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Breaking News: Manager Darren Sarll challenges Adam Smith to rise after being picked over Young in goalless Halifax encounter
Hartlepool United manager Darren Sarll said Adam Smith’s kicking and experience were key factors in his decision to start the former Northampton, Yeovil and Morecambe goalkeeper in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Halifax.
The Pools boss had a decision to make prior to the weekend after Joel Dixon was ruled out following an injury he sustained in the stalemate with Braintree.
Dixon kept three successive clean sheets at the start of the season and looked like a different goalkeeper to the one who struggled so much during a turbulent debut campaign at the Prestige Group Stadium.
The 30-year-old was just beginning to come into his own when he went down midway through the first half against Braintree and was replaced by Smith, who kept a clean sheet on his competitive debut.
Despite Smith’s solid start to his Pools career and the fact that he knows Sarll well, having played under him at Yeovil, the majority of supporters had expected to see new man Brad Young given the nod at the weekend.
The talented 22-year-old returned to his boyhood club on a season-long loan from Premier League side Leicester as he bids to gain experience of senior football and force his way into the Foxes first team.
However, Sarll opted to stick with Smith for Saturday’s visit of Halifax and the experienced stopper repaid his manager’s faith with another assured performance, producing one sharp reaction save after Adan George’s effort had taken a wicked deflection off the outstretched boot of Billy Sass-Davies.
Given his solid showing, it seems likely that Smith will remain in goal for Tuesday’s trip to newly-promoted Boston while Young will have to work hard to displace the more senior man.
“It just came down to the time they’ve had with us,” Sarll said.
“When Adam came into the game last week I thought he had a lovely calming impact – that’s something I’ve never, ever said before in my life about Adam Smith.
“I thought he had a real composure to his performance, which I liked.
“Brad is still adapting to the way we play, especially with the ball at his feet.
“We saw that in training this week – he’s had an excellent week in training and like (the decision between) Joel and Adam that was wafer thin.
“Adam knows that he’ll have to be at his very, very best if he’s going to retain that position.”
