Managers are more concerned with giving their ring-rusty players a chance to get a few rounds under their belts.



But throwing all the warnings out about not getting carried away, you could be forgiven for thinking this was as good as it gets for warm-up games.

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Hartlepool United produced an opening 45 minutes which would have earned few detractors if the date had been August 9.

Danny Wilson's side looked a class act in the first half, passing the ball fluently and crisply in triangles and regularly getting in behind the opposition defence.

This was not a side who had spent the best part of three months with their feet up.

Pools were first to the 50/50 balls against opponents who already had three games under their belts.

The only mystery surrounding the game was how Greenock Morton managed to be level with just a minute to go on the clock.

Pools could have been three or four up in the opening period and only a hugely fortunate richochet off Sam Collins in the closing minute of the half allowed Morton to equalise.

The second half was less of a spectacle, with substitutions and fatigue all contributing to the downturn in action.

But Pools continued to look the more likely to grab a winner and earned their rewards in the last minute through Tony Sweeney - a goal which admittedly had just as much fortune about it as Morton's leveller.

The thing everyone wants to know about from pre-season though is how the new boys coped.

Ritchie Jones was handed a starting berth alongside Willie Boland in the middle of the park and looked very decent.

As expected, he was full of energy and was always on hand to receive a pass from the widemen.

Alan Power was given the job of playing alongside Jones in the second half, as Wilson slightly tweaked his sytem to a 4-3-3, with Sweeney the other man in the middle.

Power, as Wilson admitted after the game, is not yet in the shape he should be and was fairly quiet during his 45 minutes on the pitch.

He did though produce one impressive surging run towards the box in the closing stages.

There was another fresh face between the sticks, although it wasn't former Newcastle United youngster Mark Cook, who signed for the club last week.

Ex-Aberdeen stopper Derek Soutar was given the goalkeeper's jersey for the second half as he bids to win a contract with Pools during their time in Scotland.

The 27-year-old trialist won't have had many quieter matches during his 168-game career, with only one shot coming his way during his 45 minutes.

For all the eyes that were on the new boys though, it was one of the established Victoria Park heroes that grabbed the headlines.

James Brown was handed a starting spot as a central striker for the first half, and the calls from a significant section of the supporters for the 21-year-old to be given that role were certainly justified.

The Morton defence simply couldn't cope with Brown, whose movement, pace and tricky were a far cry from a player who had struggled for fitness in the closing stages of last season.

Centre-halves don't like being dragged out wide and that is something Brown proves a master of when he plays down the middle.

His ability to drift to the right flank is a real weapon and he also showed signs of forming a decent partnership with Joel Porter.

The pair are arguably the two most creative players at the Vic and if they can fulfill the promise from last night, there won't be many League One defences who can live with them.

Elsewhere, Collins was handed the captain's armband and once again looked a colussus at the back.

The more you see the ex-Hull man in action, the more you think he is going to be an integral part of whether Pools do well this season.

Jamie McCunnie also looked impressive at right-back and looked to overlap David Foley at every opportunity.

Wilson continues to insist that McCunnie is a central midfielder, but he has the delivery, pace and grit to line-up regularly in defence.

Pools looked to use the right side on a fairly regular basis in the opening stages and that ploy almost gave them the lead in the fourth minute.

Porter floated a beautiful ball over the top for Foley whose first touch was poor as he came inside from the flank. The ball looked to be rolling safely into the arms of Morton keeper Colin Stewart, but he hesitated and Foley managed to get a foot to the ball, only for it to drift agonisingly wide.

Brown and Porter both had efforts from distance before Arran Lee-Barrett was called into action in the 29th minute as Morton mounted a rare attack. Erik Paartalu's right wing cross was met by Brian Wake whose sidefoot volley was parried well by the Pools stopper.

Pools took the lead a minute later as Brown let fly from 25 yards and the ball took a healthy deflection off Jim McAlister and made its way beyond the keeper's grasp into the top corner.

Brown went close with another long-ranger two minutes before the interval. He again drifted wide onto the right-flank and came inside before unleashing a fierce left-footer which went a yard over the bar.

Morton grabbed their undeserved leveller right on the stroke of half-time. Collins attempted to clear the ball on the halfway line, only for it to bounce off Stevie Masterton who got lucky, with the ball bouncing straight into his path and giving him a clear run on goal.

The hosts had a three-on-one situation and Masterton decided to ignore those around him and planted one into the bottom corner.

The raft of second half chances severely affected what had been a good game, with a shot straight into Soutar's arms the closest either side came to a breakthrough.

That was until the last minute when Brown, who spent the second half in a free role behind the two strikers, tried to free Sweeney down the left.

The ball looked meat and drink for Peter Weatherson, only for the right-back to fluff his clearance and present Sweeney with a one-on-one. He kept his cool and planted it in the bottom corner.

It was a fitting reward for a very respectable display.

Morton: Stewart, Reid, Smith, trialist, trialist, Masterton, Finlayson, Paartalu, Newby, Wake, McAlister. Subs: McGuffie, Russell, Graham, Weatherston, Arbuckle.

Pools: Lee-Barrett (Souter 46), McCunnie, Clark (Nelson 46), Collins, Robson, Foley (Barker 46), Jones, Boland (Power 46), Monkhouse (Sweeney 46), Brown, Porter (Mackay 53).