By Albatross
May 11 2005

Hartlepool United's Player of the Year awards saw Aussue forward Joel Porter scoop the big prize; his strike partner Adam Boyd and midfielder Tony Sweeney weren't left empty handed as they were also recognised after another great season on the pitch for Pools. Porter's award is richly deserved. Boyd may be leading scorer - and he picked up the award voted for by the players - but Joel is now established as a real crowd favourite and with good reason.

It was often said in the bad old days that what Pools fans prized above all was a trier; we didn't expect to see world-beating talent, but wanted and expected plenty of effort. Times may have moved on (for the better) since then, but Porter combines the work ethic and determination of previous crowd favourites with plenty of ability and a decent amount of pace. While he had his detractors last season, the benefits of a full pre-season's training and a big confidence boost mean that he's shown us this year precisely why we signed him - and you wouldn't find many if any that would deny he is now a key player for us.

Boyd had the consolation of picking up two awards though: he won the Players Player of the Year, and unsurprisingly won Goal of the Season for his superb hat-trick goal against Sheffield Wednesday. His personal contribution to our success over the last two seasons is enough to suggest that if he stays at Pools for another couple of seasons he could even be threatening Ken Johnson's place at the top of the all-time scoring charts - he already has 49 League Goals for the club, and that puts him about half-way there already.

Tony Sweeney scooped the Away Player award, and his goals from midfield have added an extra dimension this season. It's no longer just the two forward players that opposition defenced have to worry about - Sweens is also a danger breaking forward to support the attack, and his vital goal to secure a draw with Bournemouth and take us to the players illustrated that.

Competition for the youth awards must be fierce, and the encouraging sign for fans was that the two players that won them are yet to make a serious impact on the first team. Goalkeeper James Winter and defender Graham Low have yet to make their debuts at senior level - although Low was on the bench for the game with Hull - and when you consider that the likes of Appleby, Foley, Istead and Stephen Turnbull have all played for the first team, while Phil Turnbull was invited to train with the England youth side earlier in the season, it shows how strong our setup is and how capable the players are of taking that all-important step into the first team reckoning that trips up so many players.

Now though all eyes will turn to the games with Tranmere; can Porter, Boyd, Sweeney et al fire us into the Playoff Final?