There were unadulterated scenes of joy and despair on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday last weekend, as Jeff Stelling's beloved Hartlepool came within 10 minutes of saving their Football League status only for Newport to break hearts with a stunning late winner.
It was a Dubliner, Mark O'Brien, who plunged the dagger into jersey-clad club president Stelling, who collapsed back into his chair, hands on head, bracing himself for what was to come.
A week later, Hartlepool are preparing for life in the Conference Premier, and it would appear the pain of last weekend's relegation still burns for the Soccer Saturday frontman.
Earlier today, Stelling was confronted with the prospect of presenting the LG Performance of the Week award. Upon recognising the award was being given to the side who had relegated his own club and stayed up, Stelling downed tools and handed presenting duties to Matt Le Tissier, declaring:
You can read that. Seriously, you can't expect me to read that.
Tiss, as he so often did throughout his career, applied the finishing touch with aplomb. Rather amusingly, it was on his reading that we became aware Stelling's script had been specifically tailored, with Tiss explaining how 'difficult' it was for him to announce Newport the winners of the weekly award.
WATCH: Jeff is still not quite over @NewportCounty's great escape...? https://t.co/71ecOZRkTl
— Soccer Saturday ⚽️ (@SoccerSaturday) May 13, 2017
