Harrogate Town have to 'handle' League Two's 'most hostile' crowd when they visit Hartlepool United in the FA Cup

The Sulphurites visit Hartlepool United in the FA Cup this weekend, aiming to seal their place in the competition’s third round for the second season running.

And while they will head to County Durham full of confidence off the back of an away success at Bradford in round one and fresh from a convincing 3-0 win over Mansfield last time out, Town know exactly how tough it can be to get a result at Victoria Park.

Two much-changed sides played out an EFL Trophy tie up in Hartlepool earlier this season, with the hosts triumphing by a 2-0 margin, but the last time two full-strength teams went head-to-head on Clarence Road, the experience was a painful one for those in Harrogate colours.

Leading last October’s League Two encounter 2-0 through a George Thomson strike and Neill Byrne's own goal, the Sulphurites conceded three times in the space of seven minutes at the start of the second period on their way to a galling 3-2 defeat.

More than 5,500 home fans erupted into life when Pools halved the deficit on 52 minutes, that ferocious outpouring of emotion from the stands creating an atmosphere which the visiting team appeared to struggle to cope with as the game slipped away from them.

And Weaver says that his charges must learn from that collapse and deal with the Victoria Park crowd much better this time around if they want to be in the hat for Monday’s third-round draw.

"It’s going to be tough at Hartlepool, we know that, we know from our experience there last year how their crowd really gets behind them and makes it difficult for opposing teams,” he told the Harrogate Advertiser.

"As long as they are in the game and they have hope, those fans become that 12th man and they drive their team on and on.

"We felt it in last season’s league game there. The roof lifted off when they got their first goal. I think it’s the most hostile atmosphere in League Two when their crowd is up.

"We’ll have to handle the emotions which come with that on Saturday. We’ve got to handle the crowd much better than we did last year.

"We have to keep our composure. We need to pass the ball, we need to have some control and if we do, then I think we can frustrate the Hartlepool crowd, like we did at Bradford in round one. That’s when the atmosphere can possibly go the other way.”

Pools currently sit bottom of the fourth tier having lost six of their last seven league matches, but United’s crowd isn’t the only thing that Weaver says his side have to be wary of.

"We’ve seen a fair bit of Hartlepool already this season and we came to watch their first-round replay with Solihull,” he added.

"You can’t underestimate them, they’ve got some quality Football League players in their ranks. I expect that [Josh] Umerah will come back from injury and he’s a big target-man, who gives them real presence up top.

"Players like [Clarke] Oduor and [Wes] McDonald can beat a man and cause you problems in wide areas. In Callum Cooke they have a good player in the number 10 position.

"We know they can operate in a number of different systems and under Keith Curle you can guarantee that they’ll come out and be up for it.”

Having lost 2-0 in the EFL Trophy back in August, Town’s most recent face-off with Pools took place at Wetherby Road last month, with the Sulphurites registering a crucial 2-1 league win over their fellow strugglers courtesy of strikes by Alex Pattison and Jack Muldoon.

Kick-off at Victoria Park on Saturday afternoon is at 3pm.