Pools aim to spoil Bournemouth party

Hartlepool United go to the South Coast at the weekend hoping to put a damper on a day of celebration for hosts Bournemouth by extending their impressive away record. Only a handful of League One teams have earned more away points than Pools this season, and only leaders Brighton can match their goals against count of just six in nine games.

But first they have to battle through the weather to get to Bournemouth, where the home side are celebrating 100 years of playing at their Dean Court ground.
They’ve produced a special programme and are marking their big day with a number of off-pitch activities before and after the game.
But all Pools are interested in, once they've got through the weather, is getting a result.
It won’t be easy against a side sitting in third-top place boasting more home wins than any other League One team – the perfect test for Pools.
The team’s prospects have improved considerably in the last few weeks, despite games being hit by the weather, and having played one game less than most and two less than some, Pools have every right to be satisfied with their mid-table place.
Regarded as a legend in Bournemouth, veteran striker Steve Fletcher will be hoping to make an appearance against his former club. Mostly used as a sub nowadays, the 38-year-old Hartlepool-born big man would probably have stayed with Pools for much longer had the club been run properly, as it is now, when he left for Bournemouth in 1982.
Then he might have been a 700-plus game record-holder for Pools rather than Bournemouth, where he is held in such esteem that a stand at Dean Court is named after him.
Having watched the club’s youth team lose 2-1 to a late goal in the FA Youth Cup third round at Leicester in midweek, Mick Wadsworth would love to add to his team’s good away record.
The weather prospects appear to offer no problems at the moment, though of course that could change quickly and the roué between Hartlepool and Bournemouth won’t be easy.