HARTLEPOOL UNITED against Exeter City, Victoria Park. It’s a game which brings out the emotions in supporters.

Last April, grown men cried as Pools beat the Grecians to secure their Football League future. Victoria Park celebrated like never before, a mixture of pure joy and immense relief.

On Saturday, as the crowd filtered out when Exeter’s second goal went in on 87 minutes, there were no tears, little joy and zero enjoyment, just vitriolic anger and apathy.

This outcome and performance seemed like a watershed. Patience is running out, such was the inept nature of another display in a seventh home defeat of the campaign, maintaining their record of miserable results at home season after season after season.

Their spark on Saturday only arrived from substitute Nathan Thomas, and his lively and direct left-wing play.

The problem was the rest of the players weren’t up for it or up to it.

And if this squad doesn’t wake up and start performing to their abililty and capabilities, the season will go down to the wire once again.

A good performance against Derby in the FA Cup, a win over Wycombe, a horror show at Accrington, a solid display at Cambridge followed by a woeful defeat to Exeter.

Five games, three decent displays, but two rank bad performances thrown in the mix.

With other results going against them, Yeovil’s win at Wimbledon came thanks to a hat-trick from Jack Compton, Pools are not quite in the same mess they were 12 months ago, but are not far off it.

Moore defended his players and said: “We aren’t a million miles away (from being a good team), people might think we are crackers. We just need to believe in ourselves.

“We are up and down. I don’t think we were rubbish today, they go one up and the crowd boo. Second-half people forget about 35-40 minutes of good stuff because the second goal comes in.

“Then the crowd starts… ‘what do you do in training Ronnie?’… but you don’t get that when we are on top and if we score then we can win that game.

“They all come out and moan and groan, but look at the game and did they deserve to win 2-0? No I don’t think so.

“We weren’t absolutely pathetic, there was nothing in it. We knocked on the door and were decent without being brilliant – that’s not kidding anyone. We didn’t deserve to lose the game, they didn’t deserve to win 2-0.’’

Exeter are a team who like to get the ball down, dictate possession and constantly probe. On Saturday they didn’t display many of those qualities.

Pools, in the first-half, if they had played anything like they can, could have been in front. Too many players didn’t play, there was too many passengers in the side.

The half passed Pools by and they trailed to a goal of embarrassing ease.

Pools attacked, but Joel Grant dropped deep and took possession close to his own penalty area. No-one bothered getting close to him, or trying to halt his routine progress.

He fed wideman Lee Holmes, again no challenge as he was able to cross to Alex Nicholls who ran across Scott Harrison to head in.

Pools’ positive play came from substitute Nathan Thomas, on for injured Rhys Oates.

He should have scored himself at the start of the second half when he burst into the penalty area, but screwed his shot wide.

From then on he had the beating of the opposition, but no-one was willing to get on the end of crosses. It was the same in the first-half when Jordan Richards put balls over, but they were nodded away without a challenge.

Goalkeeper Bobby Olejnik had one shot to think about. On 86 minutes when Jake Carroll fired low from distance.

The Grecians broke away, Nicholls cross and Grant finished. Again it was all too easy.

“I don’t think we were that bad even though we lost 2-0, it wasn’t brilliant, but this was a winnable game and we started well,’’ Moore said.

“Trevor has made one first-half save from a corner, they scored from a cross that the centre-half has allowed a free header. Marking space? Space has never scored a goal, it’s the player you mark.

“One of the centre-backs decided to mark space and the centre-forward has got a good header in.

“Second half we had a lot of the ball, great balls come in from Nathan and he’s had two great chances himself. He will spark us up, no doubt about that. Everytime he picked the ball up he was positive.’’