Story of the day: Hartlepool United 2-4 Maidenhead United – 10 men Magpies end Pools' title hopes
and live on Freeview channel 276
A hat-trick for Alan Massey and another for Danilo Orsi saw the visitors end Pools’ 13 game unbeaten run at Victoria Park as a sublime Rhys Oates solo goal and a late consolation from Danny Elliott weren't enough.
Ryheem Sheckleford was sent off in the first half for Maidenhead but that didn’t stop the visitors securing a comfortable win.
Refresh the page and scroll through our live blog to see how events unfolded...
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FULL-TIME: Hartlepool United 2 (Oates 28, Elliott 86) Maidenhead United 4 (Orsi 15, Barratt 38, 47, 55)
Key Events
- Pools XI: Ravas; Sterry, Odusina, Johnson, FergusonShelton, Featherstone, Holohan; Molyneux, Saunders, Oates
- Pools subs: Donaldson, Francis-Angol, Cass, Williams, Elliott.
- Pools bookings: Ferguson (66), Johnson (90)
- Maidenhead XI: Lovett; Massey, Wells, Parry, Sheckleford, Wiltshire, Sparkes, Ince, Compley, Barratt, Orsi
- Maidenhead subs: Egan, Keetch, Coley, Smith, Kelly
- Maidenhead bookings: Wiltshire (3), Comley (18)
- Maidenhead sendings off: Sheckleford (42)
- Referee: Martin Woods
Several ‘doubts’ for Pools today
“We’ve got a few doubts, a few little niggles,” Dave Challinor revealed. “You hope isn’t the case, it was inevitable having the two games we had.
“We have to see how they are. We’ve got a strong squad so if we are missing players, we’ve got people who can come in and not weaken us significantly.
“We’ll look at things over the next couple of days and we won’t risk little niggles unless we absolutely have to. The bigger picture for us is that after Saturday we’ve got three massive games to go and potentially ones after that as well.”
On the injuries, Challinor added: “Luke [Armstrong], Fergie [David Ferguson] and Harvey were carrying something. We’ve got a few that are superficial injuries as a result of the surface where people have got burns in certain areas of their legs which aren’t ideal.
“Fergie took a whack on the knee so he’s a little bit sore and a little bit inflamed so probably won’t train today but should be fine for tomorrow.
“Luke is carrying a knock too which is potentially more serious but if he didn’t play on Saturday it’s a matter of days opposed to weeks.
“With Johno and Cass coming back we need to be careful. We do have some issues that we have to manage so we’ll have to make a choice regarding how many we risk but that’s something we’ll decide and pick a team that can go and win us a game on Saturday.
No Liddle for Pools this afternoon
The veteran defender is suspended following a red card at Bromley.
Here’s what Hartlepool manager Dave Challinor said about the situation: “We’ll see really, [centre-back] is one position where we have cover but we do have a few niggles.
“We’ve had to cope with the majority of the season without Lidds and it’s another game where we’ll have to do that.
“We’ve got to make sure regardless of personnel, shape, we go into the game and stick to our principles and fundamentals to go and win the game.”
Gooood morning! Welcome back to our Pools live blog
Dominic Scurr here, bringing you matchday coverage of Hartlepool United’s National League encounter with Maidenhead United at Victoria Park.
It’s a damp and dreary day on the north east coast but Pools still have a crucial game of football to play as we head into the fine run of matches this season.
After losing 1-0 at Bromley on Monday, Dave Challinor’s side can’t afford any more slip ups if they want to keep their title hopes alive.
Three points against Maidenhead today will just about do that. It would also guarantee at least a play-off place with games to spare.
It’s also set to be the final game at Victoria Park this season without fans, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
We’ll have all the build-up, match updates and reaction throughout the afternoon here in our Pools live blog.
Simply refresh the page and scroll through to stay up to date.