Quakers gave 20 players an outing in our first pre-season friendly at Shildon.

The game, which was organised as part of the David Ferguson transfer in January, was watched by a crowd of over 400, three quarters of them Darlington fans, and saw Shildon win 2-0 with a goal in each half by striker Adam Burnicle.

Manager Martin Gray included several triallists in the workout, four of them in the first hour, with only keeper Peter Jameson and midfielder Leon Scott playing the full 90.

Pre season friendlies are partly about giving players some much-needed match practice, and MG said; “There were some parts of the game that I was happy with, and some not so. We’ve got another friendly on Wednesday at Newton Aycliffe, and we’ll be trying a few things out there as well.”

Quakers had a couple of chances in the first half that were saved by former Darlington keeper Nick Liversedge, while David Ferguson made some good runs on the left.

Second half sub Harvey Saunders was unlucky not to score. He intercepted a back pass but Liversedge palmed his effort away, and then he volleyed wide from a Mark Beck nod down.

The teenager made a good late run and teed up Beck, but Liversedge pulled off an excellent block and denied him a goal.