Unbeaten run is over for Pools
HARTLEPOOL United saw their unbeaten run come to an end as they fell to a defeat at Walsall.
The Saddlers saw off a promising start from Graeme Lee’s side and took the lead with the quarter-hour mark approaching.
George Miller was the man to open the scoring as the hosts’ striker managed to wrong-foot Ben Killip and send a shot beyond the keeper.
Things went from bad to worse for Pools as the midway point of the firsthalf passed when Connor Wilkinson doubled Walsall’s lead.
Omar Bogle’s inability to retain possession on the halfway line was punished in the best possible way was Wilkinson seized on the loose ball and burst forwards before beating Killip from the edge of the area.
Whatever was said in the away dressing room at half-time made an impact as Lee’s side enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges in the second-half.
Luke Molyneux dragged a shot wide and Jamie Sterry’s long-distance effort was somehow kept out by hosts’ keeper Carl Rushworth.
Bogle was the next to try his luck on the hour mark as the in-form striker was denied by a brave block from Donervan Daniels - but there was to be no denying the former Grimsby Town man moments later.
Rushworth failed to hold on to a deflected effort from Isaac Fletcher and Bogle was in the right place at the right time to tap the ball into the empty net.
Any thoughts of a comeback were quickly vanquished by the hosts as they restored their two-goal lead with the final 20 minutes approaching.
A weak backpass from Gary Liddle was punished by Miller as he grabbed his second goal of the day. That was enough to kill off any hopes of Pools making a comeback as they were resigned to a first defeat since they lost at Bristol Rovers in mid-january.
WALSALL: Rushworth, White, Labadie, Daniels, Monthe, Kinsella, Wilkinson (Tomlin), Osadebe (Kiernan), Miller (Rodney), Earing, Shade Subs: Rose, Ward, Perry, Menayese
HARTLEPOOL UNITED: Killip, Sterry, Liddle, Odusina, Ferguson, Crawford (Holohan), Fletcher (Carver), Molyneux, Bogle, White (Grey) Subs: Bilokapic, Hull, Ogle, Shelton