Vital Games Ahead

Those of us who have supported Hartlepool United over the seasons can guarantee one thing - life is never dull. We're either fighting for a rare promotion or struggling against a more frequent demotion ...

This year we've manged to snatch the latter out of the former, and if we are not very, very careful we couild get bitten in the bum.

Easter holds the key. Two games in three days and a chance to rest easy for the last two. But it won't be easy, and it will be a real test of Colin Cooper's managerial credentials.

Burton are first up, and on their own ground they'll fancy cementing their play-off credentials. Morecambe are the visitors on Easter Monday and they're in the same position as we are so this is a veritable six pointer.

Hopefully Harewood and Monkhouse will be available for selection again and it's players like the experienced Simon Walton who needs to back up his nightly utterings in the Hartlepool Mail with delivery on the pitch.

It's sad to say, but the only people we can rely on to give it all every game are veteran Sam Collins and young dynamo Luke James. All the others seem to flit in and out of games and disappear, or start blaming the officials, when the going gets tough.

The present rot started when we played some excellent football for the first hour against Mansfield then let them bully us  for the final 30 minutes to the extent that they went home with a scarcely credible 4-2 win. We haven't got our act together since.

But now is the time to put the work in, stop blaming refs for our own shortcomings and give it the proverbial 90 minutes. The talent is there if the applikcation isn't always.

Happy Easter [hopefully].