Hartlepool United 'got what they wanted' from Fleetwood Town friendly - Clark
Hartlepool United rounded off their pre-season campaign with a home win against Fleetwood Town.
Lee Clark believes Hartlepool United got ‘everything they wanted’ from Saturday’s pre-season friendly win against League Two side Fleetwood Town.
After producing a positive performance despite suffering a defeat against Grimsby Town in their first home friendly of the summer last weekend, there was a confident mood around Pools as they prepared to round off their preparations for the new National League season with a meeting with Matt Lawlor’s side.
Clark’s men enjoyed the better of the exchanges during the opening 45 minutes with summer signing Chris Popov looking a genuine threat as his continues to impress during the early months of his time in a Pools shirt. Despite creating several promising moments ahead of the break, an opening goal remained out of reach and the game remained goalless when the half-time whistle was blown.
Clark made changes at the break with Charlie Penman, Jack Hunter and Corey McKeown introduced into the action and after his side saw off some pressure from their visitors, it was the latter of that trio that finally broke the deadlock in the final minute of the contest with a neat finish from the edge of the area.
After starting off their pre-season with a win at Northern League newcomers Seaton Carew, Pools have gradually improved as they faced opposition from several levels of the English football pyramid - and Clark believes he has a lot to take from the final test of the summer ahead of the first competitive game of his reign when Barrow travel to Victoria Park next weekend.
He told the club website: “A great game, another tough match for us against quality opposition, a team above us in the pyramid. It’s what we wanted and what we got. There were lots of places where we did really well and lots of places where we can improve. We won the game with a terrific season so we are absolutely delighted with the outcome. We could have done better in the final third, I felt. Just that final pass, the shot, or cross. Obviously Fleetwood caused us some problems in the second-half and they had a couple of chances. It’s stuff that will make you better, you learn from these incidents and these matches. That’s why we picked the opposition from higher levels. We knew we’d be tested, we got that and the lads responded well.”
Delighted
After receiving praise from Clark in the aftermath of an impressive display in a pre-season win at National League North newcomers Hebburn Town last month, summer signing Corey McKeown caught the eye once again as he continued to show why his manager was so keen to secure his services after working with the attacking midfielder during his time at Blyth Spartans.
Of McKeown, Clark said: “He’s a talented, young player. He took his goal extremely well, he did some other exciting things. He’s still learning about the game, especially out of possession. Jordan Hugill showed his experience, Terry Bondo came on and did extremely well. I am delighted with everyone.”
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