By Albatross
January 22 2003

1-0 to the Hartlepool is becoming a habit - are we the Division 3 equivalent of George Graham's Arsenal? Tonight the score didn't really reflect the way Pools dominated the game. Albatross reports from a sodden Moss Rose. A decent turnout of Poolies, the majority of us suffering the incessant rain on the open terrace, were at Moss Rose to be greeted with the news that Newell had decided to put Spike straight back into the team following his suspension; Jon Bass can again consider himself unlucky to be left out as Barron moved across to Right Back again. Other than that there were no surprises in the Pools team.

Despite plenty of rain, the pitch looked to be in pretty good condition, and Pools didn't waste much time in putting it to good use. As early as the second minute Pools won a free kick in a dangerous spot after a foul on Richardson; Humphreys floated the ball over for Spike to head back from the far side, the keeper diving gratefully onto the ball at the foot of the post.

Eifion Williams was the next to test the Macclesfield defence; some good pressure saw him rob a Macc defender and head for goal; he shot from inside the area, only for Wilson to pull off a great stop. A couple of minutes later a Widdrington free kick was blocked away as Pools threatened to cut Macclesfield to ribbons every time they went forward.

Both sides were looking to keep the ball on the deck, and although Macclesfield won a couple of corners, they looked anything but threatening in front of goal. Lee and Westwood were doing a great job of keeping Tipton and Lightbourne under control, while Tinkler was winning more than his fair share of the ball in midfield and pushing forward well with Humphreys a constant threat too.

The Macc defence certainly didn't look comfortable, and when the goal arrived it was little surprise. Some good work on the right set Tinkler up with a shooting chance; his long-range effort forced Wilson into the save, but he could only palm the ball to the far post, where EIFION WILLIAMS was lurking and slid the ball home. No more than Pools deserved, and Williams has now notched 13 times this season.

The Ref seemed to be determined to annoy both sets of fans, and if that was his aim he succeeded. A series of free kicks - frequently given the wrong way - stopped the game from flowing, although it was still Pools in the ascendancy. Humphreys and Clarke both went close; Hardy then became the first player to get into the Ref's notebook after 35 minutes for a foul; he was the first of seven yellows from an official who managed to attract the ire of both sets of fans for his inconsistency, fussiness and lack of perception.


Darrell Clarke was next to have a go as half time approached, but his shot was weak and wide.1-0 at the break hardly seemed a fair reflection of Pools' dominance; Macclesfield had struggled to cope, and had failed to test Taff at all.

The Macclesfield players were out on the pitch some time before the Pools players, and one of the funniest incidents of the night then followed. The Macc players, stood approximately in a circle, were keeping warm by some little jigging exercises, and it wasn't long before this was being done to the accompaniment of the Pools Fans singing the Hokey Cokey while some of us almost cried with laughter. They then attempted a Pools-style huddle, only an hour too late! The humour continued when Wilson took up his place in front of us; he proved to be painfully thin, so thin that he almost seemed to vanish when he turned sideways. Definately in need of a good feed.

Macc were the first to show after the restart, winning a corner that Pools cleared without too much difficulty. Tinson was then shown the yellow card for pulling back Eifion, and Pools continued to press forward in search of a second goal.

That goal seemed to have arrived on 55 minutes. Following a succession of Corners, Humphreys put one to the far post, where Spike headed goalwards. My first thought was that it had crept in, and even if it hadn't, the Macc defender on the line (Hitchen I reckon) had clearly handled the ball as he tried to get it away. It was the wrong side for the Linesman though, and some poor positioning from the Referee saw him not give either - despite a lot of protests from both players and fans. The ball was almost right in front of the Pools fans, and from my point of view had quite clearly made it into the side netting at chest height before the defender fumbled it away.

Tommy Widdrington then became the first Pools player - and third in total - to see yellow after a late tackle. He was soon followed by Tipton for Macclesfield as the team of officials attracted chants of "You don't know what you're doing" from the Macclesfield fans and Clown music from the Poolies.

just after the hour, Pools got a free kick right on the edge of the area after Adams took Clarke out of the action. When I say right on the edge, it was inside the D, and there followed the unusual spectacle of a team trying to move a free kick backwards - without success. Spike took the kick, but without enough room to get the ball over the wall and back down again his low shot hit the wall and was cleared.

Eifion Williams was next to have a go, turning his man and breaking towards the box; his shot from the edge of the area caused Wilson (aka Flat Stanley) to tip the ball over the bar for a corner as Pools continued to dominate proceedings. Williams saw a header from a corner go wide of the post; and on one of Macc's rare attacks Taff did well to claim a ball from a cross.

Clarke had a couple of efforts saved by Wilson, and then it was Booking Time again; this time Macauley for a foul on Eifion.

With only a few minutes to go there were a few nervous faces amongst the Pools fans as we seemed fairly happy to sit back; there was time for another couple of bookings though, first Dunning for dissent, and then Eifion for the heinous crime of allowing Hitchen to foul him.

Although there had been a number of bookings, neither Physio had to enter the field of play during the whole game, and so there was much head-scratching when the fourth official signalled five minutes of stoppage time - only slightly less when he amended this to four. It was during stoppage time that Macclesfield finally tested Williams; a long range effort from Lightbourne looked to be sneaking in at the far post before Taff got down brilliantly to tip it past the post. Another effort from Lightbourne - this time well over the bar from an offside position - was all the Silkmen could muster, and it was the few hundred Poolies in the crowd of less than 1600 that went home happy.

1-0 doesn't tell the full story of this game. Pools were dominant throughout, and looked dangerous with every attack, while Macclesfield only rarely looked like breaking down the pools back line. Some of the football was excellent - Macc to be fair also looked to pass the ball around - and with Tinks and Humphreys in fine form there only ever looked to be one winner. Humphreys just shades Tinkler for Man of the Match, and Pools are once more five points clear.