Sweeney injury overshadows Pools defeat

It’s difficult to decide which is the bigger blow for Hartlepool United … losing against ten men at Carlisle, or possibly losing top scorer Antony Sweeney to a bad injury. Either way, it wasn’t the best of nights for Mick Wadsworth and his players as they failed to make their numerical advantage count after playing against ten men for more than half the game.

Carlisle’s Liam Noble was sent off for his challenge on Sweeney, amid ridiculous claims that the Pools midfield man had most the most of the challenge. He isn't that type of player, and the fact that he limped off soon afterwards with a nasty shin injury showed how wrong they were.
But Pools failed to cash in on the red card, and Carlisle won with the only goal of the game, a spectacular overhead kick from Francois Zoko after a cross spun into the air off Evan Horwood.
It was a disappointing night all-round for Pools and Wadsworth told the club website: “We’ve let ourselves down, there’s no doubt about that.
“There was a lot of hard work in the first half and we defended well against a strong wind to put ourselves in a good position, so to lose is very disappointing.
“Carlisle going down to ten men should have been a boost for us, but overall we were just very poor.
“But we can’t play brilliantly every game – if we did, we’d be a lot further up the table, so we can’t dwell on this.
“By our standards we have not been at our best.”
On the Sweeney situation, Wadsworth admitted he was disappointed by  “People accusing him of cheating”, and said the midfielder has a nasty injury which will need further assessment before the club knows whether he will be on the sidelines.
Three of the next four games are at home, with crisis club Plymouth at the Vic on Saturday followed Leyton Orient three days later, a visit to struggling Walsall a week on Saturday and Rochdale at home on Friday night, March 25.
That run of games gives Pools the chance to get the three points Wadsworth believes they need to clinch league One safety. How much further the rest of March takes them will depend not only on whether Sweeney is fit, but also on how soon they can put their Carlisle form behind them.