Hilda Park FC 0 Darlington FC U23s 3

The players’ hard work off the field paid off when they won 3-0 at Hilda Park on Saturday,

They kept a clean sheet and restricted Hilda Park to just one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes, which was particularly pleasing.

Darlington took the lead early on after a penalty was awarded for pulling back a Darlo player. Up stepped Jack Mortimer, who calmly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to put the U23s 1–0 ahead.

Around 15 minutes later, a superb through ball from Harry Butters sent Mortimer through on goal. He produced a fantastic first-time finish, expertly lobbing the advancing goalkeeper to double our advantage.

The second half started fast and furious, as expected, but the U23s remained organised and defended extremely well. Nick Cranston in the Darlo goal was excellent, confidently catching and punching away crosses whenever Hilda Park threatened.

Mortimer had an opportunity to complete his hat-trick but saw his effort go straight at the goalkeeper.

With 15 minutes remaining, young Harry Frazer was introduced for the tiring Mortimer, and with just five minutes to go, Frazer produced a moment of quality, curling a lovely shot into the corner of the net to make it 3–0.

The U23s managed the game extremely well in the closing stages and gave Hilda Park very little to work with.

Manager John Walters said: “This was a fantastic win against a good Hilda Park team. The most pleasing thing for me today was the way we defended. To keep a clean sheet and not make the silly defensive mistakes that have cost us in previous games is a massive positive.

“We have worked really hard on our defending in training and today the lads showed exactly what they are capable of.

“With 11 players missing, we knew the squad would be stretched, but everyone stood up, worked for each other and controlled the game.

“Three goals, a clean sheet and a very professional performance. We can be really pleased with that today.”