Hartlepool United 0-3 Swindon Town: Harry Mckirdy stars as Pools' end of season woes continue in sluggish home defeat

Graeme Lee, still at home as he continues his recovery from COVID-19, must be left scratching his head as Pools continue to stumble towards the finish line in League Two.

While accusations get thrown at Pools for being on the beach, it’s more like the players find themselves in quicksand as their endeavours continue to yield little profit in the way of points.

Harry McKirdy was the Swindon hero as he added his 19th and 20th goals of the campaign to see off a lacklustre Pools at the Suit Direct Stadium.

McKirdy, who has a goal against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to his name this season, opened the scoring with a well-taken finish five minutes before the interval.

And the 25-year-old doubled the lead 10 minutes after the restart when he converted Jack Payne’s near post cross as frustrations continue for Lee’s side.

Pools were once again without manager Lee after he produced a positive COVID-19 test on Saturday morning meaning duties were handed over to Michael Nelson for the second game in a row.

And things were made even more challenging as Pools’ injury troubles continued.

While Nelson suggested players were already playing through the pain barrier, they were left hopelessly short once more with just five substitutes named on the bench for a second game running.

That number would have been four had Pools not taken the decision to recall striker Olufela Olomola from his loan spell at Yeovil Town in midweek.

Olomola was one of six changes to the side who started at the Crown Oil Arena against Rochdale on Easter Monday as Pools reverted to a back four.

Neill Byrne and Gary Liddle were two of those changes as both defender’s missed out altogether while Jamie Sterry and Timi Odusina returned from their respective rib and knee injuries.

Mark Shelton and Martin Smith started in midfield with Bryn Morris another to miss out on the squad while Joe White dropped to the bench.

Olomola joined Luke Molyneux in flanking Omar Bogle in a front three as Pools searched for some kind of spark to ignite the closing weeks of their campaign.

But that spark never really came as the game struggled with a lack of quality from both teams in the early exchanges.

It was not until midway through the first half either side threatened on goal as Olomola and Bogle liked well on the left only for Ellis Iandolo to excellently deny Olomola from six yards.

Bogle brought a decent save from Lewis Ward moments later when he turned and fired towards goal from the edge of the area from Sterry’s pick out.

But perhaps the best chance of the opening half an hour came following a mistake by Ben Killip as he came racing from his area and misplaced a clearance straight to Louie Barry but he fired off target from distance.

But a game low on quality turned five minutes before the break in a 60 second period which kind of emphasises the way things are going for Pools at the moment.

Molyneux found space on the right for perhaps the first time in the game and was able beat Iandolo and fire a cross beyond Ward into the six yard box but with the goal gaping, Olomola was unable to convert into an empty net.

And it was a mix-up that would cost Pools immediately as the Robins darted up the other end of the field with Mandela Egbo on the right and he picked out McKirdy just inside the area who placed well first-time beyond Killip.

The visitors should have doubled their lead going in at the break as moments later Barry raced clear of the defence but lifted his effort over Killip and back off the foot of the post.

But the Robins didn’t have long to wait for a second after the break as Jack Payne wriggled free from David Ferguson and was able to pick out McKirdy at the near post who coolly rolled beyond Killip.

It was a goal which knocked whatever little stuffing Pools had left out of them with Ben Garner’s side enjoying something of procession for the final 30 minutes.

McKirdy came close to a hat-trick when he raced clear of Odusina and went round Killip only for Jake Hull to deny his goalbound effort.

But the third did arrive in the final five minutes as a crowd of 4,786 deserted when Mathieu Baudry was able to freely nod in a high ball at the back post with little challenge from the Pools defence.

It signalled a hugely disappointing day for the home side who seemingly cannot reach the end of the season soon enough with Lee’s side now having won just one of their last 10 games since losing their EFL Trophy semi-final against Rortherham United.

Lee may well be back in the dugout at next weekend’s penultimate game of the season at Scunthorpe United, but on this display there will be much to improve on.

Hartlepool United XI: Killip, Sterry, Odusina, Hull, Ferguson ©, Shelton (Carver ‘81), Smith (White ‘60), Crawford, Olomola, Bogle, Molyneux

Subs: Bilokapic, Ogle, Fletcher

Swindon Town XI: Ward, Iandolo, Conroy ©, Baudry, Davison, Payne, McKirdy (Parson ‘66), Egbo (Odimayo ‘58), Barrym Williams (Gladwin ‘78), Reed

Subs: East, O’Brien, MItchell-Lawson, Aguiar