Mark Hughes happy as Bradford end long week on a high at Hartlepool

Posted Saturday, August 20, 2022 by PA

Mark Hughes praised his Bradford players for coming away from a tough week on the road with three points at Hartlepool.

The Bantams, who lost in midweek at Colchester, were good value for a 3-1 victory at Pools to earn a first away win of the campaign.

With the scores level, Bradford striker Andy Cook scored his side’s second in the 65th minute before capping the win with a fine stoppage-time strike.

Before that Bradford had taken a sixth-minute lead through Scott Banks’ low finish only for David Ferguson to head Hartlepool level 11 minutes later.

In between Ferguson’s equaliser and Cook’s first there were very few chances but Bradford were rarely threatened.

And Hughes said: “We were excellent, we got our noses in front, probably didn’t control it enough. Second half we were excellent, the players really understood what was required and stood up to the physicality of it.

“It was a good introduction of Kian Harrett (who set up Cook’s first), and he made a big impact.
“Away from home, at times we were guilty of playing like the home side, and that shows; we dominated.

“But we wanted to see if they could hurt us. They didn’t really have any momentum to our play, or sustained pressure, we saw the game out comfortably.

“We have to have that threat and mix things up. The guys were feeling the effects of two games in a week, given the travelling around, but to have the options on the bench we had, adding that freshness, the standards didn’t drop.”

It was another disappointing result for Hartlepool, who struggled to make an impact in the final third apart from Ferguson’s goal.

And manager Paul Hartley, whose winless start to life in charge at Hartlepool has extended to six matches, said: “The second half was really frustrating. We had a good response first half to falling behind.

“We allowed Bradford to show what they were about. It was disappointing the goal we conceded but we got back in the game which was encouraging.

“It would be making excuses (to blame the referee for some decisions). The second half we weren’t good enough and I can’t be blaming the referee.

“I am concerned about not winning games. That’s the disappointing thing and we have to get it fixed quickly.

“I have been in this position before and we need to find more steel, desire and quality. It’s basic errors. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we have to get them in next week and work hard. We now need to go on the training ground and do better.”