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HARTLEPOOL
UNITED - SATURDAY 27/10/07 |
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| Hartlepool
would represent the Albions second longest away
trip of the season, with only Carlisle being
further away. A decent run of away form would
make for an interesting game at Victoria Park,
with the Monkey Hangers being particularly good
at home, and certain to be inspired by the death
of one of their players, Michael Maidens, in a
car crash last week. It was all set out to be an
interesting day in the North East, although
whether it would be worth undertaking a 600 mile
round trip for remained to be seen |
| Mode
of Transport: |
Mark
Potter was forced into catching a train from
Brighton, from which Tom Witham would drive the
Crocs to Northampton, where Scott McCarthy was
ready and waiting to drive the remaining
distance. Tom Stewart made the short train
journey from his Newcastle home
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| Team: |
Mr
Wilkins went with a 4-4-2 line up of: Kuipers,
Whing, El-Abd, Elphick, Richards; Martot, Hammond,
Fraser, Cox; Revell, Robinson
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| Kit: |
Hartlepool
wore their home uniforms of blue and white
striped shirts, blue shorts and blue and white
stockings. Brighton chose to appear in their
alternative kit of all yellow, while Michel
Kuipers chose his aqua and gold jersey, coupled
with navy shorts and stockings
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| Dean
Wilkins Attire: |
Mr
Wilkins decided to wear a suit, and combined
this to good effect with his regulation trench
coat
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| Weather: |
Despite
our prominence to Scotland, it was not as cold
as first feared, and the sun even blessed us
with his presence at times, despite the wind
that could only be described as a gale
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| Stadium
Rating: |
Victoria
Park is a delightfully typical lower league
ground. A small main stand is complemented by a
small terrace behind one goal, with the away end
being a small seated stand opposite. The other
touchline comprises of a two tiered stand,
featuring seating above a terrace. Although
small, it is rather pleasant. 7/10
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| Food
Rating: |
A
foot long hotdog for £3. Need we say more?
10/10
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| Entertainment: |
None
on offer, although this may have been to do with
the somberness of the occasion
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| Friendliness
of Locals: |
We
were disappointed in this category, given
previous experiences of Sunderland fans friendly
nature. Most of the people were scraggy and your
typical northerners, and not even the Hartlepool
Chief Executive coming round and shaking our
hands for giving money to the collection for the
dead player could improve it. 4/10
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| Standard
of Local Females: |
Apart
from a few pleasing ones in the stadium, the
standard was once again disappointing compared
to that of their neighbors Sunderland. 4/10
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| Steward
Rating: |
Friendly
enough, including one trying to start a chant of
'Sit down if you hate Palace' in order to stop
the fans standing. 7/10
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| Flag
Attention: |
The
flag was positioned behind the goal, but due to
the seating arrangements we were sat the other
side and thus were unable to gauge the attention
it received
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| Match
Report: |
A
windy and emotional afternoon at Victoria Park
saw Brighton gain all 3 points in fortunate
fashion. They were gifted a first half lead when
a Dean Cox cross was turned in for an own goal,
before Hartlepool were down to ten men for a
kicking out offence. Despite their man
disadvantage, the home side equalised with only
2 minutes left on the clock thanks to a Richie
Barker penalty, but with virtually the last kick
of the game substitute Bas Savage went on a mazy
run that ended with a cool finish to secure a
2-1 win
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| Thought
of the Day: |
Is
there a regulation on what blood can be used in
a transfusion, and if so is women's discharge
excluded?
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