VNL#31 - Hartlepool United 2 Daggers 1
In the immediate aftermath of a narrow defeat in the reverse fixture just ten days ago, I wrote about how facing Dave Challinor's high-flying Pools outfit was just a step too far for us, despite the vast improvements we've undoubtedly made recently. This was much the same; the assessment could easily be copy and paste. There is probably a greater degree of frustration this time. Once again, the decisive moment was a free header inside our box, exactly as it was just over a week ago. It's harsh as they didn't create too much else of a clear-cut nature, but that's the price you pay against decent teams. Once again, switching off for just a split second was catastrophic. With Hartlepool boasting formidable form, with a near exemplary home record since the turn of the year, it was always going to be a tough ask to emerge with something. However, we matched them throughout the entire contest, scoring a well-worked goal to equalise and then enjoying a period of control from which we really ought to have capitalised. Our inability to do that is our primary undoing, and provides a lot of context as to why we're 17th in the league. Encouragingly, we have showcased that we can compete with the best this division has to offer, at least in terms of performance. After all, it wasn't too long ago that we were disgraced away at Notts County, being outclassed against ten men, one of whom was a veteran midfielder assuming the role of a makeshift goalkeeper. Now, we're performing impressively, but defeats like this prove there's still a long way to go before we are, as McMahon theorised, even close to being one of the best teams in the league ourselves. Had Balanta converted the one-on-one at the beginning of the second half, we might have recorded an outstanding victory here. Had he opted not to shoot altogther, and instead go down under the blatant contact of the defender, we might have had a penalty and even a numerical advantage. It's that kind of intelligence we're lacking as a team. That kind of game manipulation that Hartlepool do so well. We did manage to go out fighting until the very second, something which drew praise from Hartlepool's commentators and supporters alike. A last-gasp equaliser was a tantalisingly close prospect, as our keeper of all people Elliot Justham got his head to a corner that, unfortunately, just crept over the bar. Fine margins again, which seem to conspire against us more often than not. The luxury of the Easter schedule, though, is that it offers an immediate chance to make amends, and that's what we simply have to do on Monday when we host Aldershot Town, who will similarly be looking to bounce back after being edged out by Stockport today.
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May 2024
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