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City make it 9 in a row against rampant Hartlepool
By Nathan Jackson October 9 2007
Including the Playoffs, City have now gone out of the last 9 knock-out competitions at the first stage they've entered at following a 5-2 home defeat to ever-impressive Hartlepool United. Mark Stallard sandwiched all of Hartlepool goals, opening the scoring from the spot early on before smashing home from 25 yards, but it was far from enough as nearly every shot Hartlepool had went in.

City started brightly and were awarded a penalty within 3 minutes when Warlow was brought down in the area. Stallard stepped up to the spot and hit it to the goalkeeper's right, putting the Imps in the lead for the third game in a row.

City were back on the attack within a minute and won a free kick about 20 yards out, Warlow hit it straight at the wall though and wasted a decent chance. City were controlling play and surprisingly, Hartlepool made a substitution on 9 minutes when Joel Porter came on for Ritchie Barker, a striker who almost joined City last season before joining the Pools from Mansfield.

City coneded a corner when Beevers headed a Robson cross behind. City managed to clear it easily though and Warlow almost doubled the Imps lead, but his shot was blocked out for a corner. The corner was unsurprisingly wasted.

Stallard sent in a 20 yard curling shot that was easily caught by Lee-Barrett. Kerr then missed a sitter from 6 yards as he shot over the bar from a Stallard cross. Beevers again put a Robson cross behind, the corner again coming to nothing.

It was soon 1-1 all though with some shocking defending from City as Hartlepool's attackers skipped around the non-existant challenges and Porter soon put the ball into the net.

Chances after this were few and far between before half time and the teams went into the break at 1-1. The third game in a row we've gone into half time with that scoreline having taken the lead each time.

Stallard should have made it 2-1 just after the kick off but missed an open goal from just 20 yards away.

James Brown sliced wide early on in the second half for the visitors but it wasn't long until the visitors took the lead when Joel Porter broke free from the City defence. Bencharif attempt to tackle him but Porter broke free from him and slotted past an almost static Marriott and into the net.

Gibb came on for Liddle on the hour mark. City attacks were few and far between at this point and just as Stallard was wasting another chance, Hartlepool again showed how superior they are to City when Marriott went miles out of position trying to win the ball off of Porter, the Australian cross the ball back across the box and Mackay headed it into the net, despite there being 4 defenders between him and the net.

With a minute it was 4-1 when Porter set up Ian Moore to slot into the net from 15 yards. This was becoming an embarrasement now and City made a treble substitution when Forrester, Wright and N'Guessan replaced Warlow, Green and Hand. Within a minute of the subs it was 5-1 when a clearance deflected into the path of Porter and he again shot past Marriott, to secure an impressive hat-trick.

Stallard pulled one back almost immediately from 35 yards, his first time shot going over Lee-Barrett and into the net. But it was too little, too late as neither side managed to create any more significant chances and City crashed out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

 

 

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