Antony Sweeney hails valiant defensive efforts as Hartlepool United hold League One Morecambe to goalless draw

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Hartlepool United limited their League One counterparts to very few clear-cut chances with goalkeeper Ben Killip only forced into one or two saves to deny the opposition once the defence had been breached.

Other than a late Cole Stockton effort, that was smartly stopped by Killip, Pools more then held their own on the night and could have won the game themselves - but for a few smart saves by Adam Smith in the Shrimps goal.

Sweeney, though, isn’t too concerned with their penalty shootout defeat and believes his side should be proud of their defensive efforts during the 90 minutes.

Anthony Sweeney was proud of his side's defensive efforts against Morecambe (Credit: Mark Fletcher | MI News)

Sweeney said: “Hopefully they’ve enjoyed themselves, regardless of a little bit of disappointment at the end that they haven’t won the penalty shootout.

“If I’m a defender, a defensive minded player, one of the midfielders and even the two forward players, I’ve worked very hard.

“If I’m part of that defensive unit as an outfield ten and a goalkeeper, I’m thinking ‘I've worked hard, I’ve helped to earn what might be a valuable point in a cup competition.”

The Papa John’s Trophy may have no direct bearing on their position in the league, however, Sweeney is hoping that his team can use the momentum gained from a solid defensive display and take that into what may prove to be a pivotal match on Saturday when they host Gillingham.

“It should do,” Sweeney told the Mail, when asked if his side will take confidence from their showing at the Mazuma Stadium.

“It’s no secret that we have got a really poor defensive record overall.

“But within that poor defensive record we’ve been quite solid in some of the games but not all of the games.

“We need to find that consistency that’s always a platform to win games - you have to be solid defensively.

“We know that we can’t win games 4-3 or 3-2, our wins at this moment in time will be 1-0’s or 2-1’s so we have to rely on a defensive unit and goalkeeper, who has played very well this season has Ben, which will be a major part of us hopefully climbing the league.”