By Jason McKeown (images by John Dewhirst)

Andy Cook’s face was a picture of anger and frustration, as he glared indignantly at his strike partner Dara Costelleo. The on-loan Burnley striker had received the ball at the backpost and elected to shoot from a difficult angle, instead of passing to the better-positioned Cook. The shot rolled wide of the goal, and another chance was wasted.

Cook would ultimately have to do it himself.

14 minutes after Costelleo’s miss – and from almost the exact same position on the pitch – City’s top scorer brilliantly volleyed home Scott Banks’ cross to earn City a 2-2 draw against struggling Hartlepool. It followed Cook’s earlier diving post header that had cancelled out his former City team mate, Callum Cooke’s, first half opener. Goals 24 and 25 of an amazing personal season. Cook now has as many goals as the much celebrated Lee Mills and Nahki Wells achieved in City’s last two promotion seasons, and he’s got at least 10 more games to go.

In what’s become a very familiar pattern, Cook took ownership of City’s goal output to rescue what could prove to be a vital point in the play off shake up, but which once again leaves the Bantams short on edging up into automatic promotion contention. Cook led the line magnificently and kept up his prolific form, on an afternoon where so many other Bantams were wasteful. If only others could match his deadliness in front of goal.

Cook now has 22 League Two goals, which is pretty much half of City’s overall total of 45. It’s no secret that the Bantams are over reliant on Cook. Since the New Year’s Day victory over Salford, Cook has got 9 of the 15 goals City have managed. And of those measly six goals he didn’t score, Cook assisted three of them. The club would be hopelessly lost without Cook, but days like this underline that others simply have to do more to share the goal burden.

In the cold light of day, City should have won this game. They paid the price for a timid first half performance in which they trailed, but strong half time words from Mark Hughes – coupled with a switch from the diamond back to the 4-2-3-1 – saw improvement that should have been enough to win.

In those second 45 minutes, City registered 12 attempts on goal. They pressed their struggling opponents back for long periods, but lacked the clinical touch to make it count. “You’ve got to take your chances,” Hughes rued. “We’ve had more clear cut chances today than any game from memory.”

Ultimately, it’s two points dropped for City. And their record at Valley Parade against the three teams at the bottom of the league reads two points from nine. For periods, this felt like it might be a repeat of the Rochdale embarrassment, as United twice lead. Although ‘embarrassment’ is probably a harsh on an energetic Hartlepool side who had plenty of quality and looked impressive. Hartlepool’s manager John Askey observed, “To come here and perform as well as we did, it shows that we’re doing something right. We’ve got to be better in both boxes from set-pieces and it’s something we’ll continually work on.”

Better in both boxes is probably a fair summary of why Hartlepool didn’t take more away from this game, and by 5pm had fallen into the relegation zone. Like all visiting teams to Valley Parade this season it seems, the choice of countering Hughes’ tactics lies in either parking the bus or pressing City’s backline. Hartlepool took the latter option and right from kick off asked tough questions of Harry Lewis, Matty Platt and Sam Stubbs’ attempts to play out from the back.

Hughes prefers opponents to press like this. He feels that if City can work it quickly enough and exploit the gaps left behind by those pressing, they can get a lot of attacking joy. And when City did indeed get the ball forward, they looked good. Costelleo saw an early shot flash just wide, and Cook was denied by Hartlepool keeper Jakub Stolarczyk.

The problem was that attacking pressure was sporadic. Not enough players handling the press well enough. Too many sloppy passes. And a familiar lack of bodies in the final third. It’s like a light switch going off and on – brilliant for a few moments, bang average the next. Hughes admitted, “We didn’t retain the ball well enough at the top end of the pitch. We weren’t quite as compact as we need to be.”

At times City looked flat and jaded. This was the sixth game in a row the team was unchanged. The Bantams have 27 senior players in the building (not including those out on loan). And sure, there have been injuries. But it’s a damning reflection of Hughes’ unwillingness to utilise his big squad that just 13 different players have started the last nine matches. Players like Jamie Walker, Richie Smallwood, Alex Gilliead, Adam Clayton and Dara Costelleo would surely operate better if they were rotated. Rested up for some games, so they can come back fresher in others.

Hartlepool’s sense of purpose meant they were a threat right from kick off. Several times they got in great positions, only for a poor final pass to undermine their promise. It was therefore no real surprise when they struck just after the half hour mark. They once again exploited the large gap between City’s wide diamond midfielders and the full backs, and Connor Jennings laid the ball back for Cooke to finish superbly.

Cooke’s celebration seemed to be a mixture of trying to be respectful about scoring against his former club, and going crazy at netting such an important Hartlepool goal. Given the way Cooke’s final season at City went, and the fact he was barely picked by Hughes, you sense there was an understandable feeling from the 26-year-old that he was proving a point here. In the end, he slid to his knees with glee and good luck to him. He’s a good guy who didn’t let anyone down at Valley Parade.

Going behind elicited a typical City crowd response and the boos that greeted the half time whistle were an uncomfortable reminder of the Barrow defeat exactly a month earlier. It felt like Hughes had to shake things up, but he resisted personnel changes and settled for a formation rejig. That felt a bit underwhelming, but when just four minutes into the second half Smallwood sent across a free kick that Cook headed home, the manager was justified for once again keeping his head when the rest of us were fretting.

“It was like a basketball game initially,” Hughes reflected. “We had to change our shape to address that. And that’s the reason we were better in the second half.”

And indeed, those same City XI players who had performed so pedestrian-like in the first half had much more energy and drive after the half time reshuffle. Costelleo had a really poor first half where nothing went right, but he looked slightly more useful on the left hand side of a three-man attack that were perched behind Cook. It still wasn’t fantastic, and he would miss two big back post chances – the second of which provoked the Cook scowl – but Costelleo did produce some neat dribbles and stretched opponents.

For the period after their first equaliser, City were on top and getting through the middle three of Hartlepool’s 5-3-2 with ease. Walker and Cook had chances too. And though United were still a threat at the other end in what was a very open game, the Bantams looked more likely to score.

But then, suddenly Hartlepool struck again. Clayton lost the ball in his own area. Jamie Sterry found Daniel Kemp with a clever back heel, and after skipping past challenges of Platt and Stubbs the on-loan MK Dons midfielder finished expertly past Lewis. Given Cook’s earlier equaliser was only the second time City had come from behind at home all season, the prospects of the Bantams picking themselves up from the canvas again did not seem great.

At least Hughes did finally shake up the team. Banks and Ryan East came on for Brad Halliday and Clayton. Gilliead move to right back, with Banks just behind Cook and Costelleo in a 4-3-1-2. Seven minutes after going behind, Banks got free in the box and crossed for Cook to volley home. Another stunning strike from a player who is building up quite the personal goal of the season competition.

There were still 12 minutes and – as it turned out – eight minutes of stoppage time to play. Time enough, for another formation change, with Romoney Crichlow coming on and City trying three at the back. Banks continued to impress – Hughes really has to find a starting role for him – but did miss City’s best chance late on, tamely shooting straight at Stolarczyk. Lewis also had to make an important late save. It was that sort of game that either side might have won.

But that City didn’t earn three points is cause for more frustration. Every time we drop points at home, the poor Valley Parade record comes under the spotlight. The Bantams have picked up more points on the road (32) than they have at their own home (28). Having by far the biggest crowds in the division should be a huge advantage, but with only seven home wins from 18, it just isn’t.

With 10 games left, City are looking good for a play off finish but the gap to third-place Northampton is now six points. Second-place Stevenage, who City were on the brink of going level on points with three games ago, are now seven points clear. Tuesday’s home game with fourth place Carlisle is absolutely massive. It’s probably not too dramatic to say City have to win it, or their top three hopes will look very forlorn.  

Hughes has surely got to look at changing things now. Three draws on the spin are decent enough for play off consolidating momentum, but there are bigger prizes to be had if he really goes for it. In the Colchester, Walsall and now this Hartlepool game, Hughes started with a diamond but had to ditch it midway through when it wasn’t working. Now’s the time to surely begin matches with a different approach.

It remains to be seen if Hughes agrees. “There’s food for thought. Every game throws up things that we need to address. I’d like to think I’ve been doing this long enough to recognise what needs to be done.”

It’s hard, 36 matches in, to draw any new conclusions from watching City here. In this game, they were as they have largely been all season. Decent to watch, having periods when they’re clearly on top, but not quite having the hard edge to fully make their power and might count. They produce really good spells of football – but they’re often just that, spells. They go off the boil too easily. They’re habitually on the cusp of something, it seems, but are rarely able to fully seize what’s there for them to have.

You fear that ultimately it could prove their undoing. That at some point, we’ll be talking about one missed opportunity too many. It reminds you a lot of Phil Parkinson’s 2015/16 team, who were solid but not very prolific in front of goal. Like that side, a frustrating play off semi final home defeat feels like the 2022/23 team’s current trajectory.

But there’s still time to find that missing ingredient. That extra few percent. And to earn a League Two promotion that feels tantalisingly within their grasp.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2022/23, BCAFC, Hartlepool United, League Two