Goals:
0-1: Beautyman (7, met right-sided cross after getting in front of his marker to send a looping header home)
0-2: Beautyman (23, ball moved from the right into the middle, and attacker bundled his way through the middle to score)
1-2: Toure (45, cut inside and fired a low, angled shot across the keeper)
1-3: Randal (90, simple empty net tap in following a counter attack as Pools threw players forward)
Bookings: Crichlow-Noble (43, foul); Barden (50, foul)
Referee: Steve Copeland (Wirral): His first game at this level and inexperience showed at times with some questionable choices 5
Attendance: 3,812
Entertainment: 2/5
HARTLEPOOL UNITED (4-3-3):
5 Killip: Not much to do overall, he will have busier days, but could he have done more with the opening goal. Appeared to almost have it before it went past him;
6 Richardson: Rewarded for a solid pre-season with a start, and was the better one in Pools defence before being forced off with an ankle injury
5 Raynes: Beaten to the ball for the opening goal and while he had plenty of the ball in the second half as Pools pushed, defensively he looked slow
6 Kerr: Should have levelled with a late header and took some time, like the rest of the team, to settle into the game amid the poor opening
4 Crichlow-Noble: A torrid opening 45 minutes, culminating with a booking when he appeared to look like he had had enough. Improved with some decent crosses in the second-half;
6 Mafuta: A presence in midfield and will have a big role to play this season – the conundrum is who plays alongside him. Moved to right back as the game went on and he was missed in the centre
5 Noble: Never had much say on the game, can be much more influential and struggled against a stifling midfield
5 Kennedy: Could have scored later on with a close-range finish, but overall was off the pace and never got involved – worked too close to Noble;
4 James: Off the pace, little room to get away and never had any job against the opposition defenders
4 Kabamba: Hit the post in the first-half, but was brushed off the ball too often too easily without being able to bring others into play
4 Toure: Scored in injury time to give Pools a lift, but that aside offered little. A bit of a muddled performance as he took up positions across the front line.
Subs:
Featherstone (for Richardson 69): Was able to get on the ball and prompt Pools when they had possession 6
Kitching (for Crichlow-Noble 80)
Holhan (for Toure 83)
(not used: Bale, Cunningham.
SUTTON UNITED (4-2-3-1): Butler 7; Bennett 6, Goodliffe 7 (Matsuzaka 90), Collins 7, Milson 7; Davis 8, Barden 7; Bolarinwa 7 (Ajiboye 59, 5), Beautyman 8, Randal 7; Jarvis 7 (Bugiel 85). Subs (not used): Dudzinski (gk), Dundas.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Kenny Davis, had too much for the Pools midfielders in the first half as he stood firm to swat them away
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