Away loss number nine for Pools (From The Northern Echo)

Away loss number nine for Pools

9:40am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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Yeovil Town 4 Hartlepool United 0

WHEN Hartlepool United lost at Yeovil in January 2006, it was the first time the players openly admitted they were embroiled in a relegation scrap to stay in League One.

When they won at Huish Park last season, it was the victory that as good as secured their spot in this division for another season.

After losing so badly there on Saturday, Hartlepool sit at the crossroads this morning. It’s tough to guess where they go from here, but Chris Turner feared for his players:

“I hope none of the boys have to go over a level crossing after this display, they would probably make the wrong decision.’’

As encouraging and convincing the victory over Southend was seven days earlier, this was as drab and despondent as it could be; for Southend read Hartlepool, for Hartlepool read Yeovil.

The victors didn’t have to play well, the points were handed to them from the moment Peter Hartley’s handball gave them a 20th minute penalty.

That was the sign for heads to go down, confidence to erode and the 70 remaining minutes were simply inept. When Yeovil had a man sent-off with 26 minutes to go it made no difference, they still picked Pools off at will.

So much for the idea that with the tough fixtures out of the way, Pools would be able to pick up points and compete against teams in and around themselves.

It’s 25 years since a Hartlepool United side lost nine successive away games in the Football League. Billy Horner’s class of 1985 and Chris Turner’s charges of 2010 are now on a par.

Lose at Tranmere on Friday night and Pools will have racked up the same number of reverses as the team of 1965.

By the end of the season, unless there is a dramatic improvement, they will be on 15 losses, three behind the alltime worst. Still there’s always the first few games of next season to try and create a record.

In some games in their current run of defeats they have deserved something. And at least when Pools lost 5-0 to MK Dons in January they were up against a team bang on form.

At Huish Park they were up against a team who didn’t have to be on top of their game and Pools deserved nothing.

“Yeovil won 4-0 and had only two shots of their own doing from open play on target,’’ said Turner. “It wouldn’t seem so bad if Scott (Flinders) had been overworked all day – but he wasn’t.

“No-one has played well. You could come here and play well and lose 1-0. We lost 4-0, still got nothing, same outcome.

“I am looking now and thinking some players cannot play away from home or do what we expect from them away from home.

“We have to pick up and get back to work for next time. Put this behind us, like we did when we lost to MK Dons. We have to put it aside. When I played and lost I wanted to be out there and play the next game – if selected. “We’ve lost nine in a row away from home. We didn’t have any threat and no-one played well. Simple passes went astray, I am so angry about it . . .’’

Turner talked last week of how he had tried different methods in preparation and travelling in recent weeks.

For Tranmere on Friday, there will be changes in personnel; in addition a change in mentality would be useful. “I am struggling for words, I really am,’’ added Turner. “I want to be looking at midtable and above, not how many points above the bottom four we are.’’

At the moment, Pools hold a five-point lead over fourth bottom. With three of their next four games away from home, there’s every chance it will soon be eroded.

“We have to make changes for the next game,’’ he added. “I had to pick the same team here from winning last week, that was a good performance.

“If the team had changed then it would have been a case of people asking why. There will be changes for Tranmere. They have to get that attitude back.

“Confidence has been affected, but those who haven’t been playing well can look around and be inspired by the performances of those who have been strong and dominant.

“This time the players who have been playing well weren’t. They needed a bit of help and instead of others thinking it was down to them to help others out, they didn’t.’’

After going one down, Pools had the chance to level. Andy Monkhouse crossed right-footed from the left and Roy O’Donovan, so clinical a week earlier, headed wide from close range.

Soon Pools were two down. They failed to clear convincingly, Ritchie Jones dallied on the ball and was robbed, Sam Collins fouled Dean Bowditch. Gavin Williams stroked in the freekick.

Five minutes after the break Williams’ deft lob hit the frame of the goal and bounced into the net off Collins.

The scorer and creator was then sent-off for kicking out at Monkhouse, but it mattered little. Bowditch surged through the middle, and drilled in. It was Yeovil’s first shot on target from open play and it put them four goals up. Pools players were as muted off the pitch as on it, with noone speaking to the press after the game.

“We’ve now two more away games to come,’’ added Turner. “If we have played well and lost, then you can accept it to a certain extent.

“There’s nothing to take away from this – one or two have to be looking over their shoulders if they are playing next week or not.

“I know these boys inside out, they are a good set of lads, who work hard. Every manager has a day like this – a bad day.

“Some players have to realise it’s about trying to stay in this division, some of them think it’s a jolly. It’s going to be hard, it has been for the last three seasons.

“Yeovil didn’t have to be that great to beat us 4-0, we caused our own problems.’’

Those problems surface the moment they step on board the team bus. They have to rectify it soon.

Match facts

Goals:

1-0: Tomlin pen (20, penalty hit low into corner, beating Flinders’ dive)

2-0: G Williams (38, free-kick from 20 yards clipped over wall)

3-0: Collins og (50, after Williams hit the bar, ball bounced onto the defender and back towards goal)

4-0: Bowditch (70, ran through a couple of weak challenges and confidently scored)

Bookings: Collins (8, foul), Kalala (55, failing to retreat), Tomlin (56, foul), Monkhouse (65, foul), McSweeney (90, foul)

Sending-off: G Williams (64, violent conduct)

Referee: Steve Rushton (Stoke): Penalty could have gone either way, but Pools didn’t lose because of that decision 6

Attendance: 4,169

Entertainment: ✰

YEOVIL TOWN (4-4-2):

McCarthy 6; ALCOCK 8, Caulker 7, Forbes 6, Smith 6; Tomlin 7 (Murray 82), Kalala 6 (Murtagh 70, 6), MacDonald 5, G Williams 8; S Williams 5, Bowditch 7 (Welsh 74). Subs (not used): Davies, Downes, Hutchins, Martin.

HARTLEPOOL UNITED (4-4-2):

5 Flinders: Exposed by frailties in front of him as he was beaten four times;

4 Austin: Ill at ease throughout the game, one of too many off colour

4 Collins: Ragged and dishevelled defending, not affected by early booking, just off his game all day

4 Liddle: The odd important tackle here and there but allowed Bowditch to ease past him for the last goal

:4 Hartley: Penalty went against him, and never recovered from that blow;

3 Jones: At his ineffective worst, dallied on the ball in the lead up to the second goal

4 Gamble: Never settled in the middle, rarely got his foot on the ball

5 Sweeney: Only on the fringe of the game,but still more involved than his teammates

5 Monkhouse: Rarely got the better of his opponent, although he did create Pools’ one scoring chance;

4 Boyd: Knocked off the ball too easily and failed to link with strike partner

5 O’Donovan: At 1-0 he wasted Pools’ best chance, heading wide from close range

Subs:

Brown (for Jones 46): His 45 minutes offered some sparks of encouragement at times 5 McSweeney (for Boyd 66): Swung over a couple of teasing crosses from the right with no-one on the end of them 5

Humphreys (for Monkhouse 85) (not used): Cook (gk), Clark, Haslam, Bjornsson

MAN OF THE MATCH

CRAIG Alcock – gave nothing away and tried to get forward all afternoon.