Clean sheet continues to escape Hartlepool United despite positive Suit Direct Stadium return

Hartlepool secured a second straight win of the season against the Magpies with three different goalscorers all getting their name on the scoresheet.

But for first team coach Antony Sweeney the shine was taken off the result ever so slightly thanks to Casey Pettit’s 94th minute consolation to wipe out a clean sheet for new goalkeeper Joel Dixon.

Dixon has conceded five goals in his three starts now for Hartlepool but the overriding issue regarding clean sheets is one which goes beyond this season and long into last.

John Askey has yet to see his Hartlepool team keep the opposition out in 16 games in charge, with Pools having not kept a clean sheet since February’s 1-0 win over Doncaster Rovers some 20 games ago.

It’s an achilles heel for Hartlepool, currently, but while they are able to outscore the opposition – as has been the case against both Maidenhead and Gateshead – it’s something that Pools’ management staff will be able to compromise on.

"If I’m the goalkeeper, or any part of that back five, I don’t think it needs any member of staff to mention [about not keeping a clean sheet]. It should be ingrained into you,” Sweeney said following Maidenhead’s late goal.

"We should have been able to see that game out.

"An excellent night turned into a very good night just by that lapse in concentration and not tracking a runner.

"But if someone had given us the way it turned out before the game I think we’d have taken it.”