2003/4 Season Review: August Kickoff

By Albatross
May 28 2004

Hartlepool United didn't waste much time making an impression on Division 2 - and although our opponents fans seemed to think we were going to plummet, results and performances gave Poolies everywhere plenty of confidence.

Our first game of the season was what on paper looked to be a tricky game at Peterborough. The buildup saw many Posh fans predicting an easy win over Pools, who were confidently assumed to be the new whipping-boys in the division; and Pools were going to be giving several players their debut. In fact we lined up with no fewer than five players making their first start: Nelson, Robson, Jordan, Strachan and Paul Robinson. With Pools two down inside 25 minutes things didn't look good - but a stunning Free Kick from Strachan gave the travelling fans hope. Andy Clarke then notched again after the break, Paul Robinson got one back, and then Robson got us level with 20 minutes to go. Most Poolies would have been more than happy at this point, but Nelson scored with a stunning long range strike to take the points for Pools - four of the five debutants having scored.

A win to start with then, but not everyone was impressed. Various Posh fans took great delight in telling us how lucky we'd been, that Barry Fry's tactics were the sole reason for our three points, that we'd finish bottom by some margin.... not that this bothered us much: we'd got our first competitive meeting with Chris Turner's Sheffield Wednesday side to look forward to.

The Carling Cup tie at Hillsbrough saw Cooper make what proved to be one of his most astute decisions. Anthony Williams hadn't had the greatest of games at Peterborough, and Coops decided to give Jim Provett his chance. Provett justified his manager's faith in him with a vengeance, having a superb game as Pools, despite being under plenty of pressure from the home side, drew 2-2 and took the game to penalties; Jim made a crucial stop, and with all the other penalties on target it was left to Gavin Strachan to take the decisive one. Strachan, on trial at Hillsbrough a few weeks previously, made no mistake to earn Pools the victory. Unsurprisingly we didn't get much acclaim from the Owls fans: prior to the game they'd been discussing whether or not they ought to try for a decent cup run, afterwards they told us how awful we'd been, they should have had five, how the game didn't matter to them anyway.... anyone spotted a pattern yet?

Tranmere though did seem prepared to give us a little more credit: the result was a 0-0 draw in our first home game of the season. Gabbiadini made his debut as a second half substitute. The following week saw Gabba open his Pools account with the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Bristol City at Ashton Gate; Gavin Strachan also went close with another free kick as he started to develop a reputation for his set pieces.

Bank Holiday Monday saw us taking on early leaders Port Vale at the Vic; they were no match for Pools though, who scored at the beginning and end of the game for a 2-0 victory. David Foley came off the bench to take Steven Istead's crown as the youngest player to represent Pools. The only blemish to our record came against Luton: after an atrocious start that saw us fall 3-0 behind in 25 minutes, Pools came back strongly to lose 3-2 - the comeback this time falling just short.

Cooper had also looked to strengthen his squad during the month: Aussie Adam Van Dommelle arrived for a short term deal that didn't see him get near the first team, and Ryan McCann joined after leaving Celtic. Meanwhile, he was also looking to ship players out that he thought were surplus to requirements: Marcus Richardson was first on the list, heading out on loan to Lincoln.

After a month of the season, Pools found themselves handily placed in the top 10. Gabbiadini was having a positive influence, Paul Robinson seemed to be on fire, and we were putting a few noses out of joint. A great start to our league campaign - but even better was to come.