Latics run out of time

Photo: PICTURES by FRANK REID

up and at ’em: Hartlepool United’s Paul Hartley and Athletic striker Deane Smalley battle for the ball.

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Hartlepool 2, Athletic 1


THIS was a brutal away trip and no mistake.

The end result, which gave Hartlepool a fortuitous three points, was tough enough to take.

The bouts of pinball inside the hosts’ penalty area after Athletic had pulled a late goal back through substitute Pawel Abbott — whose second-half return, alongside fellow injury victim Chris Taylor, gave the team a visible lift — were plentiful.

Close-range shots were blocked, crosses were slotted across the face without anyone getting decisive touches and headers were skewed wide of the target.

Somehow, the spherical object refused to deposit itself into the goal to give Dave Penney’s intrepid travellers the point their play merited.

At least the home fans in an understandably sparse crowd of 2,634 exited the ground warmed by the snug feeling a league victory gives you.

Athletic fans shuttled off wondering just how long it will be before the likes of Abbott, Taylor and the myriad of other injury casualties will finally be back, fully fit, in order to reinforce a side worryingly short on form.

Penney’s recent record now contains seven defeats in the last 10. Not the hottest run, but one that certainly matched the conditions on Saturday.

Make no mistake. This was weather to delight those with shares in thermal underwear manufacturers and to dismay those who had declined to pull on that extra layer of socks before venturing out.

The resentful wind from the North Sea mercilessly battered poor old Victoria Park all afternoon, carting slugs of snow, sleet and icy rain into its every corner.

It was, in short, flippin’ freezing, and each and every one of the 176 Athletic fans present at the game deserves a medal.

Athletic started the game marginally the stronger in a sterile opening 20 minutes and Deane Smalley went close to giving the visitors a lead when his side-footed effort from the edge of the area, following a neat passing move in midfield, was deflected two feet wide.

The next bout of excitement arrived when a robust challenge from no-nonsense Hungarian centre-back Krisztian Timar — making his debut for the visitors after signing on loan from Plymouth Argyle late last week — sent Adam Boyd to the ground, with the home supporters baying for blood, or at the very least a free-kick that didn’t come.

Joe Colbeck’s cross just failed to find the head of striker Ryan Brooke, playing in place of returned Doncaster Rovers striker Paul Heffernan, as the visitors continued to exert a quiet control.

But with their first real attack, Hartlepool opened the scoring. Antony Sweeney got round the back of makeshift right-back Kieran Lee a little too easily and chipped an inviting ball across to the far post, where Ritchie Jones headed home from a couple of yards out.

An Athletic team containing no less than five changes from the line-up which gained a 2-2 draw at Wycombe was now up against it.

Things got twice as bad eight minutes later. Sean Gregan lost the flight of a long ball that held up in a swirling wind and could only head directly across the field to the left edge of the penalty area.

It evaded Lee and the lively Andy Monkhouse pounced, poking the ball beyond Timar and firing a left-footed shot home which hit goalkeeper Dean Brill before finding the right corner of the goal.

It was nearly three when Monkhouse’s dangerous ball in from the left was but a yard in front of the waiting Boyd, and Timar was forced into an excellent block after Brill’s weak punch had fallen to the edge of the area in added time.

Athletic regrouped after the break but couldn’t force many scoring chances.

On-loan Huddersfield Town midfielder Jim Goodwin, signed along with Timar on the eve of the game, was booked for a late tackle on Sweeney and soon after Smalley had a half-hearted appeal for a penalty turned down as he tumbled in the area.

Brooke then went close to pulling a goal back. The young striker dived to head a Colbeck cross at the near post and his flicked effort had to be cleared off the line by Neil Austin.

Hartlepool went close to getting another when Monkhouse’s header from the middle of the area hit the bar, before the introduction of Nick Blackman for Brooke gave Athletic new impetus just after the hour.

Taylor and Abbott were then brought on and the visitors pushed forward in search of a foothold in the game.

The outstanding Dale Stephens won a 50-50 challenge before slicing a shot wide.

Then, all hell broke loose with eight minutes left.

Taylor went down under a challenge from Peter Hartley and the left-back was booked, before seemingly becoming involved in an off-the-ball incident which few spotted.

Hartley was shown a straight red card by referee Carl Boyeson, with Gregan getting a yellow for his part in the melee in the Hartlepool area.

Stephens’ set piece then brought huge appeals for a penalty after it struck the hand of Sweeney, who was adjudged to be an inch or two outside the penalty box.

The next Stephens free-kick did the trick, Abbott getting a run on his marker before heading home powerfully on 88 minutes.

In added time, Taylor headed badly wide from a Stephens set piece when well-placed inside the area and Blackman couldn’t find the net when goalkeeper Scott Flinders rushed out to block his left-footed attempt from eight yards out.

Another goalmouth scramble ensued and Timar’s fizzed ball across the face of goal failed to find an Athletic shirt.



Penney: We had no tooth up front for the first hour

DAVE PENNEY admits that his side is currently lacking in striking power.


Athletic dominated for long spells in the 2-1 defeat at Victoria Park but failed to create many scoring opportunities until the closing stages.

The welcome return of top scorer Pawel Abbott was marked two minutes from time with a typical striker’s goal, of the sort Athletic have been crying out for in his near two-month absence due to hernia surgery.

Chris Taylor also made a comeback off the substitutes’ bench, with the Athletic boss emphasising that he didn’t feel comfortable introducing the crucial pair until the game had gone past the hour mark.

“It is galling that we are missing Pawel Abbott and Chris Taylor,” said Penney, following a 10th defeat of the season which leaves Athletic a point and two places clear of the relegation zone in Coca-Cola League One.

“We had no real cutting edge and no tooth up front for the first hour until we managed to put them on and it was still a little bit of a gamble to give them both 25 minutes.

“As you could see, the game opened up (following the substitutions). They are good players.

“Pawel scored a goal and we had four or five good chances after that and to be fair to Nick Blackman, he came on and livened us up as well and their ’keeper made a good save off him.

“We are delighted Pawel and Chris are on the way back.

“You can see their quality. They will have the ball in all kinds of areas and they play on shoulders, have good feet and believe in themselves.

“The young boys we have got up top at the moment (Deane Smalley and Ryan Brooke) are still relatively inexperienced and they are good substitutes at the moment but are struggling to play in a game like that.

“It was tough and it is a learning curve.”

Penney gave debuts to on-loan pair Krisztian Timar and Jim Goodwin, the former playing in place of the suspended Reuben Hazell and the latter stiffening up the central midfield.

But with Alex Marrow unfit to start, Kieran Lee played in an unfamiliar right-back role and was partly at fault for both of Hartlepool’s goals.

“We had to bring in a centre-back as Alex (Marrow) is struggling with a head injury and we wanted a little bit more experience in midfield which Jim (Goodwin) gives us,” Penney explained.

“Other than up front, we looked okay. Obviously we were caught out in the right-back position for the first two goals and that again is where we had a player (Kieran Lee) playing out of position.

“When we get Reuben back it will make us stronger in there.

“There were a lot of positives other than the result. Footballing-wise I thought we were excellent — possession-wise we certainly had more than them — but it is all about putting the ball in the back of the net.

“Once we had our big players on the pitch, we looked a threat.

“But though we looked a threat in the last 20 to 25 minutes, that isn’t good enough — we have to do it from the start of the game.”


Latics’ next game:

Leyton Orient (H), Coca-Cola League One