Hartlepool United: It’s That Team Again…

By Pete H

A point at Harrogate was a massive improvement on the previous week’s thumping – but a win still eludes us. So, can Pools oblige? Well, if they certainly count as one of the teams that Boro’ used to be able to depend on for three points. Looking back over our head-to-head to date, we have eight victories from 11 previous meetings. And a fair few of those came at times when our lads needed them most. It’s a big reason why we were glad to see them, not Torquay, come up.

The big question is whether we can rediscover old habits this time out…?

Stevenage v Hartlepool United

The Lamex Stadium, Stevenage — 02 October 2021 — Sky Bet League Two

Let’s put some of our past results against into some perspective.

How about our 1-0 home win on 01 April 2013 that handed Graham Westley his first win of his third spell in charge? It also delivered a league double over Pools that season, with Gary Smith claiming a 2-0 win on 08 December 2012.

Or you can take the 2-0 home win on 22 August 2015 that gave Teddy Sheringham his first win as Boro’ gaffer; Fraser Franks in first half stoppage time and Brett Williams with the goals there. Not for the first time, a 2-1 win at Victoria Park on 09 February 2016 made it two victories from two for the 2015-6 season and continued to assert our dominance over Pools.

Then we have the 6-1 drubbing at the Lamex on 03 September 2016 as Darren Sarll looked for the three points that would kickstart our 2016-7 campaign. Tyler Walker grabbed two that day for Boro’ in what was only our second win of the season up until that point. Mind you, we don’t have much to say about the return fixture that season. Pools missed a first half penalty on 21 January 2017 – but still ran out 2-0 winners in their only win against us to date.

A turning point? We hope not…

That rare defeat meant we lost our seven-game winning streak at their expense. It’s also the last time we played them; the three points that we handed them not enough to save them from the drop into the Conference at the end of the 2016-7 campaign. Now, four-and-a-half years on, our time has come go again.

What we hope is that we’ll roll back the years and use a home game against Pools to get a much-needed win under our belts. What we fear is that our guests this weekend will build on our most recent encounter and flip the form on its head. We still have a near-perfect home record against them, however. And we can cling onto that fact as we try to end a run of nine without a win…

Head-to-Head-to-Date…

Pl W D L F A GD Pts* WR%
11 8 2 1 20 7 13 23 73%

 

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