Story of the night: Blyth Spartans 2-1 Hartlepool United – promotion hangover continues at Croft Park
and live on Freeview channel 276
Goals in either half from Jordan Hickey and JJ O’Donnell gave the National League North side a 2-0 lead before Nicky Featherstone’s looping header pulled a goal back for Pools, who have now been beaten by all three of their National League North opponents in pre-season.
Next up for Dave Challinor’s side is Northern Premier Division One side Dunston UTS.
Refresh the page and scroll through our live blog to see how events unfolded…
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FULL-TIME: Blyth Spartans 2 (Hickey 9’, O’Donnell 75’) Hartlepool United 1 (Featherstone 79’)
Key Events
- Pools XI: Trialist, Sterry, Odusina, Liddle, Trialist, Ferguson, Shelton, Featherstone, Holohan, Molyneux, Trialist
- Pools subs: Killip, Trialist, Smith, Crawford, Olomola, MacDonald, Ogle, Byrne, Francis-Angol, Trialist, Close
- Confirmed Pools trialists: Shaun MacDonald (GK), Jake Lawlor, Adam Smith (GK)
- Blyth XI: Mitchell, Byrne, Lees, Buddle, Watson, Liddle, Deverdics, Hickey, O’Donnell, McNall, Dale
- Blyth subs: Trialist, Evans, Trialist, Painter, McKeown, Gillies, Clark, Reid, Trialist
- Referee: Adam Williamson
- Attendance: 815
Pools line-up confirmed
Trialist, Sterry, Odusina, Liddle, Trialist, Ferguson, Shelton, Featherstone, Holohan, Molyneux, Trialist
Subs: Killip, Trialist, Smith, Crawford, Olomola, MacDonald, Ogle, Byrne, Francis-Angol, Trialist, Close
Early team news for Pools
Mark Shelton (groin), Joe Grey (back) and trialist striker Mark Cullen (hamstring) watched the weekend’s defeat by Gateshead from the sidelines at the International Stadium.
Grey is set to be rested once again but Shelton and Cullen are expected to be back available for selection.
Ashington-born striker Cullen is set to be confirmed as a Pools player ahead of the League Two season but is being named as a trialist as it stands due to terms of a severance package following his release from Port Vale in the summer.
Zaine Francis-Angol was a named Pools player on Saturday but technically remains a trialist with the club still yet to announce the defender’s new contract at Victoria Park.
At least one more trialist is also likely to be involved with Jake Lawlor, Olly Scott, Dan Bramall and Shaun MacDonald all part of Pools’ squad over the weekend.
Youth team striker Harry Close came off the bench for his non-competitive debut against Gateshead and is expected to be part of the squad once again on this evening.