Yeovil Town fell to a disappointing defeat at Huish Park as Hartlepool United were the 3-1 victors in Saturday’s National League clash.

Three first half strikes from the visitors built a comfortable advantage for Dave Challinor’s side.

Joe Quigley snatched a lifeline for Town in the dying embers of the first half, but ultimately Town did very little in the search for three points.

It was a youthful looking backline, with Ryan Burke, Morgan Williams, Alex Bradley lining up in defence with Luke Wilkinson offered some experience within the ranks. Adam Smith began in goal.

With Charlie Lee suspended, D’Ath and Albi Skendi were the deeper players in the midfield with Jimmy Smith and Matt Warburton the more attacking options.

There was a new man with the armband as Rhys Murphy captained Town for the first time, he led the line alongside Joe Quigley.

With an attacking line-up on paper, Yeovil did very little to threaten, as Hartlepool set the pace throughout the first half.

It didn’t take long for Hartlepool to strike in front too, with just two minutes on the clock Luke Molynuex turned the ball in at the back post, showing a sign of things to come.

Chances continued to fall for the Pools with Rhys Oates missing two chances in a similar vein from the edge of the six-yard box.

The Glovers best opportunities largely came from pot-shots, with J.Smith firing from the edge of the box but his effort was wide of the mark.

As pressure continued to mount, the Pools eventually added a second on 37 minutes through Gavin Holohan who calmly placed an effort beyond A.Smith.

With the wind in their sails, Hartlepool extended their advantage on 42 minutes and it was the pick of the bunch. A brilliant turn from Tyler Magloire left the Yeovil defence stranded, the Hartlepool forward then had little to do as he slotted home the visitors third.

As the half came to a close, Quigley offered Town a lifeline in stoppage time. After driving into the box, the Glovers number 19 bundled the ball home to cut the deficit.

Following a frantic first half, the game was played in polarising fashion in the second, with the visitors protecting what they had.

With a more defensive outlook from the Pools, the second half saw improvement from the Glovers.

J.Smith thought he was going to cut the deficit to one on 62 minutes but a heroic block denied the experienced midfielder what would have been a certain goal.

For all Town’s pressure, the visitors had the best chance of the second half as earlier goalscorer Holohan dragged an effort wide from the edge of the six-yard box.  

In an afternoon with few positives, Darren Sarll was able to offer a debut to 17-year-old Alfie Lloyd in the hopes of finding an equaliser.

Ultimately that equaliser wasn’t to be as Yeovil fell to a defeat.