U18’S v Hartlepool United – Match Report

Following on from our 4-0 away win at Burton Albion last week, we enjoyed a comfortable 4-1 victory this Saturday, against a strong Hartlepool United side.

As second place Chesterfield beat Hull 3-2, all four of our goals scored by Giovanni Landu, James Pollard and Sumali Cissa proved to be vital as we remain top of the league on goal difference.

Both sides had their chances in the opening minutes.  The Hartlepool defence struggled to cope with Dylan Mottley Henery’s pace however, his early efforts were comfortably dealt with by the keeper.

Elliot Barker kept the scores level on 22 minutes with a fantastic save where he managed to tip the striker’s volley behind the goal.

We fought well to regain possession throughout the game and were rewarded for our efforts in the 35th minute when we went 1-0 up.  Zander McBurnie won the ball and found Mottley-Henry who ran to the box and squared it for  Giovanni Landu to tap into the net.

Mottley-Henry came close to doubling our lead just before the break but his effort forced the keeper to but the ball behind for a corner.

The second half started well for us. Danny Devine was fouled inside the box and we were awarded a penalty in the 52nd minute. Captain James Pollard stepped up and fired the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 2-0.

Although we were winning, the visitors did not sit back. The continued to create chances and made it 2-1 minutes later, their deep cross found an unmarked player who headed the ball into the net.

We went on to score two goals inside five minutes which meant we were soon 4-1 up. Our third goal was similar to our first, Mottley-Henry carried the ball from our own half to the box and passed it for Sumali Cissa to score and in the 63rd minute Cissa calmly took the ball past the defence and round the goal keeper to score his second of the game and secure all three points.

Barker made a brilliant save to deny Hartlepool’s 68th minute free kick and we came close to increasing our lead in the last minutes of the game but Mottley-Henry’s effort was well saved.

Overall, it was a pleasing performance which keeps the title in our sights. As our fixture for Tuesday against Burton Albion  was postponed due to the weather, (re-scheduled for 18 April 2015 – 12.00pm K/O) our next game is on Friday 6th March against Hull City at home – 1.00pm K/O.

Watch the match highlights below