What Hartlepool United boss Darren Sarll did and did not like during the 3-1 friendly defeat at Scarborough Athletic
Hartlepool United slipped to their first defeat of their pre-season campaign when a largely youthful second-half side succumbed to a 26-minute hat trick from Scarborough Athletic striker Frank Mulhern.
After a goalless first-half, Pools boss Darren Sarll made nine changes – taking off the majority of his senior players – with former Spennymoor Town striker Mulhern notching in the 51st, 71st and 77th minutes.
Midfield playmaker Anthony Mancini briefly brought Pools level against the National League North hosts with a 68th-minute penalty following a foul at a corner kick.
By then a 10th change saw midfielder Greg Sloggett, whose signing was only confirmed 24 hours earlier, replacing Nathan Sheron after 56 minutes for his Hartlepool debut.
The first half was understandably the more promising of the two from a Pools perspective with home keeper Ryan Whitley saving impressively from Pools striker Mani Dieseruvwe after nine minutes.
Sarll said afterwards that it was “difficult to give a generic assessment” on the performance given that he fielded two largely different teams – including three triallists – at “completely different stages”.
Speaking to the club’s website, he said: “If I were to surmise it would have to be in two phases.
"The first half was a really good pre season game because it had that edge to it and when either team called it on the opponent responded and responded again so it had that nice competitiveness today which sometimes you do not get in pre season.
"A lot of that stuff in the first half was about making sure defensively we are fundamentally assured and correct.
"Apart from that shot from distance that hit the bar we did a few good things out of possession.
"In possession, we are still too rushed. That is not their fault, that is my fault because I am asking them to play really high intensity. They will slow down with that.
"In the second half there were some brilliant experiences for our young ones in particular because they are trying to understand what senior football looks like and they have understood tonight hopefully pretty quickly that it is a very competitive industry where they have to make sure that they are better than any other player in that position.”
The 553 attendance at the Scarborough Sports Village included 121 Poolies.
Hartlepool’s next friendly away to South Shields on Saturday at 3pm at the 1st Cloud Arena.