Defensive woes as Pools suffer a dip
HARTLEPOOL United manager Paul Hartley bemoaned a poor defensive display from his side as they dropped into the relegation zone with defeat at leaders Leyton Orient.
There were just three minutes on the clock when the hosts went ahead as George Moncur converted from the penalty spot after Euan Murray was punished for a pull on Charlie Kelman.
Wes Mcdonald pulled Pools back on level terms just after the half-hour mark but it was Orient who took a lead into the interval thanks to a powerful finish from the influential Kelman.
Things went from bad to worse for Pools after half-time as Paul Smyth added to Orient’s lead just three minutes into the second-half.
Hartley’s men would not allow their hosts to relax and Josh Umerah gave them a chance to snatch a point when he scored from the penalty spot with 20 minutes left.
Their hope would be shortlived, though, as Orient settled the contest with just over quarter of an hour remaining with a goal from substitute Raul Sotiriou.
Jamie Sterry came close to bringing Pools back into the game when he curled an effort narrowly wide but that was as good as it got for Hartley’s men.
“We certainly didn’t start the game well,” the Pools boss said
in the aftermath of the game.
“We were a goal down after four, five minutes and we just conceded poor goals.
“We got back into the game at one each and we looked like we maybe would score.
“I thought it was the most we looked like we could create today and score and we managed the two goals but we could have scored at other times in the match.
“If you don’t do the basics well you don’t win the game.”
Pools will now move on to Tuesday night’s home game against Harrogate Town as they look to finally get their first win of the season and move out of the drop zone.
LEYTON ORIENT: Vigouroux, James, Happe, Smyth, Archibald (Soitrou), Moncur (Brown), El Mizouni, Pratley (Clay), Beckles, Kelman, Hunt Subs: Sargeant, Ogie, Thompson, Smith.
HARTLEPOOL UNITED: Killip, Sterry, Ferguson (Paterson), Murray, Shelton (Crawford), Hastie, Featherstone, Umerah, Mcdonald, Ndjoli (Hamilton), Lacey Subs: Letheran, Menayese, Tumilty, Niang.