Leon's strike gives Pools their miracle

We said here on Box of Kippers after the Carlisle flop in midweek that Hartlepool United needed a miracle. Well, they got one at Plymouth, where a spectacular late goal gave them their second away win of the season and went some way towards making up for their worrying form at Victoria Park.

Pools have one of the best away records in League One, in fact defensively it is THE best, having conceded only one goal conceded in five away games.
So can anybody explain why they leak goals so readily at the Vic? Of course they can’t, because if they could they would be the best manager in the country.
Even the players can’t be sure why they look so solid on their travel and such a soft touch at home, why a team that can give away four or five goals in single home games can manage to concede only one in almost eight hours of football on the road.
To be fair to Mick Wadsworth, after the Carlisle shocker he predicted that Pools would be better at Plymouth and after the win he told the club website: “I think we’ll have to play all our games away from home.
“In 30 years I have never known anything like it – I’ve never seen such a Jekyll and Hyde scenario.”
Well, if it’s any consolation to him, neither have even the long-standing Pools fans, supporters who have had to become used to inconsistency from their team.
The better team for much of the game, it looked as if Pools would have to settle for a point until Leon McSweeney won the game with a stunning 25-yard strike as the home defence stood off him.
It was a goal fitting to win any game, but at home Pools would settle for any kind of goal if it earned points.
They prove in every away game that they are good enough to be in a stronger League One position, then make a mess of it at home.
Their next chance to make amends is at home to Peterborough next weekend, and that won’t be easy as they are second top with an away record almost as good as Pools, who really must start sorting out this pressing problem at the Vic.