Kevin Kyle - misses

By Clarence Rode
October 12 2008

Most clubs in League One would love to have the likes of Joel Porter, Kevin Kyle and James Brown in their squad, but the trio just can't put an end to Hartlepool's losing streak away from home. Creating chances appears to be no problem, putting them away is a different matter, even for a team that seems able to score goals for fun in home matches,. Danny Wilson refused to criticise his team after a wasteful performance in which, on chances, they really should have won with quite a bit to spare.
But they just couldn't put the ball in the net, and for all the threat posed by Kyle, Porter, Brown, Andy Monkhouse (right) and a few others, the end result was another defeat on the road.
There's no point in losting the missed chances, but they came thick and fast both at the beginning and at the end of the game.
Wilson says he belives his team isn;t far from the breakthrough Pools need, and he will clearly keep patience with them for a while yet.
He dropped Jamie McCunnie from the right-back spot, bringing in Antony Sweeney and dropping Gary Liddle from midfield to be replaced by Ben Clark, getting his first game of the season.
As Wilson acknowledged after the game, Pools gave 100 per cent and didnlt deserve to lose.
But how long can that situation be allowed to continue?
It's bad enough that defensive lapses are giving away too many goals - Pools have yet to have a clean sheet this season - but now players we all know can score goals are missing chances time after time in away games.
If it goes on for much longer, the drama could turn into a crisis.