Alex Cross proud of Hartlepool United youngsters after Everton U21s defeat
A youthful Hartlepool United side suffered a narrow defeat against Everton Under-21s in their latest National League Cup tie.
Alex Cross praised a youthful Hartlepool United side for moving on from their heavy defeat against Middlesbrough Under-21s with a much-improved display against Everton on Tuesday night.
After kicking off their National League Cup campaign with a 10-0 defeat against Boro last month, a Pools side containing young prospects such as Harry Conyard, Noah Gilbraith and Matthew Taylor fell to a narrow defeat against the Toffees at Victoria Park. Pools had their chances with summer signing Terry Bondo and captain Gilbraith going close in either half - but it was an early strike from Toffees wing-back Rocco Lambert that made the difference between the two sides when the full-time whistle was blown.
Cross admitted last month’s game against Boro came ‘far too early’ for his new side - and pointed to Everton’s determination to see out the win as a clear sign of the improvements made by the Pools youngsters.
He told the club website: “Proud, most definitely. I thought we made them look not like a Premier League Under-21s setup and they had to go really long in the second-half because of our press and what we were doing off the ball. Particularly in the first-half, we’ve had some really good chances, set-pieces and a couple of chances by playing through and over the top of them. On another day, we possibly get something else out of the game but to see the opponent keeping the ball in the corner at the back end of the game is probably the biggest credit you can give to our lads.
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He continued: “That game [against Middlesbrough Under-21s] just came far too early for us. We were five weeks into pre-season, we were probably three or four weeks too early but the schedule was what it was. We had to play the game and we had four or five players that weren’t able to play in the game because of where they were. There’s no excuse for that game but there were reasons behind it and tonight you could see more of what our young players are capable of.”
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