Many thanks to London Branch members Paul Watson and Sarah-Jane Lock for compiling this report from our recent trip to Hartlepool.
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It's been a while since we have played Hartlepool in the league.
Since we went our separate ways in 2002/03, Hartlepool have been up, down (passing us as we came up) and back up again. In all that time the Mrs and I had almost forgotten about the delights that Hartlepool had to offer so we decided to make a day (and a night) of it, arriving in Hartlepool late morning, and taking a B&B in the town centre.
Our last visit to Hartlepool was for a mid-January fixture in the 99/00 season, arguably the coldest game we've ever been to. It was during Michael Knighton's attempts to ruin the club - we played awfully, and lost one-nil. We hoped for something slightly less awful this time.
We spent the glorious autumnal day following the very comprehensive Cleveland CAMRA's real ale pub-crawl, covering pubs between Seaton Carew and the Headland. And mainly, very good they were too. We eventually stumbled up to the ground five minutes before kick-off to find a reasonably large crowd still waiting to get in. Fortunately the queues were processed very efficiently so we got through the gates just as the teams were arriving on the pitch. However, the scene the other side of the gate was slightly less proficient. An over-zealous steward confiscated the lid from our dangerous weapon - a plastic bottle of water. (We pointed out that we were also carrying a potentially lethal flask of warm milky tea, but that was deemed safe). Beyond this there was a narrow route into (and out of) the stand, so it was fairly mayhem. The game was kicking-off as we approached the stand entrance.
The stewards had either given up, or never tried, enforcing the allocated seating. So it was a free-for-all on where to sit / stand. This actually seemed to work extremely well, and made a change from some of the over-bearing stewarding we have had this year. (Yes Swansea, that means you). Surprisingly enough, civilisation did not end, and hell did not freeze over, with people standing at a football match.It made for a far better atmosphere than the usual cat-and-mouse stand-up/sit-down games that are played between fans and stewards. Those who wanted to stand did so at the back; those that didn't sat at the front. A victory for common sense, so sorely lacking at so many games.
The Victoria ground had not changed much since our last visit, apart from some new retails outlets around the exterior. The interior remains one of the more intimate football league grounds, with only 900 or so tickets for away fans. For this early-season Tuesday night fixture, it took us a while to sell-out our allocation.If our next visit is for an end-of-season decider, be sure to join the ticket queue early!
Anyway, the game.Hartlepool were all over us in the first 15 minutes. We withheld the pressure and pushed play up the other end. A beautifully placed cross from Anyinsah helped Danny Graham score with our first attack.Hartlepool equalised five minutes before half-time from a (poorly defended) header, from a (incorrectly awarded) corner. But just minutes later, we broke again and Danny Graham knocked in another one. The first half had seen Hartlepool with the majority of the possession, but a couple of well-executed attacks gave us the edge at the break - 2-1.
In the second half, we took the game to Hartlepool, and spent far more time in their half of the pitch than they did in ours. The referee was also having a game of two halves. He'd been very whistle-happy in the first-half - stopping the game at every opportunity. In the second half, he allowed the game to flow much more freely. This helped us create pressure which had been lacking earlier in the game. But as the half progressed Hartlepool came back. This seemed, at least partly due to us losing our shape after the substitutions of three of the most impressive performers on the night - Garner, Hackney and Anyinsah. But, still, we seemed reasonably comfortable, until around 5 minutes from the end when 'Pools equalized with another header. We had the better of five minutes' injury time, and could very easily have won with Danny Carlton just missing a great chance at the back post.
Despite the late equaliser the consensus from fans leaving the ground was that this was a good point gained, rather than a bad two points thrown away. And there was plenty of time to ponder this, during the 10 minutes it took to get out of the stand's single exit. The rest of the ground had emptied, but our stand was still heaving. Quite what would happen in an emergency is anyone's guess!
So: a good game, a good point, some good pints. And it wasn't even cold!
Paul Robson & Sarah-Jane Lock
