Hartlepool lacked quality in Stevenage draw – Graeme Lee

Posted Sunday, January 23, 2022 by PA

Graeme Lee wants to see Hartlepool turn up the heat on opponents after they were forced to come from behind to earn a point in a 1-1 draw against Stevenage.

Pools never really looked in much trouble until Gary Liddle brought down Jamie Reid and Luke Norris put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot with 20 minutes left.

Hartlepool had struggled to find a breakthrough before that, highlighting why they had gone 386 minutes without scoring in Sky Bet League Two.

That goal drought did come to an end when captain Nicky Featherstone curled in a superb right-footed strike from 20 yards with 13 minutes remaining.

But Hartlepool could not find a winner to secure what would have been only their second win in 12 league games.

Lee said: “We lacked that final bit of quality, especially in the first half. We created a couple of fantastic opportunities, but in the second half for the first 25 minutes we lacked it.

“When Nicky, who was fantastic, gets on the ball we are on it, but we need others to do that.

“I felt we controlled the game. We were under no real pressure and then the silly tackle from Liddle means we were then chasing the game.

“We had to do something. It was a fantastic goal. Stevenage will be delighted with a point and we are not. We lacked that final pass, that real desire to get in the right areas.

“We need to be finishing teams off like today. The response was good but we shouldn’t be waiting until we are 1-0 down, we should have that desire no matter what.”

Stevenage boss Paul Tisdale had no complaints about the outcome and is prepared to forgive his team for letting the lead slip.

Boro had won two of their previous three unbeaten matches and looked like climbing above their opponents until Featherstone’s strike.

But Tisdale, whose side are 19th and nine points clear of the relegation zone, said: “Hartlepool had a good go at it, we actually started to sit deep.

“We had five minutes when we were waiting to make a decision on Scott Cuthbert because he felt his hamstring. We had to wait and it is always the way, they equalised with a brilliant strike.

“I felt we always had something in us today, but it was, at times, a tired performance, not in terms of drive and motivation, just we didn’t have the spark of recent games.

“It was another point against a really good team on their own patch. If we stand back and think about it then it’s not a bad point.

“I know where we have to improve, we have players who are fully engaged. There are areas I want to improve but we have to nudge those forward rather than start again.

“We are making progress and it is an important point on the road.

“It will be good now to have a full week. We have to make the most of this week and get ready for the big fortnight.”