Darlington continued their preparations for the new season with a comfortable 2-0 win at Blyth Spartans last night.

Second half strikes from substitutes Mark Sheeran and last season's top scorer Barry Conlon ensured a second successive win for Quakers following Saturday's 2-1 victory at Bishop Auckland.

Quakers boss Mick Tait, who managed Spartans briefly in 2000, named another strong line-up including skipper and former Spartans defender Craig Liddle.

Spartans boss and former Hartlepool striker Paul Baker handed a start to Wallsend-born forward Graham Fenton, who made six appearances on loan with Quakers last season.

In a hotly-contested first half, both sides showed plenty of invention going forward although neither did little to test the opposing goalkeepers.

The game threatened to boil over in the 33rd minute when Spartans midfielder Stephen Richardson was sent crashing to the ground under a strong challenge from Gary Pearson. With minutes of the first half remaining Spartans goalkeeper Andrew Grainger denied Ashley Nicholls after a defensive slip.

Tait made a string of substitutions at half-time and it was forgotten man Sheeran who made the most difference just seven minutes into the second half.

He shook off the attentions of two Blyth defenders before firing low past Grainger to finally break the deadlock. Grainger was then spared his blushes when he failed to clear under pressure from Sheeran, but Conlon's effort flashed across the face of goal.

Quakers rounded off a comfortable win when Conlon made it two with ten minutes remaining with a well-placed header.

Blyth: Grainger, Morton, Southern, Dixon, Foster, Laws, Richards, Graham, Fenton, Woodhouse, Phillips. Subs: Langford, Booth, Rasmusen, Evans, Fenwick.

Darlington: Price, Wainwright, Clark, Liddle, Clarke, Hughes, Pearson, Keltie, Conlon, Mellanby, Nicholls. Subs: Valentine, McGurk, Sheeran, Mason, Waller, Smith, Coghlan, O'Shea, Alexander, Maddison.