By Albatross
December 17 2005

A decent performance, but not the result - and a worrying lack of penetration in evidence. That was the story of Hartlepool United's visit to Walsall: the difference between the two sides being that they had a quality finisher in the lineup. With Robertson not fit after a training knock, Humphreys moved to left back and Butler came in on the left wing; other than that, Pools were unchanged. On a cold but bright afternoon they kicked off attacking the goal with the Poolies behind it; but it was the home side that was first to show: a corner inside the first minute wasn't dealt with very well by the Pools defence, who did finally get the ball clear after a couple of headers across goal from the home side.

Pools however looked in the mood to take control. On two minutes Barron's throw-in made it's way to Sweeney; he cut in, and shot but weakly at the keeper. Istead then got down the right and put in a cross that wasn't cleared before going out for a corner - the appeals for a handball from a defender being ignored by the Ref. The cross came into the near post, but McDonald found himself in the wrong place and ended up blocking a shot from one of his team-mates before the ball was cleared.

It was all Pools at this point though, with Istead looking to get down the flank and McDonald combining well with him to give the full-back a torrid time. No final ball was forthcoming though, and although Pools were managing to retain possession pretty well and pick up the pieces in midfield, we seemed unable to create a clear chance for a forward. McDonald took matters into his own hands on 8 minutes, taking advantage of some more good play down the right to cut inside, beat his man, and put in a low shot towards the near post that forced Murphy to palm the ball behind for a corner. The first one was cleared behind, and the second corner was cleared upfield.

Barron needed some attention after what had looked to be a reasonably innocuous foul from Fryatt anfter 11 minutes, but it was still a surprise when he was substitued on 15 minutes; apparently he had strained his back while taking a throw in. Darren Williams provided a direct replacement.

Pools looked to have set Sweeney away on the break on 17 minutes, the Pools midfielder advancing strongly towards goal before being rather crudely felled about 25 yards out; the Ref, who didn't exactly endear himself to the Poolies throughout the game, decided there was no foul, although it would be hard to find anyone in the Pools end that agreed! A couple of minutes later there was justice of a sort though - Nelson put in a hard tackle on Fryatt that Walsall wanted a free kick for, only to be met with the same "got the ball" motion with his hands from the ref.

Pools were continuing to threaten, but once again things broke down when it came to getting a telling ball into the box; McDonald was looking sharp, his quick reactions and skill a joy to behold, but all too often he was either receiving the ball out wide, having to beat two men to get into a shooting position, or simply not getting the ball at all.

It was now Walsall's turn to get forward, but they too seemed to be struggling to get past the Pools defence. Merson almost got through with a Free Kick on 23 minutes. From about 25 yards out he swung the ball past the wall - but found Dimi in perfect position to make a great save. Two minutes later Dimi had to be on his toes again: Nicholls broke down the left wing, and with Darren Williams caught too far forward made his way into the box and forced Dimi to tip the ball past the post.

Walsall were definately back in the game now, and I couldn't help wondering if the lack of Barron wasn't helping. Without the calm head of the skipper, we seemed to give the ball away down the right flank a bit more, helping put us under a bit more pressure. Collins did well to get in a tackle on Taylor on 33 minutes as the Walsall player was about to shoot inside the box.

Pools though had the better of the last five minutes of the half. Collins headed wide from a corner; Sweeney headed a cross from Butler wide; Humphreys got in a cross after a quickly-taken free kick, and when Llewellyn put the ball back across from the other wing Istead mis-controlled - only for Clark to collect the clearance and try a rasping effort from distance that troubled Murphy despite being directly at him. Dimi made a good save from a Gerrard header from a Walsall corner, and as the break approached Humphreys tried a long throw from the right that Nelson flicked goalwards before a panicky clearance from Walsall. The last real action of the half was Darren Williams being booked for a fairly innocuous challenge.

Pools had played pretty well overall, but the problem was that although we were knocking it around confidently things just didn't seem to work when we got into the final third. Walsall's midfield didn't seem to know how to close opponents down, and at one point we had the bizarre spectacle of Butler cutting inside in a leisurely fashion, and then standing almost stationary with the ball for about 10 seconds while he worked out what to do next, while the home side politely waited for him to make his mind up - about 30 yards out from goal!

Pools started the second half brightly, Humphreys playing in McDonald from a free kick which the on-loan forward hit wide. A minute later a Humphreys corner found the head of Nelson, who was also off target. Llewellyn then chanced his arm from 25 yards, but failed to get enough power on his shot to trouble the keeper. The ball was cleared downfield, where Merson also tried his luck - only to see his poor shot go well off target.

Bennett was lucky not to be booked on 52 minutes after a bad foul on Istead; however when he repeated the dose on Nelson two minutes later the Ref decided enough was enough and showed him a card.

Humphreys got forward to good effect on 55 minutes, exchanging passes with Llewellyn to give himself time and space to put over a good cross. Unfortunately there was no-one on hand to take advantage. A minute later Dimi almost got himself into trouble: trying to beat Fryatt on the edge of the box, he lost the ball and had reason to be thankful first of all that the defence managed to delay any shot until he'd made his ground again, and second that when the chance came it was to Merson who again put a poor shot well over.

Dimi redeemed himself though on the hour mark. Walsall won a corner, and the ball broke to Darryl Taylor. His shot came through a crowd of players, but the Greek stopper reacted superbly to get his hands to the ball.

The game was becoming more of a midfield battle now, with both defences looking fairly comfortable. Istead, who had looked promising in the first half, was fading badly; McDonald was tiring after running his socks off all game. It was little surprise then that on 80 minutes Clarke - amid cheers from the away fans - replaced Istead. Almost his first action was to get booked - he went for the ball with his foot a little high, and despite not getting anywhere near the Walsall player was shown yellow.

Pools continued to probe for a way through, with a patient buildup - possibly too patient - eventually providing only a long-range shot from Williams. The resulting goal kick lead to disaster though; the previously immaculate Nelson didn't quite read it properly and didn't clear too well, and Merson played the ball in behind. Unfortunately for Pools, the player it came to was FRYATT who showed precisely why he's so highly-rated with a cool finish off the outside of his right foot that left Dimi completely off-balance as it went in just inside the far post. It was a quality strike from Fryatt - precise as a Swiss Watch - and it was enough to win the game for Walsall. Daly came on for McDonald as Pools tried a battering-ram where a rapier had failed, but in all honesty we knew that Pools simply lacked the killer pass that would unlock the home defence and so it proved.

In many ways there are positives to be taken out of this performance: Pools played good football, probably better than in some games we've won, and we looked defensively solid while the central midfield partnership of Clark and Sweeney again showed promise. However, once again we struggled up front: for all our possession in the Walsall half (and there was plenty of it) we created little in terms of clear-cut chances. With a Boyd or a Porter in the side then you know there's always a chance of creating something; but we looked short on ideas today. Much of our inspiration seems to have come from Butler this season, but whether he was quite fit I'm not sure; certainly he wasn't having one of his best days. There was plenty of endeavour, but not enough guile; McDonald looked to have some, but we struggled to get the ball to him in areas where he could really hurt the opposition. Without him, I can't help but wonder if we'll be relying on set-pieces for most of our goals until Boyd and/or Porter are back fit and in form.