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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. |
 |
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 |
 |
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 |
 |
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? |
