Scunthorpe v Hartlepool United - Take 2

By Albatross
March 13 2006

Assuming it doesn't fall foul of the weather for a second time, Hartlepool will travel to Scunthorpe United. Since the original postponement though, Pools have had a chance to get one or two injured players back in action....

The second attempt to get the match at Glanford Park played is once again at risk due to the weather, but it's a safe bet that Pools will be keen for the game to go ahead if at all possible.

Our contrasting fortunes since the original postponement mean that a win for Pools would lift us ahead of the Iron in the table, with a match in hand. Just two places and two points seperate us now thanks to our victory over Huddersfield on Friday and Scunny's defeat at table-topping Southend; before, it was eight places. Such is the closeness of the division this season.

Pools are of course being boosted by the return to action of some of our long-term injured players, with Joel Porter marking his first taste of first-team action with the final goal on Friday; meanwhile James Brown netted twice for the youth team, Tommy Butler is back in training although unlikely to be fit, and the long-term list of absentees now really seems to be limited to Gavin Strachan.

Brian Laws is talking about his side needing to take the game to us, and it's a recognition that Scunny could all too easily be sucked into a relegation battle themselves. Pools meanwhile can go into the game knowing that it's a chance to get some much-needed breathing space between ourselves and the drop zone - currently we're three points clear, but six would relieve more pressure with some potentially difficult fixtures coming up.

Then again, Stepho seems to be doing a cracking job of turning Victoria Park back into the fortress of the past few seasons and that means drawing or even losing this game wouldn't be the disaster it might have been ten days ago. We've beaten Chesterfield to end their long unbeaten run and Huddersfield to dent their automatic promotion hopes, and come very close to beating a Doncaster side that's still not without hopes of making the playoffs.

I still expect Stepho to send out his side to play more defensively, but with Boyd well and truly back and Porter probably on the bench to come on late on, Pools look like they have the potential to turn a half chance into a winning goal. So I'll predict a 1-0 for Pools, Boyd to strike again as we pull further clear of trouble.