Hartlepool Beaten Soundly At Leeds: Report

Hartlepool United failed to take anything away from Elland Road after another defeat

Pools came away from Elland Road empty handed after a 4-1 defeat. Jermaine Beckford gave the hosts an early lead before Joel Porter grabbed an equaliser ten minutes later.

Pools held on until the second half when Fabian Delph gave Leeds the advantage. An error from Michael Nelson allowed Leeds to seal the win through Luciano Becchi.

Another Nelson error left Beckford free to make the score 4-1 as Pools fell to their third league defeat in 3 games.

Hartlepool were convincingly beaten in this clash of small club versus big club. Leeds were swift with the ball but Hartlepool had a few chances for their efforts. The defending by the away side was criminal and Leeds made them pay with some good goals.

For an hour, Hartlepool looked decent and this was more of a contest. Sadly, when sloppiness kicked in things went pear shaped and the troops of Hartlepool were broken down.

Kevin Kyle saw his effort crash of the bar and James Brown went desperately close to draw level but the score remained 1-1 at this point.

The ever impressive Delph saw his fizzing crosses cause troubles and Hartlepool couldn't say it wasn't coming. It was real end to end stuff at half time.

HT: Leeds 1 Hartlepool 1

The second half was quickly full of action. Nelson blazed a chance over the bar and then immediately Delph slotted home in the bottom right corner.

Things began to go wrong when Nelson missed a routine header that allowed livewire Becchio to net. The frustrated Nelson was not the only player to crumble under pressure. Matty Robson nearly gifted Leeds another goal after a misplaced header.

Leeds finished the game on a serious high and rubbed salt into the wound. Beckford capitalised on another calamity from Michael Nelson before rounding the keeper and slotting home.

Both keeper and defender left flat on their backside not even the tremendous support could put a positive on this goal. Leeds in the end, too good but it could and should have been a little different.

FT: Leeds 4 Hartlepool 1 It's a shame we didn't finish our chances. Leeds fans are right in saying that their team ran riot on our shocking defence and it sounds stupid saying we maybe deserved a draw.

Nelson needs a pick up and Tuesday night will be perfect. Leeds looked shaky at the back at times also but Hartlepool lacked the cutting edge they had in serious amounts. All over the park Leeds had playmakers ready to make a killer pass.

Hartlepool needed a holder and when Jones went missing we were left open. Late in the second half when we conceded we threw our toys out the pram to some extent. James Brown, quiet once again, stopped working and the team fell apart.

As always, time to look forward to Bristol Rovers at home on Tuesday night.

MOM: Anthony Sweeney - Will be a strange call for some fans present at the match but made some good tackles and didn't give up Leeds: Lucas, Douglas, Michalik, Prutton, Beckford, Becchio (Snodgrass 76), Delph, Robinson, Parker, Hughes, Telfer.
Subs not used: Ankergren, Richardson, Kilkenny, Howson.

Pools: Lee-Barrett, Sweeney, Nelson, Collins (Humphreys 85), Robson, Brown, Jones, Clark, Monkhouse (Liddle 85), Porter, Kyle.
Subs not used: Budtz, Foley, Mackay.

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