May Day

Hartlepool United 1-1 Forest Green Rovers (National League)

The games are dwindling down as we head towards the end of the campaign it feels everyone in May is potentially my last match of the season, but I’m hopeful of a couple more to come. This bank holiday Monday, for the last round of the National League fixtures, I’m heading north.

Hartlepool have had an average season, a club which spent 89 consecutive campaigns in the football league before relegation to the National League in 2017, did gain promotion back into the 92 after a playoff winning end to 2020/21 but have since fallen back down to the fifth tier and are in their second successive after a twelfth placed finish last season, this season under their third Manager of the campaign in Anthony Limbrick, they lie eleventh.

Forest Green are going rather better under Steve Cotterill, I watched them play Oldham last time out and they end the season already in third, awaiting the playoff places to be finalised before they can crack on for another attempt at returning to League Two after a single year at this level.

It’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive over 140 miles and I’m on the road at 10am to give myself some plenty of time along with a pit stop for some food.

From Nottingham I travel up the M1, M18 onto the A1 and off onto the A168 (A19) where there are signposts for Thirsk, the roads are quiet as I pass the odd towed caravan along the way, circling around the top of Middlesbrough where things start to get industrial looking, before arriving in the town of Hartlepool for well before 1pm.

The Venue

I park on the Lancaster Road which is a short walk down to the stadium, a bright spring day with a chill in the air, slight breeze off the North Sea as I cross onto Clarence Road before pulling into reception where my ticket is passed over by a smiling old lady who says she can’t wait for five past three.

I walk through the players car park where a couple of the lads are having photos with fans ahead of going into the changing rooms, I’m walking around the back of the Rink End to the Niramax Stand where the press area is at the very top, as I sit down and take a panoramic view, I’m greeted by a young local radio presenter who’s also a Pools fan, before the Forest Green social media guy who I chatted with only last weekend, says hello, he says it only took them ‘five hours’ to get here. Thankfully though, the players stayed a little closer overnight.

The view is grand, the stadium is a little dated but homely, a proper English football ground, the Cyril Knowles Stand opposite has some corporate facility, apparently only seven Eastleigh supporters came to Victoria Park earlier this season for a Tuesday night game, and rather than open up the Rink End which houses away fans, they gave them a box, “good for PA” I was told, but the real reason was to save on money of opening a whole stand for just seven people. Win win for all those involved.

Above the Cyril Knowles Stand you can just about see the sea but more noticeable are the sails of HMS Trincomolae built in 1817 in Bombay, India, these days docked permanently at the Hartlepool Marina and National Museum of Royal Navy by the Quayside a short walk away.

The blue seated stand to my left, the Rink End has a few from Forest Green sat over in the far corner, just a hundred or so today, I’m told, whilst the Town End to the right, packed with people standing behind the goal, Pools usually get 3,500 to 4,000 and today is a little over that, as fans come out to watch their town’s last match of the campaign.

The Game

The two teams are playing out their season with nothing but pride and points that are rather meaningless, which means for a start of ‘friendly’ nature. Not much happens, Forest Green players look happy to sit off and not get hurt, but in the opening couple of minutes Hartlepool’s left wing back Reyes Cleary barges over Sean Long to tell his opponent, ‘You’re going to be in a game whether you like it or not'.

There is an injury worry to Ryan Innis who hobbles off early doors, last week they lost a centre half after 20 minutes in Cian Harries to injury, this week it’s Innis, hopefully more as a precaution with the playoffs for Forest Green to come.

That aside there’s not much action, Hartlepool the better of the two teams because they probably want it a little bit more, not much, but they are on the front foot more often, and in Cleary on the left, they have a player on loan from West Brom, who I’m told is also out of contract this summer, who is powerful, fast, direct, and can cut in on his right foot, or even go down the outside and get to the by-line.

Cleary is star of an average show, and it is he who delivers with a run into the box which he cuts back to an unlikely source, David Ferguson who’s up from the back, deftly flicking the ball past Tedd Cann for an opener on 37 minutes.

The Score

It’s what Hartlepool have deserved, they have a good solid side, but lack invention when Cleary is not on the ball terrorising right backs, defensively they protect each other, in midfield they have experience, perhaps not so much legs, although Jamie Miley who’s recently signed from Newcastle has some spark, he knocks one cross field pass to Cleary which I’m right behind, a ball that started out straight with late whip to the wing backs feet, nonchalant to perfection, but other than that, Miley’s afternoon was fairly quiet.

So to is the afternoon of Charlie McCann, other than a booking for the Forest Green playmaker on the hour, Steve Cotterill immediately taking his star man off, as he cannot afford to lose his best player during the playoffs.

And in the changes made Forest Green become more direct, big target men in Joe Quigley and Christian Doidge offer new threat up top, and during their best spell of the game, the visitors level up, when Adam May puts a long ball into the danger area, headed down by Quigley into the path of Doidge who can’t miss.

That provides the Greens a point they hardly deserved, but in fairness, their own keeper wasn’t tested too much on an afternoon of mostly nothingness and Hartlepool more often than not, from good chances provided, flatted to deceive.

In the end a game that didn’t mean much, other than getting the ‘regular’ campaign done and dusted, Forest Green now will have bigger fish to fry, whilst the Pools players can start heading on their holidays, although some will be out of contract though and now looking for new clubs.

The Stars

Of those players out of contract this summer Joe Grey is one I’ve watched previously and having previously turned down money from Sunderland for him, Hartlepool now risk losing a promising youngster on a free.

“This was supposed to be his season” I was told on Grey who after netting 13 league goals and 10 assists in 2023/24 has registered just 6 goals and 2 assists in 2024/25.

I still think he’s worth a punt at the league above, a talented footballer with good feet and trickery, but who’s a little light, and it looks more often than not this season in particular, he’s gone missing when it matters most, but he has also struggled with injury and had a previous manager in Darren Sarll who didn’t really want to play to his strengths.

One lad with plenty of strength is Reyes Cleary who’s a powerhouse with pace on loan from West Brom. Too good for the National League, but not yet perhaps good enough for the Baggies, it’ll be interesting to see where he ends up, and how he progresses, a direct and positive player who’s supposed to be a good boy as well.

And another good boy at Hartlepool is their right sided defender Louis Stephenson, still only 19 he’s solid looking and very dependable for his age, not your full throstle attacking wing back that Cleary on the opposite side is, but one who is solid, reliable, and makes defending his number one priority.

One player I’m yet to mention who did well on the day is the Pools centre forward Manny Dieseruvwe, awkward at times but he’s a handful and is the sort of player that Forest Green could perhaps do with, for all their ball retention and stylish play in midfield, they could do with a goalscorer to get them to where they want to be.

Impressing on the day for FGR was Adam May who played the ball at ease from deep midfield whether it was five or ten yards, or thirty or forty, his distribution and work rate was good, whilst the subs who made the difference, Quigley and Doidge posed more threat in the twenty minutes they were on the pitch, than the previous attacking outlets did for seventy.

The Verdict

Forest Green have a real shot at going straight back up, probably the best set of players in the league, perhaps the best Manager in Steve Cotterill too? Their playoff round however isn’t for a few weeks and that might play advantage to the four teams in the eliminators as they and York await the winners of ties that involve Rochdale v Southend and Oldham v Halifax.

Hartlepool will end their season with a concerning doubt on what’s to come, a potential take over could take place this summer, if not, it could be worrying times, whilst a good few players are out of contract, they’ll certainly be some changes being made.

The Teams

Hartlepool United: Adam Smith, Louis Stephenson, Tom Parkes, David Ferguson, Reyes Cleary (Luke Charman 67), Jack Hunter, Nathan Sheron, Nicky Featherstone, Jamie Miley (Adam Campbell 79), Joe Grey (Sam Folarin 77), Manny Dieseruvwe.

Forest Green Rovers: Tedd Cann, Sean Long (Kyle McAllister 73), Ryan Innis (Harvey Bunker 13), Charlie McCann (Joe Quigley 63), Liam Sercombe, Tom Knowles (Emmanuel Osadebe 74), Jordan Moore-Taylor, Jamie Robson, Adam May, Teddy Jenks, Harry Cardwell (Christian Doidge 73).

3:00pm Kick Off. Monday 5th May 2025, Victoria Park, Hartlepool (att 4,176).