By Albatross
January 13 2005

Well who would have predicted that then? After umpteen away league defeats, Hartlepool United finally gave their fans the Christmas Present we all wanted. No scrappy 1-1 draw either - Wrexham were left shellshocked on the wrong end of a 5-1 scoreline. Pools lined up with Nelson replacing the presumably unfit Ben Clark, and Eifion Williams on the right wing. Wrexham kicked off towards the Pools Fans, and were the first to show; with a couple of minutes on the clock, Dimi had to race out of his box to clear just ahead of Sam, and a couple of minutes later he was again in action, once again beating Sam to the punch to smother a deflected clearance that had rebounded into the area.

The first real chance though fell to the home side on 6 minutes. Pools failed to get a free kick clear, and Lawrence shot from 20 yards - but put his effort a yard over the bar. Wrexham were certainly giving it a go, and things looked like they might be tricky for Pools. However, that was about to change....

Boyd advanced down the right flank with 7 minutes on the clock, did well to beat his man, and then whipped the ball across for the unmarked RICHIE HUMPHREYS to steer home from just inside the area. Our first real attack, our first goal!

We came close to adding another within two minutes: Nelson won the ball and then dribbled upfield before winning Pools a throw on the right, which was then worked across for Sweeney to try his luck from similar range. His effort was good, but Dibble was equal to it and palmed it over for a corner.

Sweeney wasn't to be denied though, and on 17 minutes doubled Pools lead. It started with him winning the ball on the left touchline in the Pools half - though Wrexham fans might argue he did a little pushing to win it - before playing the ball to Porter, who then released the Pools midfielder. SWEENEY left the defence for dead before finishing superbly from 18 yards, and the Pools fans were in dreamland - surely we'd get at least a point now?

Bizarrely though Wrexham had arguably had more possession up to this point; however, they looked incapable of playing a good final ball and some solid defending from Westwood and Nelson, and the fact that Williams was dropping deep to restrict the space that left winger Holt had to work in, meant that Pools were coping fairly comfortably with the pressure.

It was however through the left flank that our hosts pulled a goal back. Eifion was ajudged to have fouled Holt close to the touchline 30 yards out, and Ferguson's free kick wasn't cleared; instead, it was headed back at the far post before being stabbed home by the lurking UGARTE.

Wrexham were really starting to put us under the cosh at this point, with Pools struggling to get out of our own half. Westwood had to head clear from the goal-line on 27 minutes, Sam wasted a good opportunity three minutes later when he spooned a shot well wide, and on 32 minutes Dimi had to punch the ball clear almost on his own line from a corner - just ahead of a red shirted attacker. Meanwhile Paul Danson was managing to mystify and annoy both sets of fans with some very odd decisions.

Just as it looked like Wrexham might get back into the game though, Pools struck not once but twice to finish the game as a contest before the break. First of all on 35 minutes Porter did well to send Boyd away down the left; as Boyd approached the area, he slid the ball across for PORTER to guide home from close range. Before we'd even had time to draw breath, it was 4-1: Humphreys played a great crossfield throughball for BOYD to hammer past the despairing Dibble. It could have even been five just before the break; Sweeney did well to win the ball and put Porter away down the left flank; he pulled it back to Humphreys, who put in a good cross that was just too strong for Boyd to get on the end of.

Half time and 4-1 to Pools? That'll do nicely! To be honest though Wrexham must have been ruing the fact that they couldn't field someone like Carlos Edwards - they couldn't turn their pressure into clear chances, and had to resort to some long range efforts and hoping that Hector Sam would be able to produce something when the ball was pumped up to him. Pools meanwhile looked dangerous every time they went forward - and while it wasn't quite five attacks, four goals we'd certainly given our opponents a lesson in how to create and finish chances.

The second half bought the familiar figure of Andy Dibble to the end where the Poolies were, to ironic cheers and chants of "Dibble is a Poolie". This continued for much of the second half without really getting too nasty - mind you, the Dibbster seemed very folorn even by this point in the proceedings - and events on the pitch after the break didn't give him much cause to cheer up either! Pools kicked off in pouring rain, and when Boyd was fouled on 47 minutes the chants of "Hugh!" threatened further embarrassment for the home team. From 25 yards out on the left though, he put his shot a yard wide of the near post.

In many ways the pattern of the first half was repeated in the second. Wrexham had plenty of the ball but struggled to do anything meaningful with it; Pools meanwhile could still cause trouble themselves, but with the lead already three goals there was little need to push on. When Wrexham did manage to produce a couple of efforts on target, Konstantopoulos looked very safe and made a couple of good stops - and a couple of good claims from corners and crosses to boot.

Pools had made the move though of moving Eifion up front and Boyd out wide - at times looking like three up front - presumable on the grounds that although we were unlikely to win much in the air with Lawrence and one or two other tall players in the home side, pace seemed to be able to cause chaos. It almost payed dividends on 57 minutes, when Boyd played a great throughball that Eifion looked like getting on the end of - however it was just a fraction too strong, and Eifion couldn't keep the ball in play just beyond the far post. We then made our first change of the afternoon, Appleby replacing the hard-working Porter - who got a fully deserved ovation from the Pools fans, and a round of applause as he warmed down.

Appleby was almost on the scoresheet within three minutes of arriving on the pitch; Eifion harried a defender in the box and won the ball close to the by-line - however the Welshman's cross was too strong for the still-arriving Appleby to get on the end of.

Sam caused some problems on 62 minutes when he cut in from the right and won a corner; the initial ball in was cleared, and Dimi claimed well when the ball was played back in. Pools then broke clear through Boyd, and then Appleby collected the throughball on the edge of the area; he did well to turn and shot - but well wide. Once again though Pools were looking dangerous going forward, and on 65 minutes Eifion won a throw after some good play that was then worked across for Sweeney to try a shot that was blocked behind for a corner - cue chants of "Westie, Westie" as we called for the suddenly prolific Westwood to come forward! The corner from Boyd made it's way through to him at the far post as well - but the angle was too tight and he could only put his header wide.

Wrexham brought on Chris Armstrong for Ugarte, but it was to be Pools that put the game beyond whatever doubts there may have been on 71 minutes. Williams won the ball on the half way line, span away from his man and advanced powerfully towards goal; just as he reached the edge of the area, with a couple of Wrexham defenders in company, he unselfishly slid the ball to the right for the unmarked SWEENEY to lash home his second of the game. 5-1, Home fans leaving in droves, and the ecstatic Poolies singing "Jingle Bells" and other such ditties in between taunting Dibble - close to a perfect moment?

Appleby had a chance to try and increase the humiliation just a minute later; he was played in by Humphreys and shot from 20 yards - but straight at Dibble.

The rest of the game seemed to be a case of both sides going through the motions: Wrexham were still short on ideas going forward, Pools were happy with their day's work, and the game continued on to it's inevitable conclusion. A couple more Wrexham corners were easily dealt with, a Sam shot was blocked, but the fire had gone out of the Dragons and although Pools didn't play it into the corners, it was obvious that they were happy to play for time. The late introduction of Strachan for Boyd and then Istead for Eifion Williams only underlined that, but few Poolies cared - as Danson blew the final whistle we were all able to celebrate not just the end of our run of away defeats, but as emphatic an away win as we've had for some time.

Plenty of positives to take from this game then. Five goals, four scorers, Westwood and particularly Nelson looking on the top of their game, some lethal finishing and closing in on the playoffs. 5-1 flattered us somewhat, but Wrexham looked poor - even allowing for their missing players - and Pools duly took advantage. We're set fair for the Christmas period, hopefully starting on Boxing Day - see you there!