Hartlepool United v Exeter City - Preview

By Albatross
February 7 2003

For the second Saturday in a row, Hartlepool United face a Devon team at the Vic. Exeter City are the visitors this week; will they face the same fate as Torquay seven days ago?

Exeter have had a pretty awful season, as you might have guessed from their league position. Things have been looking up recently though, and a run of 8 games without defeat has seen them improve their chances of avoiding relegation.

That run though includes no less than six draws, and they still seem to have problems up front: the last time they scored more than twice in one game was over three months ago. The recent arrival of Sean Devine has added some life to their attack; Devine will be remembered by Poolies from his days at Barnet, is a proven goalscorer at this level, and has scored in each of the Grecians last three games. Against that, Exeter will be without leading scorer Steve Flack through suspension. Geoff Breslan is an injury doubt for the visitors.

Pools also have suspension problems; Eifion Williams misses the match, leaving Mike Newell with something of a quandry. We were hoping that Gordon Watson would be taking his place in the Pools side, but with this week's reserve game postponed due to a frozen pitch it again looks like a game too soon for Flash, although he should be on the bench.

So who will start up front with Richardson? Possibly the favourite is Adam Boyd, as he is more likely to complement Richardson than Kevin Henderson.

Another change looks likely in the midfield, where Mark Tinkler is almost certain to return to the side to partner Tommy Widdrington in the middle. Tony Sweeney played while Tinks was suspended last Saturday, but with Tinkler arguably one of the best midfielders in the division it would have needed something extraordinary from Sweeney to keep his place.

You have to favour Pools to win this game: our record against the lower teams is second to none and even on a good run it's hard to see Exeter taking anything from the match. It looks unlikely to be a walkover though, so I'll go for 2-1, Humphreys and Richardson to net.