Wealdstone 4-4 Hartlepool United: Pools and Stones serve up early Christmas cracker

John Askey’s side fought back from 3-0 down to salvage a point as their attack very much bailed out their defence once more in North West London.

Sean Adarkwa’s hat-trick ought to have given Wealdstone all three points aided by Max Kretzschmar’s opener. But goals from Callum Cooke, Joe Grey, Josh Umerah and a first Hartlepool goal for York City loanee Mitch Hancox meant the spoils were shared.

Kretzschmar converted inside the opening five minutes before Adarkwa scored his first of the afternoon soon after when running unchallenged from the halfway line.

Adarkwa added his second and Wealdstone’s third of the game in what was a shocking first half from Askey’s side when meeting Micah Obiero’s ball in behind the Pools defence. But Askey’s side somehow found themselves back in the game heading into half-time when Cooke headed in to reduce the deficit against the run of play before Grey added a quickfire second.

Pools hit the bar early in the second half before a potentially serious injury to Emmanuel Dieseruvwe was followed by Adarkwa’s third of the game after he hammered in a rebound from Tarryn Allarakhia’s effort, with Askey’s side seemingly condemned to defeat.

But Pools again showed their resolve as Umerah scored for the first time since the opening day of the season to set up a grandstand finish before Hancox took aim from distance to fire in a late equaliser on an incredible afternoon.

It wasn’t quite panic stations yet for Hartlepool as they made the long trip to Grosvenor Vale to take on Wealdstone, despite their recent defeat to league leaders Chesterfield leaving them just four points above the National League’s relegation zone. But it did add further importance to this Christmas season and the three games remaining to see out what has been an awful 2023 for the club.

If Askey’s side harbour any aspirations of mounting a challenge for promotion via the play-offs then they will need to produce something much different than what we have seen in the first half of the campaign, but this represented another challenging fixture for them against a Wealdstone side who hold one of the best home records in the division. Only top two Chesterfield and Bromley have taken more points on home soil than the Stones with 24 of their 29 points this season ahead of this game coming in this part of the capital.

In contrast, Askey’s men had won just one of their last eight in the league, with a come-from-behind victory over lowly City of Liverpool in the FA Trophy also on their card, which told its own story as to why they have found themselves in the position they are in. Since the opening month of the season, where Askey’s side picked up four straight wins, Pools have won just four league games in four months.

There have been mitigating circumstances within that, one of which Askey has suggested has been down to his ability to field a regular, settled starting line-up. And having named unchanged XI’s for the recent games with City of Liverpool and Chesterfield, Askey was denied the chance of making that a hat-trick of line-ups after loan defender Joe Mattock was ruled out with a hamstring injury in training ahead of the trip to London. That meant a return to the side for Sunderland’s Zak Johnson ahead of his potential return to Wearside next month.

But if Askey was looking to see his side build on what he described as a committed display against the Spireites, the first half an hour at Grosvenor Vale descended into chaos and an early Christmas nightmare as Wealdstone raced into a three goal lead.

For the fourth straight game Hartlepool conceded within five minutes when they were unable to deal with a long throw into the box as the second phase was hooked back in for Kretzschmar to finish all too easily beyond Dixon having found himself in too much space in the penalty area.

In the past when Pools have suffered a setback we have at least seen some spirit. Here, things were different. They were sluggish, reluctant to press and looked disjointed throughout, with nobody willing to stand up and take responsibility as Stuart Maynard’s side almost doubled their lead instantly when Sam Bowen’s curling effort was parried wide by Dixon. From the resulting corner Jack Cook flicked over at the near post with Pools all at sea.

The Stones did double their lead though courtesy of a catalogue of errors from Hartlepool. Initially it was David Ferguson who gave possession away cheaply on halfway to Adarkwa who was allowed to run unchallenged from inside his own half towards the edge of the area before merely side-footing into the bottom corner with Dixon’s positioning brought into serious question.

As Pools reset for the kick-off there were aimless stares at one another for a team-mate to take charge rather than take the responsibility into their own hands. Although the front three of Dieseruvwe, Cooke and Grey gave some form of press, there was little follow up behind them as Wealdstone were able to play the game in cruise control.

An injury to Johnson midway through the half allowed Askey a chance to gather his players and give them a dressing down on the field with Brody Paterson brought on.

And yet the message did not translate as Obiero fired wide from distance having been able to turn Ciaran Brennan and drive towards goal all too easily.

But within a minute, a lethargic Hartlepool were punished further as Obiero was allowed plenty of time and space midway inside the Pools half to arch a ball around the defence for Adarkwa who had the freedom of the penalty area to beat Dixon.

It was the kind of performance for half an hour which puts the tenure of a manager in doubt with the body language of Hartlepool’s players doing little to suggest otherwise.

Pools did then muster up something as Cooke curled over from a free kick before a remarkable final few minutes gave Askey’s side a glimmer of hope.

Dieseruvwe was able to capitalise on a cheap turnover in possession from the home side and refused a strike at goal to thread a ball through to Nicky Featherstone who did well to stand a cross up towards the back post for Cooke to head back across goal and bobble into the corner.

At 3-1 Hartlepool had half a chance, but at 3-2 they gave themselves a big chance. And that is what they got within two minutes when Jake Hastie got down the right to cross low for Dieseruvwe who again refused a strike at goal, instead rolling back for Grey who had just enough power on his strike to beat Marcus Dewhurst with the Stones goalkeeper only able to push into the corner of his net.

Askey is still unlikely to have been impressed by his side at the break, despite their mini revival, and they were out early for the second half where they ought to have levelled inside two minutes when Hastie got the better of his man from Onariase’s ball forward, but the Scotsman was denied by the feet of Dewhurst before Dieseruvwe did well to recycle the ball back to Cooke on the edge of the area as the midfielder measured an effort which rattled the top of the cross bar.

A frantic start to the second half then saw Obiero with a golden opportunity to extend the hosts’ lead when he got the better of both Brennan and Onariase to advance into the area before curling wide of Dixon’s far post.

Pools’ hopes of an equaliser were hindered when talisman Dieseruvwe was forced off with an injury before Cooke then saw one off the line after some excellent persistence from substitute Umerah – Brooklyn Ilunga the man on the line to deny Cooke as you began to wonder if it would turn into one of those days.

And those feelings intensified when Wealdstone regained a two-goal advantage through Adarkwa’s third of the afternoon. The striker was in the right place at the right time to react and convert the rebound from Allarakhia’s curling effort.

It felt like that would be that for Pools and yet back they came once more as Umerah showed great persistence again to pick himself up off the floor and wrestle a number of challenges inside the area before keeping his composure to find the bottom corner.

It set up a big finish with chances at both ends as Wealdstone were denied a fifth following a huge scramble in the area which saw the ball bounce off Dixon’s post before Cooke fired narrowly off target at the other end.

Hancox then went close when glancing a header on target which Dewhurst was equal to before the midfielder took aim from distance in stoppage time with a wonderful strike to level the game at 4-4.

Hartlepool, incredibly, then had the chance to steal the game when Grey went racing clear down the right but the young forward refused a strike at goal, instead looking for Umerah in the middle, before his blocked cross came back to him and at the second time of asking his flashed cross just evaded Cooke in the six-yard box as a dramatic afternoon ended all square.

Wealdstone XI: Dewhust, Cook ©, Charles, Barrett, Allarakhia, Kretzschmar (Ferguson ‘70), Obiero, Ilunga, Bowen, Mundle-Smith, Adarkwa (Andrews ‘89)

Subs: Abdulmalik, Campbell, Mason

Hartlepool United XI: Dixon, Brennan, Onariase, Johnson (Paterson ‘23), Hastie, Wallace (Hacox ‘75) , Featherstone, Ferguson ©, Cooke, Grey, Dieseruvwe (Umerah ‘56)

Subs: Jameson, Burton

Referee: Gareth Rhodes