Stoke got their pre season schedule under way with an impressive victory over opponents from one division above. Settling quickly, a passing game emerged which saw Stoke hit the crossbar and post before Mark Newbould opened the scoring on 40 minutes with a close range header from a Charlie Dandridge cross. Numerous personnel changes at half time didn't appear to affect the flow of the game and early in the second period Ollie Critchlow doubled the lead with an angled shot from the left after an exchange of passes on the edge of the box with Jimmy Holland. Matt Guy netted the third with a solo effort down the left beating three opponents before guiding a shot around the keeper. Poor marking from a corner saw Dartmouth reduce the arrears with a free header from 10 yards before Dave Worthington received the ball on the right and after a controlling touch drove home across the keeper from 20 yards. The Stoke scoring was completed by Craig Duff whose looping shot from the left channel deceived the keeper and dropped into the far corner. A penalty with the last kick of the game reduced the arrears but did not affect a decent performance from a newly assembled side.