Darlington fielded a youthful side and earned a deserved 3-0 win at Albany League Whitley Bay last night, with youth team coach Stuart Gibson praising half-time substitute Gary Williamson for his two-goal performance.

"The game is all about scoring goals and Gary got two, so obviously he is going to stand out," said Gibson.

"But there were a lot of good performances out there."

"We played on Saturday - it was our first game and we only had a day to do ball work before that.

"We lost then but we have gone on from there and we looked a lot better and a lot sharper on the ball tonight."

Two minutes before half-time Darlington scored the opening goal.

A right-wing corner fell to Richard Hodgson, who held off a defender's attentions and fired a left-foot shot which was given a massive deflection before it hit the back of the net.

At half-time Williamson replaced Paul Campbell and Chris Hughes came on for Lee-Paul Scroggins.

Four minutes later Williamson capitalised on Ritchie Latimer's mis-kick 20 yards from goal and went on to slot the ball home with a cool finish to make the score 2-0.

Darlington's three remaining substitutes then came into play with James Huntley, Craig Skelton and Mark Kielty coming on for Jamie Horsley, John Kennedy and Eddie Duah.

Ten minutes from the end Williamson tucked away his second goal from the penalty spot after his darting run was brought to an end by a Whitley Bay defender ten yards from goal.

Gibson stressed the importance of this pre-season fixture, saying: "At the moment it is a hard period for a pro footballer and people are looking to get their fitness back. That's why we have games like this."