Port Vale v Hartlepool United RECAP: Pools slip to fifth straight defeat in League Two
Antony Sweeney’s side have lost their last four League Two games following the midweek reverse at Swindon Town and head to Vale Park to take on another side in promotion contention with the Valiants fifth in the table.
Darrell Clarke is no stranger to Pools fans and interim boss Sweeney having starred at the Suit Direct Stadium for six years from 2001.
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Hide AdBut Sweeney has admitted he is expecting to come up against a fired up Port Vale side as his former teammate looks to get the better of him this afternoon.
“I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he said he hopes I'm not in the hotseat when we play because he’s going to teach me a lesson,” Sweeney told The Mail.
“He’s got an unbelievable record as a manager. He's good at what he does. He gets teams to win. I’ve got a lot of respect for Darrell, he’s a good friend of mine so I’m expecting him to have his players fired up.”
Meanwhile, Pools’ search for a new manager continues after reports linking Halifax Town boss Pete Wild to the vacancy earlier in the week.
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Hide AdAnd while frustrated that a decision has yet to have been reached Sweeney suggested the club is 'quite far down the line' in agreeing terms with a new manager.
But here, though, we focus on this afternoon’s meeting with Port Vale in League Two.
Be sure to stay tuned to the Hartlepool Mail throughout the afternoon for team news and updates from Vale Park.
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Port Vale 2-0 Hartlepool United LIVE: Updates from Vale Park
Key Events
- Tom Pett seals the points
- Ben Garrity gives Port Vale the lead at half time
- Hartlepool XI: Killip, Hendrie, Liddle Byrne, Jone, Ferguson, Featherstone, Crawford, Molyneux, Daly, Cullen
- Subs: Mitchell, Ogle, Francis-Angol , Holohan, Shelton, Grey, Goodwin
- Port Vale: Covolan, Gibbons, Walker, Worrall, Garrity, Johnson, Martin, Amoo, Rodney, Pett, Cass
- Subs: Jones, Legge, Benning, Politico, Stone, Burgess
Here come the teams
The teams are out here at Vale Park with the travelling Pools fans in fine voice away to our left
Warm-ups done!
The warm-ups, on the field at least, are done as the players head back down the tunnel. 10 minutes to go until kick-off here at Vale Park.
TEAM NEWS
Two changes for Pools at Port Vale this afternoon;
Hartlepool XI: Killip, Hendrie, Liddle Byrne, Jone, Ferguson, Featherstone, Crawford, Molyneux, Daly, Cullen
𝙋𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙣
“Football sometimes throws up these intricacies. If Brad James had come up in the last minute and scored a header and saved a couple of penalties I’d be fully expecting him to act like Lucas Covolan did.
“Sometimes you’ve got to take them things on the chin. They’re a lot easier to take when you come out victorious.
“I suppose from the outside it adds another element to the game but from our point of view he’s a good goalkeeper who plays for Port Vale that we’re going to try and put some goals past.”
𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨
There will be some familiar faces on show against Port Vale this afternoon.
“There’ll be plenty of familiar faces, none more so than Darrell,” Sweeney told The Mail.
“I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he said he hopes I’m not in the hotseat when we play because he’s going to teach me a lesson.
“He’s got an unbelievable record as a manager. He’s good at what he does. He gets teams to win. I’ve got a lot of respect for Darrell, he’s a good friend of mine so I’m expecting him to have his players fired up.”
𝙎𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚
Pools interim boss Antony Sweeney has addressed his future at the club as the search for a new manager continues.
“I haven’t had a chance to think about anything in terms of the future,” Sweeney told The Mail.
“We’ve had a massive turnaround and we’ve gone from staff knowing their roles and being able to share out responsibilities, to basically everyone having to muck in.
“I’ve gone from leading the training sessions and being a voice, to leading the training sessions, being a voice, picking the team, dealing with agents, dealing with the press and dealing with all of the players’ issues. So I haven’t been able to look at it selfishly if you like.
“I was asked to do a job in the short term. I’ve done that job to the best of my ability. Yes we’ve made mistakes, yes, in hindsight, you could do things differently but I’m sure anyone sat here would say exactly the same thing.
“My future will be what it is when everything gets settled down and we’ll know a lot more hopefully in the coming days and coming weeks.”
