Preview: Hartlepool United v Torquay United

By Albatross
September 17 2004

"It's a long way to Tipperary...." and possibly even longer from Hartlepool to Torquay. Don't expect many away fans then, and Pools should be looking for victory against a side that's not done much yet to shake off the pre-season relegation predictions.

Currently sitting third from bottom, Torquay travel to Pools after a horrendous start to the season that is only now starting to show any improvement. An opening day draw with Bristol City was followed by four defeats and another draw, plus a heavy defeat to Coventry in the Carling Cup. They did suprise Stockport - one of the two teams below them in the table - to record a 2-0 away victory a couple of weeks ago, and followed that up with a home draw with Brentford to go two games unbeaten.

Torquay's start to the season may not have pulled up too many trees, but manager Leroy Rosenior is in little danger. After turning the club from relegation favourites to playoff challengers, they won automatic promotion last season and find themselves once again tipped for the drop - 20th place would be regarded by success, especially after the departure of David Graham (for a healthy fee) to Wigan over the summer. With little budget to work with, Rosenior has had to look for free transfers and loan deals to freshen up his squad.

One recent addition to their squad is midfielder Stuart Wardley, and he scored his first goals for the club in grabbing a brace during the 2-2 draw with Brentford last Saturday. He's not to be confused with the most recent addition, former Ipswich trainee Stuart Boardley - unlikely to start at Pools, but possibly on the bench. Wardley's goals make him the second top scorer for the Gulls, behind Martin Gritton's three. Jo Kuffour has two - including one in the cup - and Stephen Woods has one, and as far as scorers go that's it so far this season! Rosenior should be boosted though by the return after injury of Adebayo Akinfenwa, who scored four times in nine appearances - more than half as a sub - for Doncaster at the end of last season. Alex Russell though is still suffering with a hamstring injury and won't be making the journey.

For Pools, there is at last some good news on the injury front. Former Gulls forward Eifion Williams resumed training yesterday, and is in contention for a place against his former club. With Mark Tinkler in the squad and Mickey Barron getting closer to first team action as well, there are some signs that we may be over the worst after the recent crisis. As yet there have been no signings this week, but with Willo around to start up front and Pouton and Woods having had a full week to train with the squad we are already looking stronger than we did against Oldham.

There's speculation that Cooper may bring Tinkler into defence, with Nelson the one to make way after some lacklustre performances (well at least compared to last year); another option may be to move Westwood across to right back in place of Craddock. Pouton showed some promise last week, but the question that interests me is to do with Richie Humphreys: will he be asked to continue on the right? The chances are that he will be, with Woods likely to retain his place on the left flank. Up front Boyd should be partnered by Williams.

This is a game that even a weakened Pools side should be able to win - although as with any side in this league, Torquay do have the potential to throw a spanner in the works. I think we'll just about do enough to scrape a 1-0 victory, with Boyd scoring the goal.