Preview: Hartlepool United v Hull City

By Albatross
October 1 2004

Hartlepool United face Hull City for the second time this week - but this time both sides will be taking it seriously as there are league points at stake. While 1500 people may be about to experience their own personal Groundhog Day, can Pools produce a better result?

With Peter Taylor being given plenty of funds to strengthen his side, Hull have made a pretty good start to the season that has taken them to 3rd in the table and with Tranmere only ahead on goal difference; they are however nine points back from leaders Luton and five ahead of Pools who are eight places behind them.

Arguably though Hull's toughest games are yet to come. Their six league wins have been against Bournemouth, Torquay, Oldham, Barnsley, Blackpool and Peterborough - only the first of those is currently in the top 10, and with defeats against Bradford, Port Vale and Huddersfield and last weekend's disappointing 0-0 draw at home to basement side Stockport their claim on a top 6 spot is as yet unproven.

Leading scorer for Hull so far is Stuart Elliott; the Northern Irish International has hit the net eight times if you include Tuesday's rather fortunate deflection. After him in the charts comes former Newcastle man Stuart Green, who was also on target on Tuesday; he has notched five goals overall, but for some reason Taylor has been reluctant to play him away from home of late - until Tuesday, his last taste of action away from the KC Stadium came against Barnsley at the end of August!

Taylor's close-season signings have not met with universal success as yet. Junior Lewis has played a few games without really turning himself into a hero, while Roland Edge and Delroy Facey have yet to make much of an impression - Edge hasn't played in a league game, while Facey has just two sub appearances to his name. Aaron Wilbraham has yet to hit the net after signing from Stockport, Nick Barmby has missed out through injury for the last three weeks, and Matt Duke - who will probably take the place of the suspended Myhill in goal - has had precisely eleven minutes of League Football to his name after signing from Burton in the summer, and additionally conceded five goals and been on the losing side on penalties twice in cup games.

Cooper will of course be shuffling his pack after playing a more experimental lineup on Tuesday; for starters, it's highly unlikely that John Brackstone will retain his place at centre half! Mickey Barron looked assured before being substituted on Tuesday, and while I wouldn't expect him to start the game he could well be on the bench; however Steven Istead failed to cover himself in glory after a rare starting opportunity and so we can expect to see Richie Humphreys restored to the role he's looked impressive in recently. Whether it's because he excels more when the opposition is tired I don't know, but Istead is in danger of becoming known as "Super Sub" when he really should be starting to become a first team regular.

With changes likely in all departments, the starting lineup for Pools is open to plenty of conjecture. Will Tinkler remain in defence or, with Sweeney still suspended, will he partner Pouton in midfield? That would be my preference, with Nelson and Westwood to resume their partnership in the centre of defence, Craddock to play right back, and Boyd to be partnered by, well that's a tricky one. Eifion Williams has the track record, but Joel Porter did actually score on Tuesday and might think himself a little unlucky not to be given a chance; however both have a similar problem at the moment - they're missing too many chances. Boyd is doing well - six goals scored and five assists already this season - but ideally we need to have someone else hitting the net regularly alongside him. Currently neither of our senior forwards are doing enough to make the place their own. I'd go for Porter at the moment, but it's tempting to say that both of them need to go and have a word with Pop Robson about being more clinical in front of goal.

So what will the result be in our second game against the Tigers in the space of five days? I'd like to say a Pools Win, but at the moment I think we're just struggling at the back too much and will concede at least one goal. So a 1-1 draw, with - inevitably - Adam Boyd to hit the net.