By Albatross
March 5 2005

If you'd have said that there would be ten goals in this match a few people might have questioned you; suggest that six of them would go to the away side though and they'd be ringing for the men in white coats. Sadly, it seems they'd already been for the Pools Defence.... As expected, Pools lined up with just the one change - Mickey Barron in to replace the injured Jack Ross at right back. Provett, Robson, Istead, Daly and Appleby made up the Pools bench. Wrexham included Carlos Edwards in their lineup, along with a name that was to become all to familiar as the game progressed - Juan Ugarte.

Wrxham kicked off towards the Town End, but it was Pools that were first to impress. Eifion Williams saw a cross from the right taken by the keeper in the first minute; and just before the three minute mark we opened the scoring. Porter was fouled by Roberts on the left, and from 25 yards out GAVIN STRACHAN beat the keeper with a low free kick. The sky was grey, but the outlook was bright; how many would we get this time?

Sadly, Pools seemed to use the fact that we'd gone ahead so early as a reason to go back to sleep. Wrexham started to come into the game, with Holt trying to get a couple of crosses in from the left that Konstantopoulo seemed to have little difficulty with. Ferguson almost made his way into the book on 10 minutes when contestign a handball decision; but although Pools seemed to be sitting back a little our opponents didn't look to be threatening.

All of a sudden, disaster struck. Nelson headed clear, but not far enough; and the Pools defence didn't complete the job. There was too much ball-watching going on, and when Llewellyn fed the ball through no-one was close enough to prevent UGARTE chipping home from 12 yards. All around me the Town End was stunned; you could have heard a pin drop. Where had that come from?

Edwards sent a fizzing long-range effort just over the bar on 13 minutes; meanwhile, at the other end Porter received a throw and tried a right-foot shot from the edge of the box that went wide of the post, and then after a good move down the right Porter played the ball into the path of Humphreys who shot tamely at Foster. Pools broke through Boyd on 19 minutes, and looked to have men over - but unfortunately Boyd chose to play the ball left to the tightly marked Porter rather than to the right flank where Williams was all on his own.

The defence wasn't looking too hot though, and Wrexham managed to take advantage again on 20 minutes. Edwards was fouled by Porter on the right about 30 yards out; Ferguson swung the ball over, and it was put back across at the far post by Holt for UGARTE to strike at the second attempt. A lot of people weren't too happy with Dimi, who didn't exactly cover himself with glory. From being ahead we were now behind; the mood in the Town End was starting to get ugly.

Crowell became the first player booked on 24 minutes, and deservedly so. Porter had won the ball in midfield when the Wrexham player dived in on him two-footed and was shown yellow. Three minutes later and Porter was played through by Boyd - but the keeper was out well to narrow tha angle, and Porter could only fire wide. Brackstone was then a touch fortunate to escape a booking for a foul on Edwards; the Wrexham player though had unintentionally slipped a little, making Brackstone's mis-timed challenge look worse than it maybe was.

On the half hour, Pools pulled level. An attack down the right allowed Boyd to flick a header on for PORTER, and the Aussie finished superbly to make the score 2-2. Surely now we'd push on and take the game by the throat?

However, now was the tiem for the Ref to take a turn. On 33 minutes Dimi went charging out to the edge of his area to try and get the ball ahead of Edwards; he didn't make it, and when the cross was swung in Williams found himself marking Llewellyn. The Wrexham midfielder took a blatant dive, the ref was conned, and UGARTE made no mistake with the penalty, sending Konstantopoulos the wrong way to complete a hat-trick.

Amidst Hail and Rain the half drew to a close, with Boyd almost playing in Porter on the stroke of half time, only for Joel to be forced wide by the defence. 3-2 down after being ahead on 3 minutes? While we weren't looking too bad going forward, the defence wasn't holding things together and Sweeney in particular had been fairly anonymous in midfield.

Cooper made a change at the break, bringing on Matty Robson for Ben Clark. I don't know if Clark had picked up a knock, but Pools seemed to be playing a sort of 3-5-2, with Brackstone moving into the centre and Robson encouraged to push on.

Having no doubt been given a roasting by Neale Cooper - and possibly a chance to warm up a bit in the cold conditions - Pools started the second half in determined mood. Eifion Williams saw a shot deflected behind for a corner in the first minute of the half, and Pools continued to put pressure on an increasingly beleagured Wrexham defence. With Pools camped in the opposition half, Porter drew a foul on 49 minutes on the edge of the box on the left; Strachan's free kick was cleared, and when it was played back in Porter was caught offside. Robson marauded down the flank on 51 minutes, putting in a low cross that Strachan fired in from the edge of the box only to see his effort blocked - with plenty of appeals suggesting it was a hand that had got in the way to the unmoved ref.

On 53 minutes Porter did well to get into the box after receiving a quick free kick, and managed to squeeze the ball to Boyd - but Pools top scorer was on his wrong foot and could only hit the side netting. A good attacking move through the centre then caused chaos in the Wrexham defence, with what looked to be a backpass going unpunished; to even things up a little the ref then booked Jones apparently for a foul on Humphreys even though play had advanced a good 25 yards since the incident.

The equaliser finally came on 61 minutes after a spell of sustained pressure concentrated down the Pools left. Porter played Robson in along the flank, and he pulled a low cross back to BOYD on the edge of the area to thump home. 3-3, surely Pools would go on and win now? Wrexham had hardly been in the game since the break, and seemed to pose no further threat.

Sadly, our defence hadn't read the script. Although Eifion Williams did get the ball in the net on 65 minutes - ruled out for offside - the next goal came at the other end. Edwards got onto the end of a long ball, and played it inside for UGARTE to hit his and Wrexham's fourth goal of the match - and to leave the Pools fans wondering where the defence had been once again.

Brackstone almost pulled Pools level on 69 minutes with a set piece that Hugh Robertson would have been pleased with. 25 yards out on the right, the Pools defender whipped in a left-foot shot that Foster just about tipped over the bar. From the corener there were more appeals for handball against Lawrence - but again, nothing doing. Ironically, Wrexham then missed out on what looked to be a stonewall penalty on 73 minutes when Nelson seemed to foul the quickly-breaking Edwards; this time the ref not only didn't give a free kick, but seemed about to book the Wrexham player for diving!

Pools had lost the momentum now though, and Wrexham were startign to cause more trouble. Ugarte had another chance on 76 minutes, forcing a save from Dimi; and Pools just weren't able to create the same sustained pressure that had dragged them into the game. Cooper changed things around on 80 minutes, bringing Daly on for Barron as he tried to chase the game. Within two minutes we were level again, as the free kick won by Porter on the edge of the box was played across, blocked a couple of times, and then fell for PORTER to fire home. 4-4, could we finally take the points?

Pools were certainly in the ascendancy now, and on 84 minutes Boyd twisted and turned, before seeing his shot blocked for a corner by Roberts. The corner was cleared upfield, and suddenly Llewellyn was galloping clear. Two Pools defenders gave chase, but no-one picked up JONES on the left; Llewellyn slid the ball across for him to beat Dimi from close range. The goalscorer was almost immediately replaced by Scott Green.

The game was effectively finished as a contest three minutes later. A Llewellyn shot went wide when it looked easier to score; Wrexham though picked up the goal kick and the ball was played up to a clearly offside Llewellyn; he pulled the ball across for man of the moment UGARTE to hit his fifth goal of the day. It just about summed up the afternoon for Pools.

The final whistle was greeted by plenty of booing from the Pools fans, and no wonder. We scored four at home against a side that was in the relegation places; no problem on that front, but to concede six is simply unforgivable. Ugarte did well to take his chances, but to be honest Wrexham didn't look much of a side; but a generally poor performance from the defence, who were too often guilty of ball-watching, meant that the efforts of Porter, Boyd et al were all in vain. Dimi didn't have a good game and could be considered culpable for one or two goals - but there was no understanding between the defence, no marking, and so we fall to another defeat. For the second week running, we've turned in an unacceptable performance against a side that in reality shouldn't have caused us many problems; play like we have in the last two games in the next two, and Hull and Tranmere will make mincemeat of us. Two weeks ago we were wondering about automatic promotion; now, it looks more likely that we'll be looking anxiously over our shoulder at the chasing pack. What now Neale?