Sweeney raises sights for Pools

TEN goals from midfield and the season isn’t even at the halfway stage yet; and now Antony Sweeney and his Hartlepool United teammates are out to turn a promising season into a special one.

Their FA Cup exit at Watford on Saturday – the 4-1 scoreline rather flattering the hosts – leaves Pools with 25 League One games to play from a position of some strength.

Tenth in the table and a point off the play-offs, their season to date has exceeded all expectations.

Like the rest of the North- East, the FA Cup is a thing of the past for Pools, but Sweeney isn’t that concerned and is aiming to use their current base as a springboard to success.

He put Pools in front at Vicarage Road, a trademark surge from deep, ending in a neat reverse finish.

But he could only look on as Watford struck four times to turn the game in their favour.

“It’s not a case of having to lift the squad after this, but it’s disappointing to lose 4-1,’’ he insisted.

“We could come here, lose 4-1 and they play us off the park, but it wasn’t like that.

Yes it’s disappointing and it’s our own doing. People look at the score and think we have been battered.

“It’s not like that. When you are walking back to the halfway line, you can’t help but look at the goals on the big screens.

“For one of them we had four players around him, next we had three, a short-corner and it’s disappointing. But I’m not passing the buck, it’s a team thing and we have to be tighter collectively.’’ Worryingly, Pools have conceded seven goals in the two games skipper Sam Collins has missed. He could be in contention for the weekend’s visit of Dagenham and Redbridge, as his medial knee ligament injury doesn’t seem as bad as feared.

The same can be said about Pools’ season.

“The way pre-season went and last season as well, then we would happily grab the position we are in right now,’’ admitted Sweeney. “We’ve been on a good run, got to this stage of the cup and been in front.

So it’s disappointing to lose.

“Now we hope we can look back on this as a good platform to build from and go from there.

“In the last few seasons we couldn’t even buy an away win, now we are strong. If we can make the Vic a bit of a fortress – and that’s always been the case when we have made the play-offs – allied with a good away record why can’t this be a very good season for us?’’ He added: “We need to start well. If someone in recent seasons went in front against us, we could pretty much write that game off.

“Instead, look at Oldham last week as an example. We have shown the character we are made of and been able to press on and turn games around.

“Maybe we were a bit naïve here that we didn’t sit tight as soon as we conceded the first this time, but we want to learn the lessons.’’ After Sweeney’s run from deep saw him in on goal, he turned to dink his finish above and around keeper Rene Gilmartin.

The lead was, for Pools, as welcome as it was deserved.

Neither goalkeeper had been overly exerted, both sides happy in possession, both happy to sit off the opposition and allow them to pass.

When Evan Horwood got ahead to pull the ball back for Joe Gamble, it looked like Pools were two goals up.

James Brown stood aside and allowed Gamble to run onto the pass and shoot at goal, only for Gilmartin to pull off what proved a gamechanging save.

Within minutes, Watford had turned a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.

When Ross Jenkins’ shot was deflected wide, the corner was worked short and Piero Mingoia ran across Leon McSweeney on the edge of the box to shoot into the far side of the net.

Then, with Sweeney and Co still reeling from watching a replay on the big screen, Marvin Sordell got into a similar spot and shot low into the net.

Pools were hit hard by the goals, and they were unable to create much more.

The third goal came when Gary Liddle and Jake Kean stood off the ball, Sordell nipped in and his delicate touch was enough to roll the ball into the net.

With Danny Graham on the bench, after a hamstring strain, it was expected he would arrive only in an emergency.

Yet he came on at 2-1 rather than when Watford were behind.

And in injury time, the ex- Middlesbrough man took up a spot between defenders, got to the edge of the area and skipped past challenges before drilling in his 16th of the season.

Match facts

Goals:

0-1: Sweeney (44, clipped angled finish over and around the keeper)

1-1: Mingoia (66, curled in a short worked corner from the right side) 2-1: Sordell (68, from a similar spot to the leveller, this time the shot was low and central)

3-1: Sordell (82, nipped between Liddle and Kean and his touch put the ball in)

4-1: Graham (90, broke from halfway, cut across the defence and confidently shot in off the post)

Booking: Murray (35, foul)

Referee: Russell Booth (Nottingham): Always on top of play, and firm with his decisions 7

Attendance: 8,950

Entertainment: ✰✰✰

WATFORD (4-4-2): Gilmartin 7; Mariappa 6, Taylor 6, Bennett 5, Doyley 6; Buckley 5 (McGinn 76), Jenkins 6, Whichelow 7, MINGOIA 8, Deeney 7 (Graham 76), Sordell 8 (Massey 84). Subs (not used): Loach (gk), Oshodi, Murray, Thompson.

HARTLEPOOL UNITED (4-5-1):

5 Kean: Made a great stop at 0-1, but lapse cost the third goal

5 Austin: Not as tight defensively as he has been lately

5 Liddle: Slotted into the back four well, but his good work was later undone as Watford scored four

6 Hartley: First-half was impeccable in reading situations and holding firm

6 Horwood: Always looking to bomb forward, made his mark on the game

5 McSweeney: High workrate all afternoon, but didn’t get much reward from it

8 MURRAY: Passed, battled, tackled and intercepted in the manner he has done all season

7 Sweeney: Goal number ten arrived with a tidy and intelligent finish

5 Gamble: With Liddle in the back four, he was allowed to roam and pick up possession, unlucky not to put Pools two-up

6 Monkhouse: Another disciplined left wing display, but will have been disappointed with his lack of second-half impact

7 Humphreys: A deserved standing ovation after putting in some shift up front alone

Subs:

Brown (for Humphreys 62): Unfortunate that Pools were down for the majority of his outing 5 Larkin (for McSweeney 74) Yantorno (for Murray 80) (not used): Rafferty (gk), Boyd, Haslam, Bjornsson, Larkin.

MAN OF THE MATCH

PAUL Murray – when Pools were on top, and deservedly so, he was essential to the lead and performance.