There aren’t many clubs in England that envy Newcastle United.

Mike Ashley’s reign on Tyneside has been coated in catastrophe. A Northern powerhouse crumbling from the very core, landing the club on the brink of their second relegation in ten years. Weaker managers used as puppets for the suits in the suites and players drafted in with as much verve and drive as a parliament backbencher.

Having a troublesome owner is an issue Leeds United fans need no briefing on. The similarities between the two clubs are numerous, with the locals in a constant battle to seize ownership of the club, driven by a hunger to reinstall the virtues and personality their club was founded upon.

The respective fan bases these past few years wouldn’t be out of place in a Monty Python Four Yorkshiremen sketch. Battling competitively about which has had it worse under the reigns of the all-encompassing owner.

“You were lucky to have John Carver! We had to make do with Hockaday”.

But with the appointment of Rafa Benitez, Newcastle may just have a brighter light at the end of their tunnel.

They have finally set out to do what Leeds United haven’t. Instil some stability.

No more puppets happy to be told what to do, No McClaren’s or Pardew’s grinning from ear to ear happy just to be at a club above their grandeur, those have been and gone. This time the Geordies have bagged themselves a tactician.

In Benitez, Newcastle have more than just a footballing brain, they have a leader. Guidance from a level-headed journeyman of the game who can lead by example and nurture talent. The exact thing missing so desperately from Leeds United.

Steve Evans has served a purpose at Elland Road this season. He has steadied a ship which was veering towards a relegation battle, and despite an inexplicable variety of results, it will do for this season. The playoffs were never achievable, the squad simply is not good enough. Mid-table for a team technically treading water? He has filled his quota.

With Massimo Cellino at the helm, Leeds will never be a stable club. His unfathomable unconventionality and superstitious quirkiness is reflected in his business patterns and that is incredibly hard to watch when his actions pull at your heart strings.

But if the Italian can somehow have his hand forced in the summer, this club can be revived.

On the pitch going into next season, Leeds need two vital components that are lacking at Elland Road: Stability and leadership.

In others words, a recognisable manager with longevity and an inspirational captain who can nurture. Two leaders who can set a healthy mould at the club, void of erraticism, which will allow the players and the club to naturally develop and build with pride and confidence.

Steve Evans is not big enough for a project the size of Leeds United. He is a gritty coach and worked wonders for Rotherham who were a smaller club making a push for greater things, but the scenario at Leeds is a different one.

Leeds demand a man with more presence. Both fans and players need inspiration, a fresh bit of motivation. If it isn’t put in place at the top, then we are going to lose the impressionable further down.

Sam Byram went to West Ham where Slaven Bilic is running an exciting prospect based on club laurels and excellent foreign talent. There are also the likes of Mark Noble in their squad who lead by example and fight for every ball. What on earth is there at Leeds for Alex Mowatt and Lewis Cook to rival that sort of setup? Keep it as it is and they will be next out the door.

On the pitch, Leeds United have collapsed twice in the last month. Away at Brighton and at home against Huddersfield. On both occasions, Sol Bamba has been found vastly wanting. He is a useful player, but does not have the drive a Leeds United dressing room needs. That Yorkshire pride that refuses to be dented heard bellowing out from the terraces.

For Leeds to clamber out of mid-table obscurity, they will need to invest in at least two big names to rally the troops, a sturdy foundation upon which to build an empire.

Whether Rafa at Newcastle turns out to be just that, only time will tell. A lot will depend on just how much control he is given over their academy and recruitment by the board.

This could be the very problem with my new blueprint for Leeds United, Cellino may never let his manager be Leeds’ true designated driver. It explains why so many strive to seize ownership back from the Italian.

But with the structure as it is, Leeds fans are, (stereotypically), destined to act out that Four Yorkshiremen sketch.

There have been few comforts for York City fans this season, this afternoon being no different. But with Hartlepool hosting Dagenham & Redbridge, there was at least the guarantee that not all those around them would be winning.

Unlike last week.

Dagenham, Hartlepool and York sat adrift together at the foot of League Two before kick-off, with two of the three seemingly destined to fall out of the Football League.

The consequences can be disastrous. Funding is lost, fans start to drift, even FIFA games give you the boot.

But with 11 games left, relegation has become a stark reality for the three.

Hartlepool, the highest of the three on 31 points, have the luxury of having played three games less than their counterparts and had an excellent chance today to pull away out of sight.

York trailed behind on 26 and Dagenham further still, a point shy of the Minstermen. With Stevenage the closest to the terrible trio on 35 points it had fast become an unenviable mini-league, the clubs suffering 60 defeats between them already this season.

With just three minutes on the clock, Dagenham were the first to shoot themselves in the foot.

A ridiculous barge in the box left the referee no choice but to point to the spot and first blood was there for Pools on a plate. Veteran captain Billy Paynter gave the keeper the eyes and slotted home confidently into the bottom right.

Dagenham eyes were ashamedly on their feet, whilst those in York looked frustratedly to the skies. Thanks to ill-discipline from the Redbridge defence, it was advantage Pools.

Ten minutes passed before the visitors threw another gift the way of their hosts. A soft free kick was drifted in from the right and took the slightest of touches off left-back Jake Carroll, hardly changing trajectory on its way into the net.

For a team that had started the day bottom of League Two, the lack of fight from Dagenham was astounding.

Hearsay reported that relegation was starting to become a positive for the Daggers. A chance to rebuild and start again. Understand what it is like to play against similar opposition and build a fresh legacy from there.

But there was a catch. Their lethargy against a mediocre Pools side was dragging down another club with them. A proud northern city rather than a forgotten borough in the East End of London.

Capitulation against a top team was Dagenham’s own prerogative, their own nosedive into non-league obscurity. But the spineless attempts on display today were not making any friends 60 miles down the road in Yorkshire.

News filtered through from York. Unlike their southern counterparts, they were not willing to give up the ghost. Debutant Lewis Alessandra had fired the Minstermen into a 22nd minute lead after a rare assist from Jake Hyde.

As it stood, the Daggers were digging their own footballing grave. But City were determined to stay alive.

The plot thickened further after the half hour mark as, against the run of play, Dagenham  got themselves a lifeline.

An innocuous strike from striker Matthew Cash stung the palms of Pools keeper Trevor Carson, ricocheting into the top of the net. The clumsy keeping from the Irishman was an unwarranted reward for the basement club, and a stiff reminder that the Monkey Hangers themselves were neither home nor dry.

Five minutes later and a Josh Passley shot was cleared off the line with Carson beaten again. Dagenham had woken up.

Almost instantaneously, there was another goal at York. Barnet striker John Akinde finding the top corner from inside the six-yard box to pull the Minstermen back. All three teams had scored, but as usual they had leaked at the back.

From a City perspective, it quickly went from bad to worse after the break.

No sooner had the fans brushed their half-time pie pastry off of their chests, news filtered through that Hartlepool had their third.

Palace loanee Jake Gray beat his defender and bore down on goal, finishing expertly across goal after 53 minutes, almost identically to how he had for the Sky cameras against Orient.

The Daggers had come out fighting at least, but lacked the finishing touch. A one-on-one fell to Diodge, then a blank range header to Hawkins. But time after time there was no end product.

What City were up to was becoming irrelevant. Luke Summerfield struck the bar as York continued to press, but the all-important look of the league table was unwavering.

As the attendance was announced over Victoria Park, a heartwarming ripple of applause rang around the ground, with almost a sense of gratitude towards the visiting fans for cementing one of those relegation spots. Mutual respect had set in as the sets of supporters said goodbye to each other, not sure when they would meet again.

With a seven point gap between themselves and York (not to mention the potential nine from the games in hand), Hartlepool could finally relax.

Dagenham & Redbridge looked a defeated outfit both on the pitch and in the stands come the final whistle. Voted the worst place to live in Britain at the start of the season, you couldn’t help but empathise as they trudged their way back towards the coach.

For York meanwhile, another team had got away. Their 1-1 scoreline was respectable, but not what the doctor had ordered. Stevenage remained mathematically conquerable, and with that a hopeless thread of faith will remain in an optimistic few.

Nevertheless, another week has passed and the gap between City and safety has grown even larger.

York travel to the Vic in April to pit their wits against Pools themselves, but it in all truth it looks set to be a similarly awkward send-off.

In the last month I have visited two grounds to watch live football. Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge and York City’s Bootham Crescent.

They were very different experiences that were both enjoyable for their own reasons. Chelsea was a footballing feast. The slick passing and penetrating pace of the game was world-class. The last time I had seen football that good was at the same ground over a year before.

York City however, brought something to the football experience Chelsea arguably will never be able to again.

Atmosphere.

York City’s Bootham Crescent is far from a cauldron of noise. The average attendance is around the 3,000 mark and much of the noise comes in the form of groans and idle chat about what the team are doing wrong.

But what the smaller club has never lost is the sense of community. You recognise those around you from the local chippy and if you go to an away game the same faces pop up outside the turnstiles. They are the city folk devoutly giving their time and money to their football club no matter what will occur on the pitch that day.

There has been a debate about the price of football rumbling on for a long time now, which is starting to come to a head as Liverpool fans staged a walk out mid-match the other week, whilst Manchester United fans have also been protesting to name but two.

Football at the end of the day, has become a business. Prices are changing and consequently the clientele able to attend along with it. But more alarmingly for the purists amongst us, the grounds are changing.

The prices continue to escalate and it’s not right, it is billionaires bleeding the working class dry. But somehow, so many shift their finances and continue to honour their season tickets, as is the importance of their football clubs in their lives.

But for me, where the trouble really starts, is stadium alteration. Club after club has either moved ground or have planning permission in place for expansion. Even if the faithful ever-presents have painstakingly raised their funds to still attend, in a larger ground you begin to dilute them.

More corporate seats are created, specially cushioned for the tailor-made suit of the casual businessman, invited as a courtesy to observe the match rather than be involved in it. That, of course, is only if those seats are filled. It seems unlikely that on any occasion the club or chairman will feel the need to invite a few thousand at their pleasure, so the majority of seats created sit there staring emptily at those across the way in the stand opposite.

Take The Emirates Stadium, home to Arsenal, and The Etihad Stadium, home to Manchester City. Both used to play at compact old-fashioned stadiums with bags of atmosphere. Arsenal’s Highbury housed 38,419 as opposed to their new home’s 60,432 capacity. But ask any true Arsenal fan where they were happier? Highbury.

Manchester City’s Maine Road was an institution in English football before it was torn down in favour of the soulless Etihad, that half empties with 80 minutes on the clock so that people can avoid the traffic.

At York City you pay £18 to stand behind the goal at the David Longhurst End. Granted, for the football you get that is still an inflated price. But you are not paying for just the football, you are paying for that warmth many will remember from the 80s and 90s. The unwavering camaraderie and catch up with a stranger you see once a fortnight over a half-time cup of tea at a greasy spoon cafe price.

Chelsea have plans to expand their stadium, but the atmosphere left South West London a long time ago. Tickets are sold as a tourist attraction, a chance to don some blue for the night and take some photos to scan through on the flight back home.

The days of Highbury and Maine Road have been and gone. Soon West Ham’s Upton Park will follow, and even Liverpool’s iconic Anfield is set to change for the worse. Tottenham’s White Hart Lane is to be left, another great ground of the English tradition.

Alas, even York City are to move. The beautiful home of the Minstermen, placed intricately between rows of houses within a stone’s throw of the city centre is to be bulldozed for further housing to be built for incoming residents.

York will move to a new Community Stadium on the ring road. Not a soul will be able to walk to the game, and it shall be a multiplex with swimming pool to boot. With a capacity of 8,000 whether it can maintain the atmosphere I speak so fondly of remains to be seen.

But for now at least, the modern fan is being forced to make a choice. Pay the big bucks for the big boys, or like an older footballer, prepare to prioritise what matters and drop down the divisions for that Saturday afternoon you grew up loving so much.

Ever spotted your girlfriend subtly glancing at another man? Or perhaps the most hateful guy in the pub giving it a go at the bar whilst you nip to the toilet.

Inevitably, you fall out and a beautiful relationship comes to an end. You gave it a go twice, but this time she is gone. Free to do as she pleases, be with whoever she wants.

Welcome to the Mourinho saga.

Jose’s relationship with Chelsea was tempestuous. Put together a pair of egos such as those of Mourinho and Abramovich, and it was always going to be. Like the couple you see in a blazing rage waiting for the train who you cannot help but look at. They clashed continually.

Why it didn’t quite work this time no one knows. Mourinho lost the dressing room, which in football sees the axe wielded immediately.

There have been rumours of club doctor Eva Carneiro rocking the boat after their fallout, some of the men turning their allegiance to her. Sexual interest for some or pure moral obligation? We shall never know.

Whatever the truth turns out to be, the formula suddenly failed. For the fans, it was time to lament. The golden boy had finally pushed the board too far.

Chelsea had lost a legend of the club, no doubt about that. Like the moment Gianfranco Zola decided to hang his boots up, or when Frank Lampard sought an easier life on Stateside .

But this was a breakup, not a retirement. The Special One was now considered normal.

There is one moment that sticks in the mind of true Mourinho fans. The completion of the 2005 campaign saw the club win their first title in 50 years. Lampard charged towards the away end of the Reebok Stadium, hands thrust in the air, having secured the league championship with his second goal of the game.

But Mourinho sat alone come full time. In the dugout, in tears on his phone to his wife. This was not a snub to the fans, this was him showing that family come first.

Since then, Chelsea fans have become his family. When he returned for his second term, he said as much and it seemed like he may never leave again.

However, as we all know, there is nothing more powerful than a family feud.

After the Special One was shown the door by the Blues, Manchester United’s eyes lit up.

For Jose, it was like the couple fighting by the train. A proud man, feeling like he had been dumped. The ultimate betrayal? The way to really hurt those who had the audacity to throw him out? Cuddle up to the enemy.

A chance to really put the boot back into those who had nurtured him. They had built an empire together after all.

In the eyes of the former Porto man, Roman Abramovich had maltreated him. After he gave them everything. He is the hottest property in football and had chosen Chelsea after all.

Like the squabbling couple at the station, the intention is obvious. Start a fight and the other will retaliate. Hit Roman where it hurts. If the Chelsea board don’t want him, then there are plenty who would.

Furthermore, there is the chance to outdo a fellow professional by going to Manchester, an unpleasant side of the Portuguese manager. Louis Van Gaal, the current United manager, was proven at Mourinho’s former stomping ground Barcelona. But it was a club where the former interpreter never felt appreciated. Arguably the only reason he ever spent his tenure at Real Madrid.

Do the job better than his predecessor? Cutting to say the least, and tempting.

Like a petulant single lover, Mourinho will storm into the arms of those who now want him and may appreciate him. It will hurt his former family, and yes it will work on a professional level.

But his heart? Remains with Chelsea.

There was little to show for the 52 league places between Hartlepool United and Salford City tonight as the two played out a blustery draw in the FA Cup on Friday night.

Broadcast live on the BBC, the match at Moss Lane was a sell-out with all 350 away tickets available being snapped up by Pools fans in less than two hours early last week.

Hartlepool eased any early nerves, taking the lead from the penalty spot after eight minutes. Young midfielder Rhys Oates jinxed into the Salford box before being brought down by the trailing foot of Andy Dawson. The 21-year-old birthday boy brushed himself off and took the spot kick himself, drilling the ball home comprehensively into the bottom left-hand corner. It was the first time a Hartlepool striker had found the net in 478 minutes of competitive football.

But Salford responded well and got a deserved equaliser on 23 minutes. A free kick from the left channel fell kindly for defender Stephen O’Halloran ten yards out, who struck the ball through a crowd with his weaker foot to net his first goal for his new club.

Rakish Bingham came on early in the second half to replace Mikael Mandron, the Sunderland striker once again failing to impress, and nearly made an immediate impact for United. The former Mansfield man pulled the ball back to Oates from the by-line, whose shot was blocked by what looked like a hand, before a fantastic drive from loan midfielder Jake Gray forced a stunning reflex save from Jay Lynch in the Salford goal.

With twenty minutes remaining, Bingham himself had a gilt-edged chance to get on the scoresheet. A free kick delivered in by Gray was headed back across goal by captain Karl Magnay onto the head of Bingham. But the Pools’ number nine could only scoop it over the bar from 5 yards out.

Salford continued to hold their own and assured that Trevor Carson had his wits about him on 75 minutes. Captain Chris Lynch struck a pile driver from range that tossed and turned in the wind, forcing the Northern Irish keeper to back pedal and tip it over the bar.

Striker Scott Fenwick had a golden opportunity to steal the victory with less than ten minutes to go after being picked out by an excellent Oates cross, but the former Durham City man got his header completely wrong from a matter of yards out.

Hartlepool go into the 3^rd round draw alongside Sunderland and Newcastle United, but will have to do it all again in ten days’ time for the right to progress any further.

 

 

 

 

Bouncing after back-to-back wins at Victoria Park, Hartlepool seemed to have a spring in their step this afternoon. It was either that or a desperate attempt to keep warm on an unforgivingly grim day in the North East.

Wins against Cheltenham Town and Leyton Orient had relinquished any stigma that Pools were incapable in front of their home faithful and the memory of eight winless games in all competitions at The Vic had since withered away, making space for a more optimistic outlook.

Hartlepool should have been the fresher of the two teams, having had their game at Accrington postponed on Tuesday due to a waterlogged pitch. Oxford United meanwhile, today’s visitors, struggled to contain a Newport County side at home who are sitting below Hartlepool in League Two.

Oxford have had a busy yet fruitful campaign thus far. Sitting second in the table, the U’s are one of the favourites for promotion and are still involved in the FA Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Trophy as December festively looms.

In recent weeks however, clashes with relegation-threatened Dagenham & Redbridge and newly-replenished Newport have proved far from straightforward for United, the yellows picking up 4 points with just two goals. Their previous outing before these was against non-league Braintree, after the minnows took them to an FA cup replay.

Perhaps it was this that had Pools expecting more than the table suggested, or perhaps it was the fact that Hartlepool defeated the U’s last time they met at the Kassam Stadium back in March.

Mikael Mandron, the Sunderland AFC loanee, retained his place for his third start in as many games. Having been awarded Man of the Match on his debut, the Black Cat was substituted during a disappointing loss to Mansfield Town last time out and would be looking to impress the home fans again. Rhys Oates also returned to the starting lineup, whilst former York City man Michael Duckworth got his first start since recovering from injury.

Strikers Scott Fenwick and Rakish Bingham were left on the bench, meaning Ronnie Moore had gone for a new formation. A 4-1-4-1, with Mandron leading the line alone.

The game was a tight affair with individual battles aplenty in the midfield, but Hartlepool appeared the more penetrative against the opposition’s back four.

From the opening minute, a drilled drive from Pools midfielder Nicky Featherstone whistled past the top corner, shortly followed by a looping header from unmarked captain Carl Magnay that the U’s keeper was mightily relieved to see trickle past the wrong side of the post.

Just before the half hour mark, Hartlepool were unlucky not to take the lead. A Naismith free kick down the left wing was punched away by Oxford keeper Benjamin Buchel to Jake Gray on the edge of the area. The Crystal Palace man expertly controlled the ball in the air with his back to goal, before turning and driving a looping volley that rattled back off the crossbar.

With loanees Naismith and Gray dictating the midfield, it was Middlesbrough’s U21 starlet Adam Jackson’s turn to come close. Just before half time, a corner from Naismith fell to the young defender whose controlled volley was unlucky not to find the bottom corner.

Hartlepool were edging it but had nothing to show for it.

The second half started as the first had ended, becoming ever-increasingly physical as frustration crept into both sides.

It took until the 57th minute for a clear-cut chance to fall, and it was to the feet of that man Mandron. After a clever one-two with Gray, the Sunderland striker was through on goal with his skipper on the overlap.

Desperate to break his duck for Pools, he decided to go alone, his right footed strike just inside the area hitting the oncoming keeper. A simple drop of the shoulder either way should have floored the keeper and left an empty net, but the young striker showed his age and inexperience through his indecision. Something his manager spoke about after the game.

Oxford were creeping back into it and after the hour mark, striker Pat Hoban came close. Turning cleverly inside the box, the talisman lost his marker and struck across goal. Just wide.

Minutes later, Oxford came close again, forcing a double save from keeper Trevor Carson. A free kick from 25 yards out was drilled at goal and spilt by Carson as it swerved towards him. Hogan got to the loose ball first but the Northern Irishman smartly got his body in the way.

Right on the 70 minute mark, Oxford’s pressure and persistence paid off. Alex MacDonald tore down the right wing before whipping an inch-perfect pass into the path of substitute Danny Hylton. The striker strolled onto the pass and side-footed a beautiful volley into the opposite bottom corner, before antagonising the home support by clasping his hands around his ears in celebration.

With time against them, Moore changed to Pools’ more familiar 4-4-2 formation, striker Bingham replacing Oates, and winger Kudus Oyenuga also coming into the fray in place of playmaker Gray.

The effect was instant, Oyenuga passing inside to Mandron, who expertly held the ball up (as he had done all afternoon) for substitute Brad Walker whose shot narrowly looped over the bar.

Oxford again replied, Liam Sercombe breaking away down the right before demanding a world class save from Carson in the Pools goal who diverted the ball just wide when it looked destined to double Oxford’s lead.

End to end stuff at The Vic.

Hylton came close again but was adjudged offside for Oxford, whilst Bingham blasted over for Pools. Another scramble in the box ensued and Oyenuga this time erratically clearing the bar, Moore’s utter disgust on the sideline clear for all to see. It didn’t appear to be the Pools’ day.

Boos unfairly rang out at full time from quarters of the crowd. Hartlepool had returned to their losing ways, but the manner of defeat was entirely different. An energetic midfield had dominated at times and the result was far from a fair reflection of what had been an entertaining contest. The only difference, illustrated in the league table, was that the visitors were clinical. Hartlepool meanwhile, and Mandron in particular, were not.

Oxford go to the summit of the league whilst Hartlepool drop to twentieth.

Half an hour before kick off on an overcast afternoon in Hartlepool, the mood amongst the United fans was that of scepticism.

Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Barnet had seen the Pools extend their run of home games without a win to six, after spurning an early lead in a well-fought contest which saw a hatful of chances come and go.

Crawley Town were todays visitors, another team struggling at the wrong end of the League Two table, starting today’s proceedings two points behind the Monkey Hangers.

So used to playing in the shadow of the Premier League, today’s fixture felt like a supporting act at best in the North East area with Sunderland and Newcastle’s Super Sunday clash being the “water-cooler conversation” of the week. But the game itself was well attended, with 3,262 making the trip to Victoria Park (87 of whom had made the long haul up from Sussex).

With Sunderland just twenty five minutes north on the train, there was a suspicion that some heads in the seaside town could turn towards the Sky Sports blockbuster on Sunday. But there is no denying that the two corresponding fixtures offer valuable experiences no matter what the standard on the pitch and the match day attendance reflected that.

I spoke to five Scandinavians outside the ground who had come over specially for both games this weekend.

“We came here (Hartlepool) to see a little bit of British” said Martin, the one Norwegian of the group.

“The people selling the tickets are local kids, it feels more genuine.”

I spoke to local fan Robert from Seaton, about whether it made a difference when the Pools played on a different day to the Tyne & Wear teams.

“Definitely, without a doubt. You could have a better quality of games at Newcastle, Middlesbrough, you’re not gonna pay that much more really. But it’s more for the kids (Hartlepool), definitely.”

The atmosphere inside the ground lacked the positivities I had heard in the surrounding streets. BBC Sussex described Victoria Park as “absolutely dead, a bit like a pre-season friendly” after the Pools left the pitch at half time to a chorus of boos.
The first half had unceremoniously passed, with the home side highly fortunate to not to concede on several occasions.

It took 64 minutes for the game to come alive, but it did so in dramatic style. A brisk Crawley attack saw Hartlepool keeper Trevor Carson make a clever save from striker Rhys Murphy before the rebound struck defender Scott Harrison on the arm.

The red was hastily brandished and the disconsolate defender made his way to the showers, shaking his head as he dredged off the pitch. To add insult to injury, former Hartlepool midfielder Simon Walton was the man to step up, and he confidently drilled the penalty home to the keeper’s right.

Cries of “1-0 to the referee” rang out, and the decision was certainly a contentious one. With the ball moving at pace, Harrison made no deliberate movement of his arm towards the ball and Hartlepool intimated after the game that an appeal was being considered.

It went from bad to worse 11 minutes later as Town made it 0-2. An astute cross from midfielder Gwion Edwards after some clever build-up play saw Murphy race in again, wrapping his right foot round the ball and finding the near corner with ease.

79 minutes on the clock and 10-man Hartlepool finally got a foot in the game. A corner from the right hand side was met by the head of captain Billy Paynter, who whilst leaning back, looped the ball back across goal into the top right hand corner to make it 1-2.

Five minutes added time indicated by the fourth official brought the home crowd to life. A last-gasp effort from striker Rakish Bingham could have seen an unlikely comeback completed, but Crawley held on to a well-earned victory which saw them leapfrog the Pools in the League Two table.

It ended a frustrating afternoon all-round for Hartlepool, who really failed to get out of first gear until the 80th minute, awoken by one piece of brilliance by veteran captain Billy Paynter. Ronnie Moore held no punches in expressing his own feelings about the lacklustre performance.

“What annoys me more than anything else is how a set of professional footballers can actually put in a performance like that in the first 45 minutes” said the Hartlepool boss.

“There are some great talkers, but not many doers…today I think I found out some real answers to the question I already knew really about certain people, and I will not fall into that trap again.”

Ronnie Moore singled out Rhys Oates as the only player who he wouldn’t have taken off at half-time, and the striker-turned-winger was similarly perplexed by proceedings. When asked why the team seemed to struggle at home, the new man was at a loss to explain it.

“I don’t know whether it’s confidence, scared of playing in front of a home crowd, if it’s not going our way then people getting on our backs, but we should expect that really if we are not playing the way we should be playing.”

The result leaves the Pools 19th in League Two, trailing both Barnet and Crawley who have taken points away from Victoria Park this week.

Hartlepool will be hoping the FA Cup draw on Monday can hand them a home tie that could breath some much-needed confidence into Victoria Park.

Final Score: Hartlepool United 1, Crawley Town 2.