Hartlepool Utd
Pools show the spirit they need to climb table
Sweens - late goal
By Charlie Summerbell
February 7 2010
Hartlepool showed the spirit and commitment they will need to keep their heads above water between now and the end of the season as they fought back twice for a draw in their home League One game against Leeds. It was the sort of result and performance that restores faith in the team, and boss Chris Turner was delighted.
Luciano Becchio scored twice to give Leeds the lead, but a typical long-range volley from Adam Boyd and a powerful added-time header from Antony Sweeney gave Pools the point they deserved. The Vic crowd showed their appreciation of the performance, too, staying behind the team right to the end - the vast majority of the diehard fans only moan when there's something to moan at. Give them a team performance and they'll get behind it. But the players have to remember that it’s all very well raising their game for the big guns – they have to raise it for matches against the likes of Gillingham as well.
And now fans and players alike are hoping the game could be a turning point in the team’s season.
A week after being unlucky to lose 2-1 at Norwich and earning praise as the best team seen at Carrow Road this season, Pools more than matched League One’s other top team and if they can maintain this form for the rest of the season, the worries which have beset the side in the last few weeks should disappear.
Pools have dropped too many points this season against teams they should be beating, but the last two performances have shown they are capable of doing a lot better.
Turner said he felt Pools deserved the draw and could have won, but he was pleased for the players and the fans because the team at last got some reward for a good performance.
It’s a pity they don’t have a game for a fortnight, the next match at home to Huddersfield on February 20, but with Carlisle at the Vic three days later those two games give Pools a great chance to put some points on the board and show the Norwich and Leeds games were not flashes in the pan, but accurate illustrations of how Pools CAN play.
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon07/02/2010 10:10
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
On saturday the lads worked their socks off for the club and the manager and played some good stuff at times.
They were up against a side that got 27,000 at home the previous Wednesday and yet we all we could muster was 5,000 and that incldues Leeds selling their allocation [plus the divvies who got into the Mill House]. What a ddifference in resources but not ion the pitch.
If the doubterss claim to be Pools supporters then why dont they give some unstinting support for the rest of the season and cheer the lads instead. They might even help us get some better results and that would attract more people in and away we go for next season. Simple innit.
They can't expect to be in the play-offs EVERY season and I know it's been said before, but this is one of the toughest seasons ever for this division.
Not the best place to start afresh with a brand new team, which is virtually what Pools have done.
It's just a shame we don't have a game on Saturday but I'm confident we will keep the momentum going.
