Source: Northern_Echo
Darlington 0 Sunderland 3
Darlington 0 Sunderland 3[LNB] DISAPPOINTED Darlington boss Mark Cooper cancelled his players' day off in reaction to last night's 3-0 defeat to Sunderland.[LNB] It may have only been a friendly, but the manager was left hugely frustrated by his side's below-par display which saw the Premier League outfit record a comfortable win at The Northern Echo Arena.[LNB] Goals came from Jordan Cook, Craig Gardner and Ji Dong-won, but such was Sunderland's possession the scoreline could have been higher.[LNB] It was a performance in contrast to Quakers' meetings with Newcastle United and Middlesbrough this summer, games that Darlington lost 2- 0 and won 4-2 respectively, when they put in encouraging displays.[LNB] The only words I said to them after the game were See you tomorrow', fumed Cooper.[LNB] Because they were meant to be off on Thursday and back in Friday. If they want a day off they've got to earn it.[LNB] You can put up with players making mistakes, but we didn't lay a glove on Sunderland.[LNB] Sunderland are a good team, but so are we. But we didn't show up. Their keeper had one half-shot to save.[LNB] The only players spared Cooper's ire were forwards James Walshaw and Liam Hatch as well as centre-back pairing Graeme Lee and Ian Miller.[LNB] Lee and Miller had to be alert from an early stage.[LNB] Lee flung himself in the way of a Connor Wickham effort and Gardner shot over the bar after latching on to Adam Reed's through-ball as the Black Cats began as they meant to go on.[LNB] Cook, who had a loan spell with Quakers two years ago during Colin Todd's tenure, curled a shot over as Sunderland continued to play the ball around nicely which would have pleased manager Steve Bruce who was watching from the stands.[LNB] He left assistant manager Eric Black in charge and Cook put Sunderland ahead midway through the half.[LNB] The left-sided midfielder collected Wickham's pass, after the £8m man had received the ball from Dongwon, before calmly rolling the ball beyond Russell.[LNB] Darlington's response was swift.[LNB] John McReady's perfectlyweighted through-ball put Walshaw into a one-on-one situation, but keeper Keiron Westwood stood tall and saved.[LNB] That was as good as it got in the final third for Darlington, and before the break it was 2- 0.[LNB] After Jamie Chandler fouled Gardner on the edge of the penalty area, the £5m signing from Birmingham powered a low free-kick through the wall and past the keeper.[LNB] After the break Sunderland continued from where they had left off, twice coming close to a third goal.[LNB] First the impressive Dongwon, who frequently dropped deep to collect possession, saw an effort deflect narrowly wide, and from the corner an almost certain Titus Bramble goal was blocked by Miller.[LNB] Michael Turner came close with a flicked header from a David Vaughan corner, before Quakers sent on John Campbell and the Newcastle-born striker quickly had three efforts on goal.[LNB] None seriously tested Westwood, but he at least appeared sharp and had the knack of being in the right place at the right time.[LNB] But any hopes Quakers had of a comeback were dashed on 64 minutes when it became 3- 0.[LNB] Dong-won's smart and finish turn inside the penalty area capped a satisfactory display for the Asian.[LNB] Late on Russell went fulllength to save from Gardner, conceding a corner from which Bramble saw a volley blocked before Cooper handed another outing to 16-year-old youth team midfielder Tom Bott.[LNB] Injuries are stretching Cooper's squad and, with Aaron Brown able only to play for half an hour as a sub, the manager gave an outing to trialist left-back James Poole.[LNB] He was with Consett last season and impressed Cooper when playing for Newton Aycliffe against Quakers on Tuesday, but is currently without a club.[LNB] He may get another opportunity when Darlington play at Harrogate Town on Saturday.[LNB] Cooper added: I don't like losing, even though it was a friendly. I'm always honest after games and that was rubbish.[LNB] I like to see my teams plays with tempo and aggression but we didn't see any of that from our players tonight.[LNB] We beat Middlesbrough because we had a go, we were up and at them. We ask players to do certain things, especially at the start of a game, but they didn't do it.[LNB] DARLINGTON (4-1-2-1-2): Russell; G Taylor, Miller, Lee (Quinn 71), Poole (Brown 59); Chandler, McReady, K Taylor (Bowman 46); Bridge-Wilkinson (M Smith 79); Hatch (Bott 79), Walshaw (Campbell 59) Subs (not used): Saxton (gk), Gray SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Westwood; Liddle, Bramble, Turner, Laing; Reed (Mitchell 82), Vaughan, Gardner, Cook Armstrong 82); Dong-won, Wickham Subs (not used): Wilson, Tounkara, Bagnell, Egen Attendance: 2,785[LNB]
