Triallist E, Scott Barrow, Max Kilsby, Triallist F, Paddy McLaughlin, Dylan Stephenson, Mark Beck (sub Jesse Nelson 65), Aidan Rutledge