Pools Youth Team were narrowly beaten by Darlington on Saturday after a closely-contested affair at Chester-le-Street.

Director of Youth Terry Mitchell oversaw the team, who fell behind to a quickly-taken free-kick after just ten minutes which was allowed to stand even though the keeper was still setting his defensive wall.

Callum Martin almost brought Pools back on level terms after good build-up play by Gary McRoberts and Daryl Scaife but the final shot flew wide.

Pools started the second half at a higher tempo and Lee Mason was denied by the Darlington keeper after more nice combination play from Scaife and McRoberts.

However, defences were largely on top throughout the game and Pools were struggling to get back on level terms, though Marc Ellison came close when his goalbound shot was blocked on the line.

"There wasn't much between the teams," Mitchell commented afterwards.

"We were caught out by the free-kick early on but after that there wasn't much in the way of goalmouth action and both defences played well.

"We'll certainly be doing some more work on our play in the final third which is an area we need to improve if we're going to break teams down in games like that."

Full Time: Pools 0 Darlington 1

Pools: Thomas, Quantrill, Purvis, Ellison, Sharples, Johnson, Richards, Liddle, Scaife (Wakefield), McRoberts (Mason), Martin (Reach).
Subs not used: Pearson, Herbert.