League One
October 20, 2012
Hartlepool United
0 - 1
Crawley Town
League One
10:00 EDT, October 20, 2012
Victoria Park
Referee: Keith Wright
Cooper left feeling the heat
Scoring Summary
| Hartlepool United | Crawley Town |
|---|---|
| Hope Akpan (15') |
Teams
| Hartlepool United | Crawley Town |
|---|---|
| 1 Scott Flinders | 1 Paul Jones |
| 5 Sam Collins | 3 Mathew Sadler |
| 2 Neil Austin | 28 Claude Davis |
| 22 Darren Holden | 5 Kyle McFadzean |
| 18 Jack Baldwin | 19 Nathan Byrne |
| 15 Antony Sweeney | 16 Nicky Adams |
| 8 Simon Walton | 21 Mike Jones |
| 7 Jonathan Franks | 11 Josh Simpson |
| 39 Steve Howard | 6 Hope Akpan |
| 10 James Poole | 9 Gary Alexander |
| 35 Ryan Noble | 10 Jonathan Forte |
| Substitutes | |
| 31 Adam McHugh | Michel Kuipers 25 |
| 23 Nathan Buddle | David Hunt 13 |
| 3 Ritchie Humphreys | Mark Connolly 4 |
| 14 Nathan Luscombe | Dannie Bulman 15 |
| 19 Jordan Richards | Billy Clarke 7 |
| 28 Lewis Hawkins | Sergio Torres 8 |
| 17 Greg Rutherford | Nicholas Ajose 14 |
| Substitutions | |
| Nathan Luscombe for Ryan Noble (61) | Billy Clarke for Jonathan Forte (75) |
| Jordan Richards for Jonathan Franks (81) | Mark Connolly for Kyle McFadzean (80) |
| Dannie Bulman for Hope Akpan (89) | |
| Yellow Cards | |
| Jack Baldwin (64) | Nicky Adams (45) |
| Simon Walton (90) | Claude Davis (86) |
| Steve Howard (90) | |
| · Rosters: Hartlepool United | Crawley Town | |
The pressure intensified on Hartlepool boss Neale Cooper after his side lost again at home - this time going down 1-0 to Crawley.
The visitors moved into fourth spot in the table after a comfortable fourth away win of the season, while Pools stay second from bottom with only one win to their name this season.
The only goal of an untidy game came after 14 minutes. Pools failed to defend a corner with any conviction and visiting midfielder Hope Akpan sent a dipping volley low past Pools goalkeeper Scott Flinders.
The Pools keeper made two vital first-half stops to keep his team in with a shout. First he got down low to deny Jon Forte from close range and then stood firm to keep out a goalbound close-range effort from Nicky Adams.
It was 55 minutes before Pools got a shot on target, right-back Neil Austin drilling a low free-kick at goal that Paul Jones saved and the Crawley goalkeeper then denied the same player when his low, long-range shot was curling towards the bottom corner.