Story of the day: Hartlepool United 1-0 Bristol Rovers – Sterry strike secures another home win for Dave Challinor's side
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It's now 18 wins from 20 league games at The Vic for Dave Challinor' s side, while Rovers' wait for an away win in 2021 continues.
Pools' first opening came in the 25th-minute as Mark Shelton's half-volley from the edge of the box was well parried by Rovers goalkeeper James Belshaw.
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Hide AdIn the 48th-minute, Olufela Olomola picked out Will Goodwin inside the penalty area but the Stoke City loanee scuffed a close range effort straight at Belshaw.
Pools' breakthrough finally came in the 70th-minute as Jamie Sterry burst into the box to stroke in his first goal for the club with his left foot.
And that was enough to secure the three points for the hosts as they climbed up to fourth in the League Two table.
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FULL-TIME: Hartlepool United 1 (Sterry 70’) Bristol Rovers 0
Key Events
- Pools XI: Killip; Molyneux (Smith 87), Francis-Angol, Liddle, Byrne, Sterry; Featherstone, Shelton, Daly; Olomola (Grey 83), Goodwin (Ogle 75)
- Pools subs: Cullen, Mitchell, Odusina, Jones
- Pools bookings: Byrne (11), Sterry (88)
- Bristol Rovers XI: Belsahw; Grant, Finley, Hughes, Clarke (Pitman 41), Anderton, Taylor Anderson, Evans, Saunders (Brown 73), Whelan
- Bristol Rovers subs: Ward, Coutts, Kilgour, Spence, Collins
- Bristol Rovers bookings: Finley (87)
- Referee: Rebecca Welch
- Attendance: 5,193
The Pools team has been confirmed!
Pools XI: Killip; Molyneux, Francis-Angol, Liddle, Byrne, Sterry; Featherstone, Shelton, Daly; Olomola, Goodwin
Subs: Cullen, Mitchell, Odusina, Smith, Jones, Ogle, Grey
Challinor on Bristol Rovers
“They’re a team who have been relegated and come down into the division as a big club expected to bounce straight back,” he said.
“But there has been a lot of change there and sometimes that takes time to settle down and progress. They come into the game on the back of a win which will help them.
“But we’re playing well, we’re in a good run of form where we’ve made The Vic a difficult place to come and we want to keep that.
“We expect a tough game against a squad that will be expecting to compete for promotion.”
Joey Barton on Pools
Barton said in his pre-match press conference: “We’re going up to a proud football club in Hartlepool, who have been promoted to the league and they will be keen to keep our poor away form going, so we’re going to have to scrap for every minute of the game.”
