National League round-up: Hartlepool United beaten by Sunderland in final pre-season friendly after securing new signing

Romoney Crichlow-Noble played three friendlies for Hartlepool United prior to joining on a season long loan. Picture by Frank Reid

The behind closed doors match saw Luke James and Niko Muir find the net for Pools who came from two goals down to level the score before being undone by the Black Cats late on.

The home side were 2-0 up when James latched onto a Liam Noble pass before firing the ball into the corner of the goal.

Niko Muir then bagged his first goal in pre-season to level things up as he reacted fasted to poke the ball into the bottom corner. Ultimately, a hat-trick from Marc McNulty and further goals from Maguire and McGeady helped the League One outfit to victory.

Both sides named strong line-ups with Sunderland’s side featuring several first team regulars and the Pools XI rotated from the one which beat Macclesfield Town 3-0 on Saturday.

The game came shortly after Hartlepool announced their eighth summer signing as Romoney Crichlow-Noble joined on a season long loan from Huddersfield Town.

Elsewhere, Borham Wood also completed a season-long loan with a Championship club as forward Justin Shaibu re-joined from Brentford.

The 21-year-old returns to the Wood for another season after scoring 13 times in 46 games in the National League last time out.

Earlier the Hertfordshire outfit confirmed that goalkeeper David Gregory had joined the club following his release from Bromley.