By Albatross
April 12 2004

It was hardly a vintage performance, but Hartlepool United secured three points with victory over Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground. The Playoffs now look closer than ever - and even better, it left Denis "Stigma" Smith foaming at the mouth.... Pools lined up with a couple of changes from Saturday's victory over Bournemouth: Eifion Williams returned to the attack with Porter dropping to the bench in place of Robinson, and Neil Danns replaced the injured Gavin Strachan. Mickey Barron returned to the bench alongside Porter, Konstantopoulos, McCann and Istead.

Richie Humphreys provided some inadvertant warmup entertainment, when he collected a ball somewhere sensitive - it was good to see the concern shown to Humph, as the exercise continued for a while with Humph prostate on the ground! No lasting damage though.... there was also a sign that Pools Messageboard user Andy Dibbles Gloves has been doing a bit of moonlighting though, with a hoarding advertising "ADG - No. 1 for conservatories, windows and doors".

Wrexham kicked off towards us, and didn't take long to make their presence felt. A foul by Humphreys on Carlos Edwards allowed them to swing a dangerous cross over that Sweeney managed to shepherd to Provett at the far post. A minute later and they went even closer - Edwards beating Humphreys before crossing from the left onto the head of former Spurs forward Chris Armstrong who headed against the post.

Armstrong chased a ball into the corner on 5 minutes, and tried to beat Westwood to put in a cross - but Westie was having none of it and gave the former star no chance. A couple of minutes later a quick attack down the right saw Crowell on the ball, this time Craddock marshalling the situation well. Crowell then tried an effort from long range that never looked like troubling Provett.

Wrexham had started much the brighter, and when Pools did get possession they were struggling to make anything of it - and were frequently giving the ball away. They were also playing themselves into trouble on occasion, with Humphreys the culprit on 11 minutes when he played the ball back to Provett too hard, forcing Jim to try and control a difficult bouncing ball before clearing for a throw-in.

Pools finally had an attack of sorts on 16 minutes leading to a corner on the right - but Hugh Robertson's cross was comfortably cleared. A couple of minutes later Armstrong was almost played in - Provett doing well to rush out and collect the ball just ahead of the Wrexham player.

Shuggie's first Free Kick attempt arrived after a foul on Eifion on 22 minutes. From at least 40 yards out Robertson elected to shoot - and although his powerful effort was on target, it was also easy for Ingham to take. Wrexham were soon back on the attack, winning a corner that Shuggie had to head away at the far post; when the ball came back in it was to the head of Armstrong, who could only head straight at Provett.

Pools were looking outnumbered in the midfield, and although we were trying to build patiently from the back an absence of movement from the midfield meant that we weren't really getting anywhere. The front two were doing plenty of running, but only rarely seeing the ball as Pools looked somewhat out of sorts. Darrell Clarke in particular was helping make Craddock's life difficult - making some of his attempts to play the ball up the flank look very poor.

Pools were only sporadically attacking, with a Hugh long throw causing a little confusion in the box on 28 minutes - but he was struggling against Carlos Edwards when the wingback came forward. A great cross came from Edwards on that flank on the half hour, a tantalising curler that only needed a touch to find it's way into the net - however the ball was too good for any of his team-mates and went out at the far post for a goal-kick. Another cross followed shortly after, this time Armstrong got to the ball and tried to cushion a header to set up a team-mate - only to see it cleared by an increasingly anxious Pools defence. A long free kick from Robertson then gave Pools the chance to cause a little trouble for Wrexham, the ball was cleared - and as Pools looked to collect the ball for another attempt Carlos Edwards handballed for another free kick. Pools advanced down the left, won a throw that was flicked on into the box where Boyd headed towards the top corner - only for Ingham to make a good save. Pools attempted to pull the corner back for a Shuggie Special, but he couldn't to more than spoon the effort to the far side, where it was played back in and then cleared.

Injuries then began to take their toll for Wrexham, with two of their walking wounded having to leave the fray in quick succession. First of all the dangerous Carlos Edwards had to be replaced by Spender, and then Lee Jones replaced Jim Whitley. The loss of two key players meant Wrexham struggled to keep control of the match. Crowell had another long range effort wide, and then Pools finally sparked into life.

Morgan fouled Boyd out on the right, and of course Robertson came up to take the free kick from 25 yards out; his free kick forced a decent save from Ingham. From the resulting corner the ball was flicked on at the near post and DARRELL CLARKE managed to put the ball in the net from close range via a defender to give Pools a lead that they certainly didn't deserve.

Wrexham came back at Pools, with Barrett getting clear on the left and putting over a cross that was headed behind for a corner; Pools failed to deal well with the corner, and only looked like taking possession when Referee Parkes decided to stop play following a clash of heads between Craddock and Lawrence. Both were able to resume after treatment, and Wrexham sportingly played the drop ball out for a goal kick. Wrexham's last chance of the half came as Thomas swung over a corner that Tinkler cleared, and Pools went in with the lead.

It was a lead that we were very fortunate to have. Pools were struggling to take control of the game, and had Wrexham had a decent forward in their side we could well have been behind. However, despite some rather erratic officiating - particularly from the linesman closest too us who seemed extremely reluctant to give any offside decisions in Pools favour - we were ahead; and with news filtering through that our playoff rivals were not doing too well either it was a happy contingent of 400+ travelling fans who welcomed the lads out after the break.

The second half got off to a slow start, although Wrexham again seemed to be marginally the brighter. A scramble in the Pools box was cleared, and then some good play from Boyd won Pools an attacking throw that Sweeney was able to win a corner from; Ingham however took the cross comfortably.

Provett had to be on his mettle on 56 minutes when a looping effort almost dipped under the bar; Humphreys cleared the corner, but Wrexham continued to press and Provett made another save a minute later; the cross from the left found Armstrong who, closely marked by Westie, could only direct his header at Provett.

Pools started to get a bit more control, and were rewarded with a second goal on 62 minutes. Lawrence took Boyd out, and Robertson's free kick was cleared to the edge of the box where DANNS was on hand to hit a low shot towards the bottom corner; Ingham, with a crowd of players in front of him had no chance - it even looked as if Tinks jumped over the ball as it came through! Cue great celebrations from the on-loan Blackburn player, and great celebrations too from the travelling army.

Wrexham were looking to get back into the game and tried a set-piece of their own on 64 minutes. Thomas curled in a free kick from about 25 yards, but found Provett equal to it as he dived low at his near post to save for a corner.

Boyd seemed to be everywhere, and he almost carved out a third goal on 67 minutes. A good ball found the Pools striker in space on the right; he skinned his man and sent a low ball into the box to a closely-marked Eifion. A block tackle cleared the danger, but Pools continued to press and an attack down the left saw the ball chipped into the area - but just too far ahead for Sweeney to get on the end of it.

Porter replaced Eifion on 69 minutes, and a couple of minutes later Wrexham pulled one back. Poor defending on the left flank allowed Llewellyn to cross the ball in; it reached BARRETT, who fired home at the far post.

Pools though were starting to attack more and Lawrence became the first player in the book on 75 minutes after going straight through Porter, who needed treatment before continuing. Wrexham were by ne means a spent force either, winning a corner that was easily cleared and then almost creating a chance for Jones - Provett again having to be quickly out to claim ahead of the Wrexham attacker.

It was Pools that almost went further ahead though following a series of fouls from Wrexham. The final one of these saw Lee Jones open his mouth once too often for the Ref, who prompty booked him and marched the free kick forward to the edge of the box in a central position. It was no surprise that Shug had a crack, and once more his driven shot was on target - Ingham though did well to tip the ball over for a corner.

Wrexham's last subtitution saw Crowell replaced by Hector Sam on 83 minutes, but Pools were looking more comfortable now. Istead replaced Boyd, who got a deserved standing ovation for his harworking performance - and Istead did exactly what we wanted him to, holding on to the ball when it was played up to him and looking to play it on in the Wrexham half. Llewellyn was booked for a foul on Danns, and although Wrexham did manage to win one last corner Tinkler cleared and the Ref blew his whistle to give Pools a vital three points.

This was far from a classic performance from Pools. The midfield didn't really take control of the game, and that meant we conceded possession far too easily. Wrexham fans will no doubt feel they could and should have got something from this - but Pools displayed the more clinical finishing, and with Boyd especially proving a real handful with his skill and hard working attitude we won this without ever really playing at our best. There's more to come from this Pools side, and with the sides around us dropping points we're currently in pole position for the final playoff place - and are hot on the heels of Swindon and Brighton.

It's still a long way from certain that we'll make those playoffs though, with our last two games being against Plymouth and Swindon. Two wins in the next two - on paper - easier games though, and we will all be examining our diaries for the Bank Holiday weekend for the fourth time in five seasons - just in case....

Not that our victory today impressed everyone. Denis "Stigma" Smith still doesn't take well to losing to Pools - you think he'd be used to it by now - claiming that "The best team lost", and that we were favoured by the referee. Apparently Wrexham were "the better team by a long way." While a long way from vintage Pools - in fact I'd say we've played considerably better and lost this season - Smith should really be looking elsewhere for the reasons for his defeat: his malfunctioning strikers, who almost looked as if they would fail to score against traffic cones given the fact that almost every effort on target from them seemed to be straight at Provett.

Still, while the grapes may be sour in North Wales it's sunshine all the way for Pools. The Youth Team have picked up the trophy for the u19 section of the Dallas Cup; our Reserves are on the brink of winning their division; and the First Team are looking good for the Division 2 playoffs with four games to go. Anyone else want Ken Hodcroft to pick their Lottery numbers?