Hartlepool United 4–3 Southend United: seven changes and a painful defeat

Twenty seconds. That’s all it took for Southend to go in front at Hartlepool. After the six-goal show at Halifax, I was beginning to wonder just how much fun this final stretch of the season might become. Ninety minutes later, I was staring at a 4–3 defeat and wondering how on earth we had managed to lose it.

It wasn’t simply that we conceded four. It was the way the match slipped through our fingers. We were excellent in the opening spell, fell apart across the middle of the game, and then remembered how to attack when the job was almost impossible. Sam Austin and Charley Kendall nearly rescued us. Nearly. That is the horrible little word to take home from a night like this.

Our eight-match unbeaten run is over. We are still in the play-offs, and that deserves to be remembered before anybody starts declaring the season finished. But I won’t pretend that losing a match after scoring three goals away from home is something to shrug off.

Twenty seconds in, and it looked so promising

Gus Scott-Morriss was involved straight from kick-off. His delivery from the right caused a scramble, Tom Hopper challenged around goalkeeper Nick Hayes, and Andrew Dallas was on hand to force home the loose ball. Some goals are beautifully constructed; this was a reward for getting into the penalty area and making something happen. I will take those all day long.

For much of the first half-hour, Hartlepool were struggling to live with us. Leon Chambers-Parillon found a promising position but sent his effort wide. Harry Boyes threatened from range. We moved the ball with purpose and kept forcing the home side to turn towards their own goal. At that stage a second Southend goal looked more likely than an equaliser.

And that is precisely why the score hurts. We had the opportunity to put daylight between the teams and didn’t take it. The scoreline at half-time ought not to have been 1–1 given the control we had enjoyed early on. If there is one lesson we should already know by April, it is that dominating a passage of play counts for very little unless you make it show on the scoreboard.

In the 31st minute the warning arrived. Joe Gubbins conceded a free-kick, Jamie Miley delivered and Tyrese Sinclair finished smartly. It was a fine strike from Sinclair, but the whole sequence started with us allowing Hartlepool a route back into a game we had been controlling. Suddenly their players had belief and the crowd had something to get behind.

Seven changes: I understand the reason, but I don’t like the outcome

Kevin Maher made seven changes from the side that had dismantled Halifax three days earlier. Seven. I know there is more to managing a squad than simply picking the eleven who won the last match, especially with an exhausting run of Saturday-Tuesday football and the play-offs looming. Some players need protecting; others need minutes so they can be trusted when called upon.

But there was still something to play for here. A win would have taken us within a point of Scunthorpe, keeping the possibility of a home eliminator alive heading into the last Saturday. That was an outside chance, because Scunthorpe would still need to slip up, but it was a chance all the same. I wanted us to give ourselves the best opportunity of taking it.

I don’t think it is fair to blame all four goals on team selection. We were creating chances with the changed side, and experienced players who have been good for us all season made mistakes too. Harry Taylor, usually so reliable, had a difficult evening. Gubbins won’t enjoy looking back at the free-kick for the equaliser. The defensive unit never looked quite as settled as it has at its best.

Still, the contrast with what happened when the substitutes arrived was hard to ignore. The team that finished looked far more capable of asking Hartlepool questions than the team that spent so long chasing the game. Rotation may have been necessary; seven changes in one go was a gamble, and the result leaves Maher with some awkward decisions.

The second-half collapse we cannot explain away

At 1–1 there was no reason to panic. Then the second half began, and Southend seemed to lose their grip almost immediately.

In the 47th minute Adam Campbell threaded a pass through for Alex Reid, who got the better of Owen Mason to put Hartlepool ahead. We had barely had time to settle after the interval. What bothered me was not just conceding; it was the ease with which a side we had spent half an hour troubling could suddenly get at our goal.

Southend did try to respond, and Austin — on for Scott-Morriss at half-time — had an attempt saved. But the spaces kept appearing. In the 63rd minute Sinclair reacted to a blocked effort in the box, rounded Mason and made it 3–1. Eight minutes after that, Jamie Miley’s strike took a huge deflection and looped beyond the goalkeeper. Four-one. From leading inside half a minute to needing a miracle.

I’ll be fair about the fourth: the deflection was rotten luck. I’ll also be fair about Mason. His performance, and what having a different keeper does to the way we play out from the back, can be discussed without treating every shot that beats him as his personal mistake. There were defensive errors and runners not dealt with long before some of those shots reached the goal. If the midfield loses its shape and the back line gets dragged around, the keeper is the last person left trying to repair it.

What I couldn’t accept was how easily Hartlepool found those situations in the first place. For a side preparing for knockout football, there is no comfort in saying we attacked well for a while. We cannot switch off for a spell and expect to correct everything in the last ten minutes against whoever awaits us in the eliminator.

Some difficult individual questions

Keenan Appiah-Forson was energetic and willing, and I never question his desire to get involved. The final decision was often the problem. We need midfielders who can recognise when to release the pass rather than take on one more defender or try a shot from an unpromising angle. When we are creating this many openings, wasting them is frustrating.

Tom Hopper put himself about and played a part in that frantic opening goal, so I don’t think it is right to ignore his contribution entirely. But Harry Cardwell gives us a different presence, and Charley Kendall’s movement offered something the Hartlepool defence found hard to handle late on. Seeing the difference they made only increased the questions about our starting combination.

At the back, Ben Goodliffe and his fellow defenders had a night to forget. We have seen much more secure performances from this group; the problem is that play-off football punishes the sort of hesitation and poor spacing that hurt us tonight. James Golding’s absence was keenly felt in the balance of the defence, and I hope we can get as close as possible to our settled shape again.

There is also the concern about the players who weren’t able to complete or take part in the match. Collin Andeng-Ndi wasn’t in goal and Gus Scott-Morriss went off at half-time. I am not going to diagnose injuries from a distance. I just hope the news is good, because their availability could matter enormously over the next fortnight.

Austin changed the mood, and Kendall made us believe

At 4–1 I was annoyed, but I was still watching for a reaction. We got one. Jack Bridge began to give us that familiar spark out wide. Oli Coker’s introduction brought energy and purpose through midfield. Cardwell occupied defenders and gave our attacking play a focal point. Most of all, Sam Austin was determined to make an impression.

Austin’s goal in the 78th minute came after Bridge’s delivery found its way across the area. He kept himself alive at the back post and guided the ball home. Seven minutes later Austin was involved again, linking with Cardwell, whose clever touch helped set up Kendall for the third. Four-three, five minutes of normal time to go, and suddenly Hartlepool were hanging on rather than cruising.

Kendall’s finish was the sort of movement that gives a striker half a chance and then makes it count. Cardwell deserves credit for the deft touch, too. Those are the small combinations we will need when a play-off match becomes tight. It wasn’t just two consolation goals; it was a reminder that this squad has genuine attacking quality when the parts fit together.

The cruel bit is that we ran out of time. There were still moments of pressure, but Hartlepool saw the game out and Nicky Featherstone got the final home win he would have wanted. Credit to them for taking their chances. Tyrese Sinclair was dangerous, Alex Reid finished calmly and Hartlepool were ruthless when we gave them opportunities. We had more than enough of our own chances to change the result.

Seven changes, seven goals in the match, and nothing to show for our three. A long journey back from Hartlepool with plenty to think about. Up the Shrimpers.

The match details

Goals

Southend United: Dallas 1’, Austin 78’, Kendall 85’
Hartlepool United: Sinclair 31’, 63’, Reid 47’, Miley 71’

Cards

Southend: Gubbins (30), Taylor (55)
Hartlepool: None

Match Officials

Referee: Martin Woods
Assistants: Samuel Clayton, Tyler Dutton
Fourth Official: Michael Robinson

Attendance

3,044 (168 Southend)

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