Preview - Hartlepool take on Bristol Rovers

By Albatross
October 29 2002

The first of two games at the Vic this week sees Pools taking on Bristol Rovers. Two wins this week would go a long way towards increasing our grip on the top spot. Albatross looks at the threat to this state of affairs by the team they call "The Gas"....

Bristol Rovers were expected to do well last season; instead, they found themselves at the wrong end of the table, and relieved that there was only one down to the Conference. Since then, Ray Graydon has taken the managerial hotseat, and has had a bit of a clearout. Rovers weren't expected to challenge for promotion this season; but they will have hoped for a better record than they currently have.

At the moment the Pirates sit in 16th place, with 17 points from their 15 games. Somewhat surprisingly, they have a positive goal difference; but their scoring record of 23 goals is only marginally better than their 21 goals against. Five of those goals scored came in one game - away at Shrewsbury - and they have failed to score just twice, in their 0-0 draw at Carlisle and 1-0 defeat at Darlington. Of the teams they've played, only Carlisle and Lincoln have failed to hit the back of the net.

Their current form is not good; they have won just won of their last five league matches, and on Saturday went down 2-1 at home to Leyton Orient - who themselves have had a far from successful season so far. Matters haven't been helped by the suspension of Paul Tait for three games - he is likely to play tonight - and injuries to the likes of Kevin Austin, Trevor Challis and Vitalijis Astafjevs, all of whom are likely to miss the match. Astafjevs has scored three times for Rovers this season, but leading scorer is currently Giuliano Grazioli with eight strikes; Tait currently has four, and these two are likely to be the main dangermen tonight. Another player to watch out for is Wayne Carlisle; the midfielder has chipped in with three goals this season.

The on-loan David Lee (Brighton) and Adrian Coote (Colchester) may also start tonight; Coote scored for the Gas on Saturday.

For Pools, there will definately be at least one change tonight: Mickey Barron serves his suspension for the Bournemouth red card tonight, and Paul Arnison is set to take over at Right Back. There are unlikely to be other changes to the starting 11 as CT sticks with 4-4-2 and the personnel who won at SOuthend on Friday.

One player who will be on the bench for Pools tonight though is Steven Istead. The 16 year old right winger was on Newcastle United's books as a junior before linking up with Pools over the summer; since then he has impressed for the youth team and made a couple of appearances for the reserves.

Kevin Henderson will not be fit for the match, so Jermaine Easter looks set to continue on the bench alongside Istead, Provett, Widdrington and Boyd.

On paper this should be a straightforward win for Pools; even some of the Bristol Rovers fans think we will take the points tonight, particularly after their poor result against Orient. Such games however are potential banana skins - don't forget we "should" have walked it against Macclesfield as well - and Bristol are unlikely to roll over and die. Nevertheless, there's sufficient character in the side that they won't take this for granted; and with Bournemouth leading the chasing pack not far behind, there's plenty of incentive to get the win. So I'm going for a 3-0 victory tonight, with Williams, Richardson and Humphreys to score.