City's reserves began the defence of their Pontins League title with a 2-0 defeat against Hartlepool.

A very young team based mainly on the under-19 squad battled well at Billingham Town.

But they faced an uphill battle after conceding two goals inside the first twenty minutes.

The first came after just four minutes when a Hartlepool free-kick was headed goalwards by the unmarked Karl Richards to beat 'keeper Ben Foster.

A second was added shortly after when Andrew Appleby powered the home side into a two goal lead with his close range effort.

The City side grew in confidence as the game wore on with Carl Dickinson putting in a commanding performance in the heart of defence while at the other end Martin Paterson spearheaded the attack.

Foster saved a second-half spot kick to prevent the home side racing further ahead and made a number of excellent saves to give City hope late on.

City: Ben Foster, Matthew Swift, Danny Smith, Jay Denny, Danny Hughes, Carl Dickinson, Eric Graves, Scott Musgrove, Ryan Shotton, Martin Paterson, Paul Tortoishell. Subs: John Quigley, Chris Sanna, Nathan Slater, Robert Garrett, Niall Derry, Liam Page.