A View From the Press Box

It’s 15 minutes to kick-off at Hartlepool United in League Two and the ground is beginning to fill.

The teams are called out over the tannoy to a single cheer from one exuberant fan in front of the press box. There’s no dance floor hits to arouse the fans at this level, instead a compilation of gentle hits more associated with your father’s old cassette player than the soundtrack to a Saturday night.

My thoughts fall to how I’ll get home. It’s Hartlepool on an October evening and the trains are bound to stop before the football does. “Get a lift with the keeper” comes the advice from a reporter, “He lives in Sunderland too.”

There’s a hopeful murmur around the place and rightly so after the weekend past. Three points down at Dagenham three days previous has the optimists looking up the table rather than down. Another win is achievable, but not without an upturn of what has been dire home fortune.

Hartlepool are looking for their first home win since August 18 when the Pools scraped a 1-0 victory over relegation favourites Newport County.

Evenings at Victoria Park have been a little testing as of late with defeats against mid-table Luton (1-4) and newly-promoted Bristol Rovers (3-0). A home win to reinforce some much-wanted mid-table anonymity in League Two would work wonders in easing any angst starting to creep in.

There are a handful of Barnet fans behind the goal to the left who have braved the long trip north, all 110 of them frozen to the core. They huddle together in a bid to retain any heat generated as a wind begins to brush over the stadium straight off the North Sea.

‘Machine’ by The Jar Family rings out as the players appear to a ripple of applause. Hangus the Monkey takes his place alongside them, teasingly bumping bottoms with today’s Hartlepool mascot before racing her away back to the stands.

The home side are sporting yellow armbands as a sign of local solidarity to young Jacob Jenkins, who tragically died at a local Pizza Hut this week. A heartfelt applause warms the evening air and the game is underway.

After an uninspiring start, the crowd seem unimpressed. A drum beats behind the goal in an attempt to rouse some interest, but the responding numbers seem depleted. The chant of “Ronnie Moore’s Blue and White Army” peters out gradually, being lost as they reach the penalty spot.

Six minutes in and the deadlock is broken. The crowd roars with aplomb as Hartlepool take an unexpected lead. A lethal counter attack through striker Rakish Bingham leads to Rhys Oates getting his first goal for the club, comprehensively punching home from around five yards. It’s the start they needed.

Five minutes later and the net must surely bulge again. A clever cross falls to Barnet’s Andy Yiadom and he’s in acres of space. Without a Pool player in his postcode, he looks up, takes his aim – before blasting the ball as high as he did wide.

The response of the crowd is not a surprising one as the jeers ring out at the misfortune of the visiting number seven. The tone is not spiteful, but breathes sheer relief that the scores shall stay the same.

Twenty-seven gone and there’s more Barnet confusion. Elliot Johnson and Tom Champion consecutively test their own keeper in an extraordinary display of disarray in the penalty box. It is comedic defending at it’s best.

A half time lull has begun to set in and the game needs livening up. Referee Wright plays his part, rousing the slumbering fans in his preferred role as pantomime villain.

A single cry of “what a w****r” comes within earshot from the stands. It is met by hearty laughter from those around him and the game gathers momentum off the back of it.

The second half doesn’t take long to come alive and it’s the moment the travelling Bees have been waiting for.

The outstretched leg of Barnet striker Michael Gash prods the ball clear through to his partner Akinde who with the gentlest of touches sends the ball trickling past a hapless Trevor Carson.

It’s in front of the away fans, there’s singing and shouting, pandemonium’s unfurling. But it’s offside.

The game is pulsating, it is end to end stuff and the fans respond by finding their voices.

The Barnet contingent begin to chant, recognising that with the score at 1-0 all is not lost. The Hartlepool faithful gesticulate defiantly towards their counterparts. The words are muffled and the volume no din, but the message is nonetheless loud and clear.

Sixty-four gone and Barnet are back in it. A straightforward through ball leaves the Pool players stagnate as the outstretched toe of Akinde finally steers the ball past Carson. One one, game on.

Luke Gambin is on for Barnet and he’s making the difference. Gash has a shot, it’s blocked away, Yiadom surely? Blocked away.

A frustrated yelp of “This is s***” comes from the Hartlepool end. The game is slipping away again and the locals can sense it.

The flowing football turns into head tennis, the ball being bludgeoned from end to end. It’s route one football but only one chance need drop. The crowd responds with cries of encouragement, the final ten minutes are here, it’s now or never for that elusive winner.

Hartlepool pile on the pressure. Free kicks fly in, consecutive corners crossed over. The fourth official has been and gone, taking with him any hope of victory for either side.

The final whistle blows and the sides share the spoils. The draw does little harm to either team’s survival but Hartlepool are denied at home again. It is seven Vic Park games now without a win and keeper Trevor Carson’s man of the match award hints unfairly that they should be grateful for what they got.

A hint of a boo turns into a respectful ripple of applause as the players shake hands and the fans stream their way towards the exits. The cheers of the Barnet crowd crescendo as the team go to thank them for their support. Suddenly the arduous journey seems more than worth it.

The 80’s tunes are back on the tannoy and the ground lays eerily dormant. There is a pleasant stillness that fills the air, buoyed by the hope that Saturday could bring much more. But for tonight at least, it ends Hartlepool United 1 Barnet 1.