Brief Synopsis!!!

[samjones]

3 desperately needed points but boy were they sh1te. If it wasn't for Luke save just before half time it would have been 1 - 1 and we would of had nothing out of dominating the 1st half.

Not impressed even though we won fairly comfortably.

1 bright point was the directness of Thomas that injected some life into a flat and dour game against a very poor team that made us look good ( well average actually )

 

[clokey84]

3 points, brilliant! 2 well taken goals, good defensive performance and an excellent display from Thomas (my motm) that's the positives done. Very very average performance from argyle against a p poor team it's like watching Sunday league at times.. my high expectations of the start of the season are fading away.

 

[PAFC94]

We won a game against a very poor side. I expected a win we got a win, i'm still unconvinced. We need to go on a run now, it's no good if we go and lose to Acyy next week. I thought we looked very average today up until Thomas game on and I thought we started to play a lot better. Good result underwhelming performance.

 

[Liam Vercoe]

I don't take much comfort from this win. We sound shaky at best

Spot on Lesley, a better team than Hartlepool may have beaten us today.

 

[StevePAFC]

As bad as Hartlepool were you can only play what is in front of you, I think we played well first half and a masterstroke of a save from Luke saved us but imo an equalizer would of been unjust as we could and probably of been 3 up at that point.

Second half started very flat and I honestly thought we could concede but credit to the players for sticking in there, as soon as Thomas came on we looked much much brighter and he gave us an extra spark and pulled off a cracking finish, not only did he get the vital second goal but he also put in some lovely crosses which in honesty someone should have got on the end of them. It also made a change when he delivered a corner and it actually went past the first man and we looked like scoring from one! Another reason why he should start next week.

Am I convinced by Sheridan? Far from it but you can only beat what is in front of you but I still think with a better manager we would find ourselves in a much better position than we are now.

Mccormick:8
Mellor:5
Nelson:8
Hartley:8
Purrington:6/7
O'connor:7
Blizzard:8
Cox:7
Alessandra:4-Unlike him to have a performance as bad as that
Morgan:8-Lovely turn and finish for the first goal, does look better on the left wing than upfront though.
Reid:7-Hope his injury isn't serious as losing him for a long period of time will be an absolute killer blow.

Subs:
Thomas-9
Harvey-5
McHugh:7

 

[cheshiregreen]

3 welcome points but 3 potentially unwelcome injuries to important players.

We cannot afford to lose Reid, Hartley or Banton for long as we limited options especially in the forward areas.

 

[Mannamead Green]

To start, Hartlepool are very, very bad - relegation material by the looks of that performance. Not the greatest performance from us, but our midfield was strong and we just about deserved the three points. I'd have thought we'll need to play better against most teams in this division though.

PLAYER RATINGS:
McCormick - 7 - Good clean sheet, didn't have that much to do but he did it all pretty solidly. Like how this season he's looking to distribute it shorter and quicker.

Mellor - 5 - Bit of an off game: very 'meh'. Shaky at times, especially in the second half, and didn't get forward to support Alessandra enough. Still was capable in possession and defensively.
Nelson - 8 - Good performance. Rock at the back and didn't let much at all come past him.
Hartley - 7 - Similar to Nelson. Looked slightly more likely to make a mistake than Curtis but not anything to complain about. He's a good passer for a physical lower-league centre-back.
Purrington - 6 - Let a few too many crosses come in, but we play a lot better with AN ACTUAL LEFT-BACK out there. Like how well he uses the ball, and he gets up and down the flank well, even if he doesn't always do the best thing when he gets there.

O'Connor - 8 - Strong defensive midfield performance, and good enough on the ball too. Gobbles up a lot in his area.
Cox - 8 (MotM) - Typically good performance from him - quietly efficient. Good both ways: imposing defensively, always made himself available for a pass and used the ball intelligently.
Blizzard - 8 - Still a ghost defensively but he looked our best creative force and imposed himself attacking-wise a lot in the second half. Lovely pass to Thomas for his goal.

Alessandra - 4 - Busy is the best thing I can say about him. Absolutely nothing came off for him despite his best efforts. Bizarre sponsors' man of the match. Miss at the end summed up his game.
Reid - 6 - In his 45, he didn't really look like scoring but he acted fairly well as the pivot and his link-up with Morgan was good. Second half illustrated how much we would miss him if he is injured for a long period of time.
Morgan - 7 - 8 in the first half, 5 in the second. Think he needs someone to play off of to be effective - did well with Reid in the first half, but as a pivot for others to play off (ie. in the second half) he was nowhere near Reid's quality.

SUBSTITUTES:
Thomas - 8 - Class finish for the goal, aggressive, direct and skilful throughout. His teamwork and the defensive side of his game was better too.

McHugh - 6 - Came under more pressure when he came on for Hartley but I think he dealt okay with it all-in-all. Good back-up to have.

Harvey - 6 - One nice pass for Alessandra that he really should have scored from.

 

[DrewPAFC]

While Alessandra wasn't my MOTM, he can't have been 100% fit for today. I'm not sure he would've played the full 90 if we didn't lose Reid as early as we did, bit harsh to judge him too much today.

Crying out for a play maker in midfield, (Mr Hourihane..) Also, if Reid or Morgan drifts out wide during an attack we seem to have no one busting a gut to get in the middle, taking the pace out of our attacks.

3 points but just not convinced. No atmosphere, no noise and ironic chants at the manager.. Anyone else walk out of HP with an odd feeling considering we won..?

 

[Trev501]

I'm surprised at the comments of no atmosphere, I sit in the grandstand and traditionally we don't make much noise. However, I thought the Demport were quite lively today with some good and loud chants.

 

[HarlHM]

We were good. I feel we should've put the game to bed earlier though- H'pool had 1 or 2 very good chances at 1-0.

Having seen our new signings for 6/7 games each, I feel I can now justifiably give my opinion on them...

McCormick - 8/10
Mellor - 6/10 - He's really inconsistent. When he's good he's really good, particularly going forwards, but he makes a lot of odd decisions. That being said, I am a fan- there's more to come.
Nelson - 7/10
Hartley - 7/10 - He's better than most CB's at this level for sure. Gives the defence a good balance, with him being left footed. Hopefully nothing too serious re. the injury, but McHugh/O'Connor could come in and do an equally satisfactory job IMO.
Purrington - 6/10
O'Connor - 6/10 - I thought he was poor today actually, having sung his praises in just about every game prior to this. Drops in as an extra CB at times, and usually sweeps up really well in a quietly efficient style.
Cox - 7/10 - Better. I still don't feel he's reached the level of his previous spell with us, but, again, he's very capable.
Blizzard - 7/10
Alessandra - 7/10
Morgan - 8/10
Reid - 7/10

Thomas - 8/10 - Credit where credit's due- he was very good. I can't say this for definite, but I don't think his ability's ever been in question by JS. Hopefully he can get a run of games and show what he's capable of. We can all see his strengths, I just hope he's working on the negatives.
Harvey - 6/10
McHugh - 7/10 - He's not fast, tall, nor particularly strong, but he's reliable, sensible and does far better against Marlon Harewood-esque forwards than he ever really should. You know what you'll get with him- I'm a fan.

 

[PL2 3DQ]

Has anyone noticed that O'Connor has a bit of a temper? He showed it against Wycombe and again today when arguing with team mates. It's good that a loanee shows some passion.

 

[Verte]

Well done in my book. They had to deliver a performance and a result. I give 10/10 for the Result and 7/10 for the performance.

I hope the Coaching Team have learnt alot the last 7 days. Now let's go on a little run of 10 unbeaten now.

 

[steveFRIA]

It's gonna be another season of woe !

 

[NorfolkGreen]

What was the public humiliation of Banton?

 

[HarlHM]

It's gonna be another season of woe !

Cheers for that, Steve.