Hartlepool United v Exeter City

For my next game I opted for this match, which fell on international week. When I decided to start working through the 92 clubs, Hartlepool was a high priority for no other reason than Jeff Stelling. The return fare to Hartlepool is normally £48 but I managed to chop this down to £28 thanks to a couple of cheap advance tickets to and from York and a very reasonable walk-on fare on Grand Central's Kings Cross-Sunderland service which calls at Hartlepool. Arriving with 3 hours to spare before kick-off I entertained myself at the historical quay which boasts the 1827 HMS Trimconolee and got to see some live musket and cannonade firing into the bargain. A detour to the horrendous-looking 1970s shopping centre yielded some some very tasty mince and dumplings before managing to get a couple of good pints of Cameron's Strong-Arm in the clubhouse before kick-off.



Another attraction to me of the Victoria Ground was that it was a rare opportunity to experience League One football standing up. Admission was not cheap at £20, but Hartlepool season tickets are just £100 this season which meant the ground was pretty full apart from the away end which had just 130 souls who had braved the seven hour drive. They may have been questioning the wisdom of that journey when the home team took the lead after just 3 minutes. Antony Sweeney was put clear by the impressive Nobby Solano, only to hit the post and then be denied by a brilliant save from Lenny Pidgely as he headed the rebound goalwards. It looked like Exeter would get away with it when Nish had the second rebound blocked before Garry Liddle steamed in to bury the ball into the net.



Exeter attempted to catch the hosts napping and hit back straight away with a couple of chances and Flinders did well to keep out a powerful effort from Rowan Vine. After the early exchanges, the game settled down into a pattern with Hartlepool pressing the game with mainly wide balls to test the Exeter defence and keeper with few clear cut chances apart from a fine effort from Solano who managed to rattle the post.



After the half-time break Exeter came out looking the stronger team, taking more of a hold on the midfield as the tiring Solano was withdrawn after 65 minutes. In spite of this they failed to make any clear cut chances, but you could forgive home fans for getting nervous as Hartlepool had so far drawn all but one of their opening league matches. Hartlepool were still trying to get that vital second goal but again the Exeter defence were managing to do enough in the air to thwart them.




Any frayed nerves were finally relieved in the last minute when Nathan Luscombe who had only been on the pitch a few minutes curled a great shot beyond the reach of Lenny Pidgley to round off a good passing move. To round off a very enjoyable afternoon, there was time to grab a couple of pints at The Rat Race - a wonderfully eccentric bar at the station and discuss the game with the fans before catching the train back to York.