Home page
Top Stories
National Sport
Forum
Columnists
Letters
Football
Latest
National
International
Middlesbrough
Newcastle Utd
Sunderland
Hartlepool Utd
Darlington
Match Diaries
Top Five Free Kicks
Predictions
Rugby
Cricket
Formula One
Local Heroes
Horse Racing
Motorsport
Ice Hockey
Athletics
Golf
The Northern Echo Charity Golf Day
Site Map
Search Advanced Search
Latest






EDITOR'S CHOICE
NEWS
Burma search for 17 'missing' Britons
Lottery charges pair may stand trial
Lech praises relationship between UK and Poland
FILM REVIEWS
Nim's Island (U)
Iron Man (12A)
Made of Honour (12A)
NEWS IN VIDEO
Undercover van to help catch benefit fraudsters
Dogs do their bit for charity
One man band
School garden opens
'Great Escape' veteran visits region
RACING PODCAST
Racing tips and reports with Graham Orange of Go Racing
FORMULA 1
News and Race Reports
F1 Blog
Circuit Guide
Predictions
THE HEADLINE GAME
* Pit your wits against The Northern Echo and TFM in The Headline Game
GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL
Most read Comments
On-song Brown out to shoot down Swans

JAMES Brown may have missed almost two months of football, but it didn't take long for the Hartlepool United striker to get back into the groove.

After suffering a knee injury in the win over Luton on February 2, Brown had to wait until last Saturday for his first-team return.

And, within minutes of his second- half substitute appearance at Crewe, he was setting up strike partner Joel Porter.

On Monday, Porter returned the favour against Yeovil as Brown drilled in his 12th goal of an impressive campaign.

The pair, in the absence of Richard Barker, will start up front this afternoon against Swansea at Victoria Park and Brown knows he will get better with more games on his return from injury.

"I was shattered, absolutely shattered, on Monday,'' he admitted.

"Coming back from a sixweeker I played 90 minutes for the reserves, which I wasn't expecting, 30-odd minutes last Saturday and 70 minutes or so on Monday.

"I felt it on Monday, but I'm sure I will feel the benefits in the games ahead and we had time off during the week.

"It was frustrating to be out injured, any footballer feels the same when they are on the sidelines.

"Six weeks out seems nothing compared with nine months, which is what I was out for before, but it's still a long time. I think I missed eight games and it's just nice to be back now.

"Probably the worst thing about it was how I did it, I took a shot and one of the Luton players put a leg out to block and I ended up kicking his leg.

"Luckily, I'm back with no problems. I still got the odd twinge when I first returned to training but all I need now is a bit of sharpness.'' Brown now has 12 goals for the season, the same as Porter, and the team with the most home strikes in League One has six games remaining.

"It was nice to get a goal quickly against Yeovil, it opened up nicely after a good ball by Joel,'' he admitted.

"My first touch was good to set it up and a minute later I was a bit sloppy when I really should have set Joel up. That's something which will come along.

"We are in a position now where we don't have to look over our shoulders, we can relax and just go out there and play.

"Swansea should be a good test. We played OK down there - I remember their keeper making a good save from a shot of mine - and deserved something and it will be a good chance to compare ourselves with the leaders.

"There are a couple of their players we know all about - Tommy Butler is a tricky winger and Darryl Duffy came here and scored a few goals for us.

"I enjoy playing up front with Joel, he's the sort of player who will always create chances and give you openings. Last Saturday at Crewe I set him up, then he set me up against Yeovil.

"All I want to do is score as many as I can. My first target was double figures and now I've got 12. I'm hoping for 15. Barks has 16 and Joel also has 12, so there are goals in this team.

"I've got a bit to do to catch Barks, but I'm not on penalties.''

8:58am Saturday 29th March 2008

Print   Email this   Comment
Add your comment
Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
Security Image. Registered site users are not required to enter Security Image Information.
 
 e.g. 123-123
Comment:
Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored.
Format Text:

 
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed
** To avoid register now or login
Archive
The Northern Echo Charity Golf Day'
There are hundreds of Jobs, Homes & Cars in the North East
Powered by Powered by Fish4

Jobs of the week

Head Chef
North Yorkshire
Secretary / PA
North Yorkshire
Drivers C + E
NORTH YORKSHIRE
Assistant Manager
North Yorkshire
Durham Times

Got a story?
Get in touch with our newsdesk
Darlington & Stockton Times

The Advertiser Series

Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy © Copyright 2001-2008
Newsquest Media Group
A Gannett Company
This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network