FC Hartlepool make it two wins in a week

FC Hartlepool assistant manager Mark Loynes hailed his side as they made it two wins in a week by seeing off Annfield Plain at Grayfields.
FC Hartlepool  (red) v Annfield Plain (yellow) at Grayfields, Hartlepool, on Saturday.FC Hartlepool  (red) v Annfield Plain (yellow) at Grayfields, Hartlepool, on Saturday.
FC Hartlepool (red) v Annfield Plain (yellow) at Grayfields, Hartlepool, on Saturday.

In the absence of manager Terry Hill, Loynes kept faith with the majority of the side that had battled to a narrow win at Windscale in midweek and he was rewarded with another three points in their first home game of the campaign.

Mike Snowdon put Hartlepool ahead at half-time with a stunning strike, and they romped to a 4-1 win thanks to second-half goals from Paddy Mulvey, Connor Campbell and James Snowdon.

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Loynes revealed that he was “very happy” with his side’s performance and looked ahead to a difficult test at unbeaten Wolviston on Wednesday.

He told The Mail “Annfield Plain came at us from the start, which surprised us as we expected them to sit back and get men behind the ball as they have on their previous visits to Grayfields.

“That meant that we looked a little shaky for the first 20 minutes, but once we got into the game, I thought we controlled it very well.

“We didn’t change much at half-time, but we did ask the lads to get the ball down and play, which we did very well, and I thought we scored three very good goals.

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“We were disappointed to concede as the lads switched off for five minutes, but overall we are very happy with the result.

“It sets us up well for a tough test away at Wolviston on Wednesday.

“They have won their first three games, so that should be a cracking game and it’s one that we are all looking forward to.”

Billingham Town set up an FA Cup Preliminary Round home tie against BetVictor NPL North West outfit Ossett United with a comfortable win over Yorkshire Amateur on Saturday.

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A second-half brace from Luke Hogan added to an early goal from Kurtis Howes as Town saw off their Northern Counties East League opponents with minimal fuss.

But there was late heartache for neighbours Billingham Synthonia as they suffered a first league defeat of the Northern League Division Two season against Redcar Athletic.

Synners got off to the perfect start when former Gateshead youngster Brandon Slater put them ahead on 12 minutes.

But Redcar got back on level-terms thanks to an Adam Preston strike just after the hour-mark and the forward snatched all three points for his side when he hit a winner in the fourth minute of injury-time.

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