Battling Pools can't hold on to lead against form team

Hartlepool United might have lost, but they were far from disgraced after being in front for more than half an hour against League One’s form team, Huddersfield Town. Pools were pegged back in the second half as the home team needed an own goal and a long-range effort to maintain their winning run with a 2-1 victory at a stadium with a daft name where some folk have ideas above their station.

Pool were in front from the 14^th minute, when the impressive Gary Liddle headed in Neil Austin’s free-kick at the far post, but when Adam Boyd’s header looked like doubling the lead soon after, Peter Clarke cleared off the line.
With 20 goals scored in their previous four home games, Huddersfield clearly though they had a right to be winning, but they needed a spawny own goal to draw level, Anthony Pilkington’s free-kick hitting the post and rebounding into the net off Peter Hartley.
Robbie Williams cut through the Pools defence to score the winner, but Huddersfield knew they had been in a match instead of the sort of walkover they have been used to and there were plenty of positives to take from the game for Pools.
Chris Turner admitted the better team won, and added that the game should give Pools and their fans some food for thought after watching a big-spending Huddersfield team put in a high tempo performance that would have beaten most sides in League One.
Now Pools have a chance to put their current form to the test at home, with Southampton visiting the Vic on Tuesday night.
Another alleged “big club”, Southampton have struggled to compensate for their ten-point deduction and are still those ten points behind Pools, stranded in the bottom four.
They were held to a 2-2 home draw by Norwich on Saturday in a game manager Alan Pardew described as fantastic, but there are worries about their defence and Pools will be hoping the skills of James Brown and Boyd can cause them problems.