Six months later, Pools find their away form at last
Lidds - two goals
By Charlie Summerbell
April 4 2010
Seven games to go to save Hartlepool United’s League One status – and if they play like they did at Leyton Orient on Saturday, they should stay up without a problem. But the point is, if they had played like that more often this season there wouldn’t be any relegation fears in the fist place.
Fast out of the blocks, they were three up before half-time and were able to play out the second half comfortably against a poor Orient side.
It was ironic that after the game, a manager was sacked – but the Pools fans who have been calling for the head of Chris turner weren’t the ones who got their way.
It was Orient boss Geraint Williams who got the chop after a bad run by the London club ended with them being overhauled by Pools as Turner’s team climbed out of the drop zone where they had lingered for less than 24 hours.
On a day when Danny Wilson’s Swindon won 3-0 at Leeds to go second top in league One, Pools got their first away win in six months to make their own prospects look a lot brighter as they moved three places and two points ahead of fourth bottom Gillingham.
You will, of course, remember Danny Wilson – he was the one hated and hounded by a section of Vic fans and eventually sacked at the end of 2008 because he wasn’t good enough.
He might not have been good enough for Pools, but he appears to be good enough for Swindon.
The return of Gary Liddle was a major boost for Pools at Orient, and not just because the defender scored two of their three goals, either side of a strike by Roy O’Donovan.
Turner declared himself delighted with the performance and grateful for the support of more than 200 fans who made the long trip to London for the game.
He’ll be hoping for the same level of performance, and the same backing, on Easter Monday when a rejuvenated Brighton visit Victoria Park.
They held south coast neighbours Southampton to a 2-2 draw earlier in the weekend, and under Gus Poyet, Brighton have climbed to a safe-looking mid-table position.
They will pose a stiff test at the Vic, but Turner says Pools were busting to get going at Orient and coped well with the pressure recent results have put them under.
They need to do it again on Monday and things really could be looking up, but the question still remains - if they can play like this, why are they in the danger zone?
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No one is getting carried away though, but looking at the remaining fixtures we play Stockport, Wycombe & Exeter among them. I would be surprised if we didn't get at least 6 or 7 points from those three games which should go a long way to helping us to safety.
With Wycombe and Stockport coming up, it's up to the team and they don't need to rely on other results.
If they play like they did against Brighton, we'll be OK.
We seem to do better against teams at the lower end of the table so hopefully we will get enough points to avoid the drop.