Pools were held to a 2-2 draw as they made the trip to CroftPark less than 24 hours after the win at Morpeth.
Dave Challinor made only one change to his side as David Parkhousemade his first appearance for the club in place of Luke Williams.
Pools began with a lot of possession without really creating any chances. Their first opportunity came after some good combination on the left-hand side between David Ferguson and Luke Molyneux who produced a dangerous looking cross that was cleared by Spartans player-manager, Michael Nelson.
A good cross on the right from MacDonald was met by Shelton
who didn't quite connect with the header which went straight at the keeper as chances
passed by.Though Pools had a lot of possession, the first goal came, arguably
against the run of play, when a pass from the Blyth midfield split the defence
perfectly and Connor Thompson slotted the ball past Brad Young.Minutes later, another chance for Blyth as they began to
pass the ball around with some confidence finding Simon Heslop on the edge of the
box who shot high and wide.Pools found themselves on level terms in fortunate circumstances
when Molyneux played the ball to Ferguson on the left whose cross floated over Brendan
Pearson in the Blyth goal.There was lots of good work throughout from Joe Grey whose tenacious running was causing problems for the Blyth defence; though he was constant thorn in their side, he never created any clear opportunities.
On the stroke of half time a slip in the Blyth defence sent
through Joe Grey who broke into the box before pulling the ball back to David Parkhouse
who's first shot was saved by the keeper but he slotted home at the second
attempt and Pools went in at the break 2-1 up.An uneventful start to the second half was broken in the 56th
minute when Blyth broke through. Robbie Dale passed the ball into the box where
he found a trialist who was bundled to the floor. Inevitably, the referee
pointed to the spot and Connor Thompson dispatched the penalty with aplomb.The game became slightly disjointed after that as both teams
made a host of changes with Dave Challinor calling on the lads who played the
first hour at Morpeth last night, only Joe Grey and Brad Young remained on the
pitch who started the game.Blyth were still dangerous on the break as they continued to
attack but chances were at a premium for both sides. A break down the right led
to a shooting opportunity which was easy for Brad Young to collect.A corner came in from the Pools left and there was a bit of
grappling in the box which caused the referee to point to the spot. Rhys Oates
stepped up to take the kick, but Pearson was equal to it and kept the score at
2-2.The second half resulted in few chances, though Claudio
Ofosu looked lively throughout often chasing down lost causes which created a
couple of half chances for Pools, but overall, a draw was probably a fair result.