STALEMATE A SOLID START FOR WELLENS
RICHIE Wellens hailed “a massive improvement” from Leyton Orient despite a goalless draw at Hartlepool that extended his new side’s winless run to 14 games.
Wellens, who was appointed Orient manager on Wednesday, admitted he would have taken a point against Hartlepool beforehand.
He said: “I’ve watched them (Leyton Orient) obviously over the last couple of weeks and there was a massive improvement, a lot more calmness to us.
“We’ve come away from home to a team who have not lost in a long time here. The first 30 minutes, they couldn’t get out of their own half.
“My only criticism was that we need to score in that moment because we had some really good opportunities. We’ve seen little patterns of play that we want to work on, but a clean sheet is obviously really good.
“If you were offering me that beforehand after two days’ training and a long journey up, I would have taken it.”
Neither side could break the deadlock, with Orient’s Ruel Sotirou and Pools forward Joe White having the best chances.
The visitors enjoyed the better of the early stages and came close to an opener when Hartlepool were unable to clear their lines, allowing Sotirou to burst forward and have a shot from distance which flew over the crossbar.
White provided Pools with one of their first chances just after the half-hour, cutting in from the edge of the box, but his effort was wide.
Orient started the second half brightly and went close two minutes in when Hector Kyprianou tried to stab home from close range, but Neill Byrne blocked.
A good move from the hosts then saw Omar Bogle in plenty of space on the right of the box, but goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux was able to make a comfortable save to his right.
Pools started to get back into the game and Vigouroux was tested again, saving Marcus Carver’s header before Jamie Sterry’s menacing cross was cleared.
Hartlepool manager Graeme Lee admitted his side “lacked energy” after losing to League One Rotherham on penalties in the semi-finals of the EFL Trophy on Wednesday.
He said: “It was flat. Flat all over. I’m disappointed because it was an opportunity. We had two home games on the bounce where we could go and get six points on the board and see where the season takes us.
“I was hoping our team were going to reflect on what they had put in on Wednesday night and try to go again, because of the atmosphere and everything about it. We just lacked energy, we lacked drive, we were reactive instead of anticipative of things.
“We’ll take the point, but it’s not a performance we enjoyed.”
HARTLEPOOL: Killip 7, Sterry 6, Byrne 7, Odusina 8, Ferguson 6, Shelton 6, Featherstone 6, Crawford 7 (Fletcher 82, 5), White 6 (Molyneux 61, 6), Bogle 6, Grey 6 (Carver 61, 6). Subs not used: Liddle, Holohan, Ogle, Bilokapic.
LEYTON ORIENT: Vigouroux 7, Thompson 7, Ray 6, Beckles 6, Wood 6, Sotiriou 6, Kyprianou 6, Coleman 6, Archibald 6, Smith 6 (Nouble 83, 5), Smyth 6 (Drinan 67, 6). Subs not used: Sargeant, Khan, Young, Ogie, Obiero.