Four-goal Luke Armstrong hails Harrogate Town's work off the ball following pre-season rout of South Shields FC

The 27-year-old Sulphurites forward was in ruthless form against the newly-promoted National League North outfit, with all of his strikes arriving before half-time.

And with Shields unable to cope with Town's intensity out of possession in the build-up to three of Armstrong’s goals – and Jack Muldoon’s second-half effort – the ex-Middlesbrough hitman feels that both he and his team-mates are already reaping the benefits of what has been a typically gruelling summer of intense conditioning work.

"Chances come in all different ways, you’ve got to adapt to them. A lot of them came from pressing and winning the ball, that’s what we did great today,” he reflected.

"Obviously, that is due to our fitness levels. Everyone is really fit and sharp because we have had a good pre-season. We’re all feeling good and winning the ball back was how we created most of the chances.

"We didn’t stop, we kept pressing and that’s the main thing about pre-season, we were working hard, getting those fitness levels up, and off the back of pressing we got the goals.

"I feel as fit as I’ve ever been and that’s probably credit to everyone here who put together the [fitness] program over the summer.

"Pre-season is about fitness and minutes, but as a striker you want to get goals as quick as possible, so to be scoring goals is great. No matter how they come, it’s just a great feeling to be putting them in the back of the net.”

Armstrong broke the deadlock with just two minutes on the clock, slotting home in accomplished fashion from Abraham Odoh’s deflected pass after Levi Sutton had slid in to dispossess Mackenzie Heaney.

Town’s stand-in skipper then swept another clinical finish past Myles Boney when Liam Gibson closed down Jordy Mongoy as he attempted to clear his lines following a Harrogate corner.

Armstrong completed his hat-trick in the 12th minute, glancing home a header from Sam Folarin’s right-wing cross.

Paul Blackett did manage to pull one back for Shields, however Armstrong’s fourth goal arrived shortly before the interval when he chased down and then outmuscled Gary Liddle before running through on goal and confidently beating Boney.

The Sulphurites’ fifth of the afternoon arrived on 67 minutes, Muldoon shooting beyond Boney after Josh Falkingham had nipped in to nick Heaney’s attempted pass off the toes of Tom Broadbent.

And the scoring was rounded off with eight minutes of the regulation 90 remaining, Muldoon helping George Thomson’s hanging centre from the right back across goal for Dean Cornelius to slam into the net.

Simon Weaver’s team return to friendly action on Tuesday night when they visit National League Gateshead for a 7.30pm kick-off.