Darlington 0 3 Newcastle As Pre-Season Friendlies Get Underway

With Bruno, Woltemade, Wissa, Elanga and Toure all still on WC leave Eddie Howe fielded two different teams in each half of this behind closed doors game.

This match report is taken directly from the NUFC official site.

Joe Willock, William Osula and Sean Neave were on target as Newcastle United's 2026/27 pre-season campaign got off to a winning start against North East neighbours Darlington.

The National League North side - managed by former Magpie Steve Watson - made the short journey to The KNOX on Saturday for the behind-closed-doors clash at the end of United's first week back in training ahead of the upcoming season.

Howe fielded completely different XIs in each half, handing a debut to summer signing Sean Steur in the opening 45 minutes before fellow new boy Ewen Jaouen kept goal in the second period for a team largely made up of under-21 players.

Newcastle dominated the ball but it took until the 29th minute for them to find a breakthrough against a well-organised Darlington side who had won each of their two pre-season friendlies so far, when Jacob Murphy crossed from the right and Willock turned home from close range.

Six minutes later, Osula made it 2-0 as he converted confidently from the penalty spot after Willock went down under a challenge from Ben Hedley.

The interval saw both managers ring the changes, with teenagers Neave and Trevan Sanusi the only Newcastle players boasting competitive first-team experience for the Magpies.

And 19-year-old Neave - who made both his Champions League and Premier League bow last term - opened his account for the new season with a low shot following a strong run midway through the second half.

New goalkeeper Jaouen was rarely tested as he kept a clean sheet in his first appearance following his move from Reims last month.

The Magpies' first public pre-season friendly of this summer comes against Gateshead next Saturday (kick-off 12:30 BST). Ticket details are here while the game will also be streamed live on newcastleunited.com.

Newcastle United (first half): Nick Pope, Leo Shahar, Alex Murphy, Sven Botman, Lewis Hall, Jacob Ramsey, Joe Willock, Sean Steur, Jacob Murphy, William Osula, Harvey Barnes

Newcastle United (second half): Ewen Jaouen, Mason Miley, Miodrag Pivaš, Luke Craggs, Dylan Charlton, Rory Finneran, Anthony Munda, Sean Neave, Trevan Sanusi, Park Seung-soo, Vakhtang Salia

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