TOPB1NS
English National League •29 September 2026 •KO 19:45
Hartlepool United badge
Hartlepool United
0:1
Harrogate Town
Harrogate Town badge
FORM
L L L L L
#21 0
9 PTS GD: -8
PLAYED: 11
#2 -2
22 PTS GD: 8
PLAYED: 11
FORM
W L L W W

Hartlepool United 0-1 Harrogate Town

Bailey Hobson scored the only goal as Harrogate Town beat Hartlepool United 1-0 at Victoria Park to climb to second in the National League.

Hartlepool handed a debut to newly-signed goalkeeper Max Thompson as one of five changes following Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Scunthorpe United, and the hosts created the first clear opportunity of the evening. Will Harris released Charlie Thornton in the 19th minute, but Luke Hutchinson produced a good save to turn the youngster’s close-range effort wide.

Cameron John was booked shortly afterwards before Hartlepool threatened again approaching the half-hour mark. Jamie Miley found Harris on the right side of the penalty area, but the forward’s powerful effort flew narrowly over the crossbar.

Harrogate then created an opening of their own, with Thompson making a smart save to deny Brad Dolaghan inside the Hartlepool penalty area. The hosts had another opportunity shortly before the interval when Harris sent Jordan Hugill through on goal, but his effort went narrowly wide of the bottom corner and the sides went in goalless.

Hartlepool made two changes at half-time, introducing Jay Benn for Neo Eccleston and Terry Bondo for Thornton, but it was Harrogate who broke the deadlock ten minutes after the restart. The visitors won possession deep inside Hartlepool territory before Will McGowan found Hobson, whose low close-range effort took a deflection and wrong-footed Thompson.

It was Hobson’s fourth goal in five National League matches, having also found the net against Tamworth, Boreham Wood and Eastleigh during September. Bondo threatened a quick response for Hartlepool with a long-range effort that drifted narrowly wide.

Hartlepool made another double change in the 61st minute as Luke Charman and Jack Nolan replaced Hugill and Callum Deeming. Harrogate later introduced George Thomson for McGowan, while Brooklyn Ilunga replaced the booked John for the hosts in the 71st minute.

Pools continued searching for an equaliser and went close with five minutes remaining. Benn delivered from the right and Charman met his cross with a header, but was unable to direct it on target. Harrogate held on through the closing stages to secure consecutive league victories following Saturday’s 4-1 win over Eastleigh.

The victory lifted Harrogate to second in the National League with 22 points from 11 matches, four behind leaders Boreham Wood. Hartlepool remained 21st on nine points after suffering a fifth successive league defeat.

Edgy Eddie

TopB1ns Edge

By Edgy Eddie

Right then, a bit of a shocker this one. Harrogate nicked it 1-0 at Hartlepool’s place. The bookies had Harrogate as favourites at 1.85, and fair play to them, they were spot on with the away win. TopB1ns Edge, however, fancies Hartlepool to do the business at home, which, as we’ve seen, was a bit of a punt that didn’t come off. Bit of teething trouble there for the Edge, I reckon.

Now, on to the goals. TopB1ns Edge was bang on with ‘Yes’ for Both Teams to Score, but the game ended 0-1, so that one missed the mark. Funny that. The Over/Under predictions were a bit of a mixed bag. TopB1ns Edge correctly called Over 0.5 goals, which is a given really, but then went on to predict Over 1.5, Over 2.5, and Over 3.5. Only one of those came in, so the Edge was a bit too optimistic on the scoring front. It did, however, correctly predict Under 3.5, Under 4.5, Under 5.5, and Under 6.5. So, it saw the low-scoring nature of the game, just not who would score it. All in all, a bit of a mixed bag, but Harrogate’s win was the main event.