Darlington 0-3 Motherwell: Win for 'Well in final pre-season friendly

A strong Steelmen side took to the field as manager Stephen Robinson set about preparing his troops for their first competitive outing of the season this Saturday, when they visit Queen of the South in a Betfred Cup Group E encounter.

The hosts’ resistance was broken with five minutes left in the half.

Declan Gallagher saw his goalbound header from a corner cleared off the line, and Long was on hand instinctively to shoot home the opener.

Just before half-time, the lead was doubled.

From Allan Campbell’s cutback, Donnelly fired into the net from 25 yards, taking a deflection on the way through to the top corner.

A series of second half changes saw the game struggle to find much rhythm but Motherwell were largely untroubled, before Semple stepped up at the death to rattle home a free kick from 20 yards.

Motherwell: Gillespie, Tait (Grimshaw), Gallagher (Devine), Hartley (Dunne), Carroll (Livingstone), Donnelly (Maguire), Campbell (Sloth), Polworth (Semple), Hylton (Trialist), Long (Johnson), Cole (Scott).

Motherwell – who reached the Betfred Cup final in the 2017-2018 season – begin their pursuit of glory in this campaign in Dumfries this weekend.

Their group phase fixtures continue with a home game against Morton next Friday, July 19, kick-off 7.45pm.

It’s a trip to Dumbarton on Tuesday, July 23, kick-off 7.45pm, before the Steelmen finish the section at home to Annan Athletic, kick-off 3pm on Saturday, July 27.