By Albatross
August 8 2004

Hartlepool United got their Division 2 campaign off to a winning start with a 2-1 win over Bradford City. It wasn't as straightforward as most expected though, with Pools coming from behind to beat the Bantams. Neale Cooper's solution to the right back/right side conundrum was for Jack Ross to play in the back four with Eifion Williams playing in front of him. Porter partnered Boyd up front, and Sweeney stayed in midfield leaving a strong-looking bench of Konstantopoulos, Clarke, Strachan, Betsy and Istead.

Bradford kicked off towards the Town End, and the first thing to strike me from a Pools point of view was that Richie Humphreys looked somewhat more slender than last season. Either the stripes have a very slimming effect, or he's decided to give less emphasis to the weight training that apparently caused him to bulk up last year!

Bradford started in lively fashion, with a cross from Summerbee forcing Nelson to head behind for a corner on three minutes; Symes got his head to the flag kick but sent it over.

Pools first meaningful attack followed some good play down the left side from Adam Boyd who turned his man before delivering a cross that won a corenr on the left. Boyd then took the corner, win another on the other side and took that too - this time deep towards Hugh Robertson, who saw his long-range effort blocked before an offside allowed Bradford to clear their lines.

Some confusion between Westwood and Humphreys looked to have allowed Symes to sneak in, but Westie won the ball back - only for the Ref to blow for a dubious foul. Summerbee's cross though bounced off a Pools player and comfortably back to Provett.

Both Pools Forwards were getting through a lot of work, and Porter closed down the Bradford defence on the right to such great effect that we won a corner out of nothing; however, Robertson's cross was cleared at the near post.

Four minutes later Porter and Williams combined well on the right to give Williams the chance to cross - and another corner was the result. Although the corner was cleared, a quick throw to Boyd on the right flank set the Pools forward away; he broke into the box before firing in a shot that Turnbull claimed at the near post.

Pools seemed to be lacking a bit of control in midfield, with the ball in the air as often as not; however, although Bradford seemed more able to keep the ball, they lacked real penetration and were having to resort to hopeful crosses and long shots. One of these, from Summerbee on 15 minutes, looked initially like it might cause Provett problems before going wide - but clear chances were at a premium.

Pools were looking to the flanks for inspiration, and spread the ball out with great effect to Williams on 19 minutes; he cut inside before delivering the ball to Porter, who turned and shot weakly to give Turnbull an easy save.

Shortly after Nelson had to be awake to deal with a long ball from the left, heading behind for a corner with a Bradford player lurking. The first corner saw a shot from a Bradford player blocked away for another, which was cleared. Another mystifying decision followed from the Ref, who apropos of nothing awarded Bradford a free kick on the left that Windass sent over the wall but well wide - with Provett having it well covered anyway.

Pools went on the attack themselves with Porter looking to play in Sweeney; his throughball though was agonisingly just too far for the onrushing Pools midfielder. Boyd then got away down the right before getting into the box - but his cross was blocked away.

It was Boyd at the centre of things again of 25 minutes, playing a great ball to Humphreys on the left flank; Richie's cross though hit a defender before being claimed comfortably by Turnbull.

Two minutes later a foul on Boyd gave Hugh Robertson his first free-kick opportunity of the afternoon, right of centre about 30 yards out; his quickly-taken effort was heading for the top corner but Turnbull made a superb save to tip it over for a corner. The corner was cleared, but a good pass from Nelson found Boyd on the left, he in turn found Porter in the box - only for the Aussie to scuff his shot. Pools however were starting to put some sustained pressure together against a Bradford side that still seemed to be lacking in ideas - and indeed seemed to be quite happy to play for a point. This was highlighted when the Ref quite rightly booked Crooks for Timewasting at a free kick - with almost ten minutes of the first half to go!

Porter almost got on the end of a long free kick on 39 minutes, scuffing his shot; and then Pools created a great opportunity. Boyd got onto a throughball on the left, took the ball into the box and beat Turnbull - but was forced wide. Instead of crossing towards the two waiting attackers, he elected to cut back in and try a shot himself that went for a corner at the near post.

Half Time saw the score still level then, and although Pools had looked much more threatening there was still plenty of room for improvement. We were a bit too guilty of missing out the midfield, while Humphreys on the left was seeing little of the ball. Bradford meanwhile were playing some neat stuff in midfield without really looking like breaking through the Pools defence.

Pools however started the second half looking much better. Keeping the ball on the ground, we initially looked like we might over-run Bradford; first of all some good control from Boyd allowed him to set Humphreys away down the left - his cross being cut out before it reached Porter; and then Willams got down the other flank and into the box before sending his cross a bit too far. Then a great ball from Humphreys on the left found Boyd, he beat two players on his way into the box before squaring the ball to Porter; Porter however sent his shot just wide of the far post when it looked easier to score.

Bradford made a change on 50 minutes, Ben Muirhead replacing Lewis Emanuel; the pacy Muirhead was soon to show his talents. Two minutes after arriving on the pitch, he latched onto a long throughball in the area and shot towards the far post - only for Provett to get down well and divert tha ball past the post for a corner. Pools had been given a warning - Bradford still posed some danger.

Two minutes later Bradford went ahead. Another throughball made it to Windass, lurking a good couple of yards offside (I was level with it, I know) - amazingly the flag didn't go up, and WINDASS beat Provett from close range. Even the hapless Ref seemed to need extra confirmation from his assistant; after all, the last time Windass beat a defender in a footrace was probably at least five years ago!

Pools now had the extra pressure of trying to get back into the game, and a Humphreys effort following a corner was blocked and then a long range shot from Porter went well wide from 20 yards out.

Pools should have pulled level on 59 minutes; some good work down the right sent Porter into the box; he pulled it across to Boyd, who blazed just over from about 10 yards out. Shortly after there was a huge ironic cheer as the assistant raised his flag to catch Windass offside - only about five minutes late then!

Muirhead's pace saw him get clear down the right on 66 minutes, and Nelson was forced to head behind with Windass waiting behind him. Pools then were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty; a swift attack down the left saw Porter felled in the box, and just as we were beginning to celebrate as it looked from the Mill House the Ref was pointing to the spot, we discovered that he'd actually awarded a Goal Kick.

Kevin Betsy replaced Eifion Williams on 67 minutes, and was soon getting stuck in; he battled well to earn a corner that saw Pools generate sustained pressure on the Bradford goal.

The timewasting that Bradford had been doing pretty much from the start reached it's zenith on 71 minutes. With Peter Atherton waiting to come on as Pools prepared to take a free kick, Darren Holloway did the "who, me?" routine before casually strolling to the side of the pitch, stretching things out as much as possible.

Betsy got Sweeney clear on 73 minutes, but Turnbull made a good stop to deny the Pools midfielder; but with Pools in determined mood the equaliser was not long in coming. Another good move on the left saw Boyd breaking into the box; Schumacher brought him down, and this time the Ref did point to the spot. BOYD picked himself up to stroke the ball calmly into the left corner after Turnbull went the wrong way.

Bradford made their final substitution on 77 minutes, Symes replaced by Sanasy, and were making it clear by their lack of urgency at throw-ins etc that they were more than happy to settle for a draw; they were also unwilling to commit men forward. Despite this, Nelson needed to be on his toes when Windass lifted a quick free kick across towards the far post to head clear.

Pools though were the team to take the lead on 80 minutes. A foul on Porter gave Hugh ROBERTSON another chance from 30 yards; his free kick swerved round the wall and Turnbull completely misjudged the bounce, the ball passing his fingertips on it's way into the net. According to some (Bradford) reports, the bounce seemed to hit the one divot on the whole of our double award-winning pitch; it looked more to me that Turnbull, who had otherwise had a very good game, simply misjudged it.

Two minutes later Pools almost went further ahead; Betsy was played in on the right, battled well to get past his man, and fired in a shot that Turnbull parried clear. We then had the enjoyable sight of Windass - who had expressed his astonishment whenever caught offside - being booked for giving the assistant a mouthful after he flagged for a foul on Robertson.

As normal time ran out, Pools had good reason to be thankful for Jim Provett's sharp reflexes. A cross from the right was headed back across by Windass, and Muirhead's close-range effort was superbly saved by Provett who even managed to hold on to the ball.

With added time being played, Istead replaced Porter and Pools proceeded to play a bit of keep-ball in the right hand corner; finally, with four minutes extra played, the final whistle went and we got our first opening day home win for no less than 30 years.

Bradford looked like an adequate side, but Pools can take heart from the fact that there is still more to come. Ross looked solid, Betsy did well enough when he came on, and Boyd seemed to be made out of glue such was his close control. A bit sharper finishing is required though - especially from Porter, who squandered at least three good chances - and we need to look to play the ball on the ground more. A win is a win though - I'm sure Sheffield Wednesday fans would like to be in our position at the moment for example - and with two potentially tricky away games coming up we can go into them with confidence.