Enterprise National League, Matchday 3
Saturday 22 August 2026, 12:30
VBS Community Stadium
Two games. Two wins. No goals conceded.
And that applies to both sides.
It is far too early in the season to start making grand declarations about promotion contenders, defensive records or anything else that tends to look a little silly by October. But there is enough evidence already to make Sutton United against Hartlepool United considerably more interesting than your average Matchday Three fixture.
Sutton have opened with a 3-0 win at Woking and a 1-0 home victory over Altrincham. Hartlepool have beaten Barrow 2-0 and then ground out a 1-0 win at Aldershot.
So something has to give.
The early picture
The numbers suggest perfection.
The performances suggest something slightly more nuanced.
Neither Sutton nor Hartlepool have needed to dominate possession to win. Both have already shown a willingness to spend periods without the ball, protect their shape and then attack efficiently when the opportunity appears.
That could make Saturday a fascinating game of patience.
Or an absolutely frantic game of transitions.
Possibly both.
Sutton’s start is beginning to reveal an identity
The most encouraging thing about Sutton’s opening fortnight is that the two victories have come in quite different circumstances.
At Woking, Sutton were devastating when the match opened up. Turnovers quickly became attacks, space was exploited and pace caused repeated problems.
Against Altrincham, the game was tighter.
Sutton had only 43 per cent possession and four attempts, but still came away with the win while restricting Altrincham to only one effort on target.
That is useful information.
Chris Agutter’s side do not appear particularly interested in collecting possession for decorative purposes. There has been much more emphasis on shape, territory, transitions and attacking quickly when the moment presents itself.
The early individual numbers reflect that threat.
David Ogbonna already has two league goals, while Will Nightingale and Omar Mussa have one each. Dan Urpens has supplied two assists from centre-back, with Temi Babalola also contributing one.
Urpens’ numbers are particularly revealing.
Two assists from a central defender after two matches is not simply a statistical curiosity. It shows Sutton are capable of creating danger from much deeper areas rather than relying entirely upon slow progression through midfield.
That direct threat is likely to matter against Hartlepool.
Hartlepool look different
This is not simply last season’s Hartlepool with a few names moved around.
Lee Clark arrived during the summer talking about creating a hard-working, energetic side, and the recruitment suggests Hartlepool have deliberately added proven attacking output.
The two headline additions are difficult to ignore.
Jack Nolan produced 19 goals and eight assists for Morecambe last season.
Will Harris scored 22 National League goals for Halifax.
That is 41 league goals imported into the same attacking unit.
And both have already scored for their new club.
Hartlepool’s opening victory over Barrow came despite having slightly less possession and fewer attempts. They were simply much more clinical.
The Aldershot match followed a similar pattern.
Aldershot believed they had enjoyed the better of significant parts of the game and even missed an 89th-minute penalty, but Hartlepool still left with three points and another clean sheet.
That tells us something worth remembering.
Hartlepool do not need to control a match to hurt you.
So what do Hartlepool actually look like?
The first two matches suggest something broadly between a 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1.
The precise formation matters rather less than the relationships inside it.
Hartlepool have a proper central reference point in Harris, running power and width, particularly through Brooklyn Ilunga, and a player in Nolan who might start from a wider position but absolutely should not be treated like a conventional winger.
Behind them, Jack Hunter and Jamie Miley provide the platform in midfield.
Then there is the bench.
Corey McKeown has already demonstrated its importance by coming on and scoring the winner at Aldershot, while Jordan Hugill gives Clark another experienced attacking option.
So even if Sutton successfully solve Hartlepool’s starting structure, the questions may change after an hour.
Useful of them.
How Hartlepool are likely to attack
1. Harris as the platform
Will Harris is not simply there to finish moves.
At around 6ft 2in, he provides Hartlepool with an obvious target, but his importance comes from what can happen around him.
Hartlepool can play into Harris, compete for the first contact and then attack the space around the second ball.
For Sutton’s centre-backs, that creates a familiar dilemma.
Step tightly into Harris and you potentially leave room behind.
Stay off him and he can bring others into the game.
Will Nightingale should relish the physical contest, but it cannot become Nightingale against Harris in isolation. Sutton’s midfield distances around that duel will be crucial.
2. Jack Nolan drifting inside
This is probably the biggest individual danger.
Calling Nolan a winger does not really explain the threat.
A player who scored 19 goals last season clearly isn’t spending his afternoon exclusively trying to reach the byline and float crosses into the box.
He wants scoring positions.
He is left-footed, can operate from either side and becomes particularly dangerous when allowed to travel inside towards the edge of the penalty area.
The obvious temptation for Sutton will be to concentrate defensive attention on Harris because he is the recognised striker.
Do that too aggressively and Nolan can become the real problem.
Sutton’s right side cannot allow him repeated opportunities to receive facing goal and move onto that left foot.
3. The bit after the header
Hartlepool have plenty of size.
Harris, Reiss McNally, Max Kouogun and potentially Hugill all give them aerial presence.
But defending Hartlepool will not simply be about winning headers.
It is about winning what happens next.
If Sutton head the first ball clear and then allow Hunter, Miley or Nolan to collect it around the edge of the area, the defensive action is only half completed.
Loose clearances are likely to become another attack very quickly.
Which brings us to perhaps the most important area of the match.
KEY BATTLE ONE: THE SECOND BALL
Taylor / Osadebe / Bell / Mussa
v
Hunter / Miley
This might decide the game without attracting much attention.
Both teams are prepared to play forwards relatively early.
Both possess forwards capable of competing physically.
Neither appears remotely obsessed with dominating the possession statistic.
That creates a match in which midfielders will repeatedly be asked to react to loose balls.
Hartlepool’s dangerous sequence looks something like this:
Ball into Harris → second ball secured → Nolan or Ilunga released.
Break that chain and Sutton remove a huge amount of Hartlepool’s threat.
Win those same balls going the other way and suddenly Ogbonna, Folarin or another runner can be attacking a defensive line before Hartlepool have reset.
There may be prettier parts of the game.
I’m not convinced there will be many more important ones.
KEY BATTLE TWO: SUTTON’S FRONT LINE v HARTLEPOOL’S CENTRE-BACKS
Hartlepool have now gone 180 league minutes without conceding.
That deserves respect.
But Sutton possess a combination that can make life extremely uncomfortable for centre-backs.
Temi Babalola gives them somebody to occupy defenders physically.
Around him, Sutton have genuine pace.
Ogbonna has already demonstrated his finishing ability, while Sam Folarin provides another direct threat if selected.
The key is turning Hartlepool’s defensive line around.
Centre-backs generally enjoy games where everything remains in front of them. They can attack the ball, win headers and maintain their shape.
They tend to enjoy things rather less when they are sprinting towards their own goal.
Babalola’s contribution may therefore be measured by much more than whether he scores.
If he can pin one defender, drag another towards him and create the space for Sutton’s quicker players to attack, he has done an important part of the job.
Sutton’s objective: make Hartlepool defend backwards.
KEY BATTLE THREE: SUTTON’S RIGHT SIDE v JACK NOLAN
This is the one Artie’s scanners keep returning to.
Nolan’s numbers last season were ridiculous for somebody nominally starting from wider areas.
19 goals. Eight assists.
And he has already opened his Hartlepool account.
The defensive instruction sounds simple.
Do not allow him to travel inside onto his stronger foot.
Actually achieving that is considerably harder.
Whoever operates on Sutton’s right will need support because simply backing away from Nolan is not a particularly appealing strategy either.
Force him towards the touchline.
Make him create from less dangerous areas.
And, perhaps just as importantly, make him worry about defending.
Three Hartlepool players to watch
⭐ JACK NOLAN
Forward, 25
The obvious one, but obvious for a reason.
Nolan arrived from Morecambe after producing 19 goals and eight assists, and he has already scored for Hartlepool this season.
He isn’t simply supplying the centre-forward.
He is another scorer.
If Sutton allow him to drift into the inside-left channel facing goal, trouble is unlikely to be far away.
Sutton need to:
Keep him outside and make him play away from goal.
⭐ WILL HARRIS
Centre-forward, 25
Twenty-two National League goals for Halifax last season tells its own story.
Harris has already scored for Hartlepool and was heavily involved in the move that produced McKeown’s winner against Aldershot.
He provides presence, but labelling him merely as a target man would undersell him.
His ability to link the play gives Hartlepool a focal point from which everyone else can move.
Sutton need to:
Prevent Harris becoming the platform for the runners around him.
Nightingale against Harris should be a proper centre-half versus centre-forward contest.
There is very little wrong with that.
⭐ BROOKLYN ILUNGA
Wide midfielder / wing-back, 22
Perhaps the less obvious choice.
Ilunga already had more than 100 senior appearances behind him when Hartlepool signed him from Bromley despite being only 22.
His athleticism gives Hartlepool another way of progressing up the pitch.
Where Harris provides the target and Nolan provides the scoring threat, Ilunga can provide the carry.
Allow him to collect the ball facing forwards and Sutton can suddenly find themselves retreating very quickly.
Sutton need to:
Make him spend more time tracking back than driving forwards.
And watch the bench...
Corey McKeown has played only 37 league minutes.
He already has a goal.
He came on around the hour mark against Aldershot and scored the winner.
That is worth filing away for later.
If the scores are level after 60 or 70 minutes, Hartlepool have attacking options capable of changing the game rather than simply replacing tired legs.
Recent history
These two clubs have produced a surprisingly balanced series of meetings.
Across those six games:
Sutton wins: 2
Draws: 2
Hartlepool wins: 2
Goals:
Sutton 13-11 Hartlepool
Which, given both teams arrive without conceding this season, is mildly amusing.
Historically, this fixture has not been terribly committed to the concept of a goalless draw.
What should Sutton target?
Get behind them early
Hartlepool appear comfortable when allowed to establish their defensive shape.
So don’t let them.
Babalola occupying defenders while quicker players attack beyond him looks Sutton’s clearest route to creating the sort of transitions Hartlepool would rather avoid.
The earlier Sutton can make their defenders turn, the better.
Make Hartlepool’s wide players defend
It is tempting to approach Nolan and Ilunga purely as threats to be contained.
There is another option.
Attack them.
If Hartlepool’s dangerous wide players are repeatedly running towards their own penalty area, they are not running towards Sutton’s.
Sutton should be willing to create overloads rather than spending the whole match trying to prevent something that has not happened yet.
Do not disappear after scoring
Both sides have already demonstrated that they can protect leads.
That makes the first goal potentially very important.
But if Sutton score it, retreating completely would be dangerous.
Invite Harris, Nolan and eventually Hartlepool’s substitutes around the penalty area for an hour and somebody will eventually ask an awkward question.
The best way of protecting a lead might be continuing to give Hartlepool something to defend themselves.
So, what sort of game are we getting?
There is a strange symmetry about this one.
Sutton:
WW
4 scored
0 conceded
Hartlepool:
WW
3 scored
0 conceded
Both can win without dominating possession.
Both have pace.
Both have a physical focal point.
Both have shown they can defend a lead.
And both will probably believe the other’s defensive record has not yet faced its most difficult examination.
That makes this Sutton’s most intriguing fixture of the season so far.
Not because Hartlepool have conclusively proved themselves better than Woking or Altrincham after 180 minutes of football.
They haven’t.
But the type of problems they provide are different.
Harris gives Nightingale and the Sutton defence a genuine physical focal point to manage.
Nolan provides goals from outside that central battle.
Ilunga gives them running power.
And Hartlepool have attacking depth waiting behind them.
For the first time this season, Sutton’s new-look defensive solidity is going to be tested by an opponent carrying several different threats at once.
The good news?
Hartlepool are probably thinking much the same thing about Sutton.
ARTIE’S KEY QUESTION
Can Sutton deal with Harris centrally without creating the space around him for Nolan and Hartlepool’s runners?
Solve that problem and Sutton have more than enough weapons of their own to make it three wins from three.
And if somebody wants to keep another clean sheet while they’re at it, Artie’s database will have no objections.