Neil Austin - pen

By Charlie Summerbell
November 6 2011

An away draw after playing for the last quarter of the game with ten men would normally be regarded as a positive result for Hartlepool United, but in fact they probably travelled back from Leyton Orient thinking they should have had three points instead of one.

Paul Murray was shown red for his second bookable offence midway through the second half, and the domination Pools had enjoyed faded.

But they were well worth the draw, looking by far the better team at the start before Dean Cox gave Orient the lead midway through the first half.

But they came back eight minutes into the second half when Neil Austin scored from the spot after Andy Monkhouse was brought down.

But Murray’s dismissal was a major blow and in the end Pools hung and despite their recent run of dismal results, they have still only lost once away from home this season.

Boss Mick Wadsworth send out a team many could have claimed was defensive, but it didn’t look that way once the game started Antony Sweeney returning from injury in place of Gary Liddle, Stephen Wright and Ritchie Humphreys lining up in the full-back positions to allow Austin and Evan Horwood to move into midfield.

Delighted with an improved performance, Wadsworth told the club website: “They were excellent.

“Losing Paul Murray stopped us from getting a welcome and deserved three points.

“Overall we were the better team and we created the better chances.

“The players have shown a lot of spirit this week and I’ve sensed a change, a determination – what we know about these lads is that they can come back from a poor run.

“That is Hartlepool United – pass the ball well, create chances and defend like tigers.” The performance couldn’t have been better times, coming after a sorry October in which Pools got just three points from six games – now they take a break and concentrate on trying to put together a good FA Cup run when they face Stevenage at the Vic next weekend.