By Albatross
December 28 2002

Pools stopped Cambridge scoring - the first team in the League to do so this season - and reclaimed pole position in Division 3. Albatross reports from the Vic. With Paul Smith missing through injury, Tommy Widdrington came in to the midfield and Ritchie Humphreys moved to the left flank; up front, Marcus Richardson was preferred to Kevin Henderson.

The announcement of the match official didn't exactly bode well: the infamous Fraser Stretton, ruiner of many games involving Pools over the years. It's fair to say that he didn't exactly find himself greeted with warmth; and he managed to live down to his previous low standard. He started as he meant to go on by insisting that Pools should take the kickoff again, and the whole game continued with an assortment of fouls unpunished, free kicks for no apparent reason, and a total inability to allow advantage to be played.

Cambridge got off to the brighter start, with an attack down the Pools Left; Barry-Murphy stood off Riza, and allowed him to make his way into the box before forcing a save from Williams.

Eifion Williams was then the victim of a bad tackle; going down the Pools right, he was chopped down by Jordan. Tommy Widdrington put in a good cross from the free kick, but it failed to find a Pools head and was cleared.

The Ref then missed an obvious handball that allowed Wanless to try a shot from 20 yards; he couldn't keep it down however and failed to trouble Williams.

Cambridge were looking to play the offside trap, their defenders pushing right up to the halfway line, and Pools seemed to be getting caught by it every time; Cambridge were using the free kicks from just inside their own half to build pressure on the Pools Defence. Riza got down the wing in one wuick attack, and put in a dangerous cross that Barry-Murphy did very well to deflect away.

On 14 minutes Cambridge should have taken the lead. Tudor cut inside, beat his man and from just six yards out put the ball into the side netting when he should have done much better.

From a free kick on 15 minutes, Widds and Humphreys combined to give Humphreys a good opportunity to cross; he put in a decent ball, but it was cleared as Pools struggled to find the final ball they needed. Stretton wasn't helping matters, giving a series of mystifying decisions.

The second biggest cheer of the half came on 20 minutes. Stretton had gone over to consult with the fourth official, and at the next break in play we saw him stripped for action; thinking that the Ref was being replaced the crowd began to celebrate - only for disappointed booing when we found it was merely the Assistant on the Mill House side who was being replaced!

Both sides were looking to attack, but the defences were holding firm; clear chances were at a premium, and although Cambridge were showing flashes of their attacking threat, the defence was doing a grand job for Pools - when the Ref wasn't trying to find fault! He spoke to Tommy Widdrington on 30 minutes when I didn't see anything worthy of a free kick; shortly after he gave another foul to Cambridge for no apparent reason. He seemed determined to spoil the game for the 4800 fans, and no-one who's experienced him before will be at all surprised to hear that!

On 35 minutes Pools produced a good move when Barron crossed from the right; Williams cushioned the ball into the path of Mark Tinkler, who's shot went straight to the keeper.

Cambridge then produced a good move of their own that saw a ball floated across the area to the unmarked Tudor; his shot was tipped wide by Taff - a good stop from the Pools keeper.

Barry-Murphy was playing possibly his best game for Pools, and on 40 minutes he was involved in a good attacking move. A Clarke cross went all the way over to the Irishman, who put in a good cross from the left that saw Williams head just wide.

Tommy Widdrington was the next to have a dip; his 35 yard curler was well tipped over by Marshall, but Pools were starting to look menacing as the half drew to a close. There was still time in the 5 minutes of added time though for the game to take a big turn in Pools favour.

Williams was fouled just outside the area in a fairly central position; Tommy Widdrington's free kick was deflected, and EIFION WILLIAMS pounced to send the ball into the net and Pools into the lead.

This wasn't the end to the action, either. Tudor was rightly booked for a challenge on Humphreys that was so late that he should have got detention; instead he was shown the yellow card, shortly followed by Riza when he complained a bit too much.

The good news at half time came in the discovery that Oxford were leading 2-0 at Rushden - it was looking likely that we were returning to top spot, and so it proved!

Humphreys was out to show his former club what he could do, and it didn't take long for him to get into the thick of it; some good work down the left saw him play Tinkler in, his cross hit the legs of a Cambridge defender for a corner. From that, Stretton gave a foul in the box to continue his bad day.

On 52 minutes some quick thinking from a throw in sent Richardson away down the right; his cross was put behind for another corner. a few minutes later and Humphreys was again involved as he played Richardson in on the edge of the area; he turned and shot, only to see it blocked by his marker.

Eifion Williams was the next to have a chance; he ran clear of the Camdridge defence and shot from insode the area, only to see the keeper get down well to block it away for another corner. Humphreys swung the ball across, it was sent back in by Widdrington, headed on by Spike, and Clarke blazed over from inside the six yard box while under pressure.

On 58 minutes Spike found his way into the Ref's notebook; Riza got onto the end of a quick ball out of defence, and was hauled down by Lee. It's a good job that the only place Riza was heading was the touchline, or Stretton may have taken the opportunity to show off his nice red card. Williams was forced to tip the resulting free kick away for a corner.

Stretton seemed determined to stamp his influence (authority is the wrong word) on the game, and showed this big time on 65 minutes. The ball was played to Richardson in the box; he tried to turn his defender and looked to be brought down. Stretton whistled, and then to our astonishment, not only gave the decision Cambridge's way, but booked Richardson for diving! Whether it was a penalty or not is one thing, but there was definate contact and Richardson certainly did not dive.

Eifion seemed to have been struggling a bit, and was replaced on 67 minutes by Kevin Henderson. Although Pools were still working hard - the front pair especially - we were starting to drop a bit too deep for my liking, and Cambridge were starting to push forward more in search of the equaliser. Clear chances were still at a premium though, and in the end it was Pools who got the breakthrough.

On 82 minutes a crossfield ball in the direction of Humphreys looked to be going out; Ritchie however thought otherwise, and got to it just on the touchline in time to backheel the ball into the path of Barry-Murphy, who put in a good cross that was put behind for a corner. Humphreys took the corner short to Barron, he swung a great ball across to TINKLER on the back post who headed home.

Humphreys was causing all sorts of problems for Cambridge, and was once again the subject of a late tackle on 85 minutes. Goodhind was the offender this time, and joined Tudor and Riza in the book. The Free Kick saw the ball worked to Hendo, who crossed for Tinkler - this time though he put his header the wrong side of the post.

The killer goal came on 86 minutes. Widdrington was body-checked off the ball in the box, and Stretton this time did give the penalty - if anything, it was less clear cut than the first incident! Up stepped DARRELL CLARKE, who ignored the Keeper's attempts to distract him and coolly stroked the ball into the right of the goal.

With stoppage time just about to start, Boyd came on for Richardson, and was soon involved; Clarke got away down the right, and his cross was deflected to Boyd, who headed over from six yards. Clarke then managed a good flick to sent Hendo away, but his shot from the right of the area went wide.

The Final Whistle was greeted with jubilation by the Pools fans, and that became even greater when the final result at Rushden was announced. "We are Top of the League" rang out around the Vic, and it's a familiar sight at the top of Division 3 once more - Pools three points clear of Rushden, and the gap to fourth placed Bournemouth eight points.

A good win for Pools, a great performance from the defence to keep Cambridge's highly-rated attack at bay, and a battling show from every player. Barry-Murphy had possibly his best game for Pools, Clarke finally got on the scoresheet, and with struggling Carlisle next up it looks promising for a Happy New Year.