Match report

Saturday, February 22, 2003

Roy Anthony

This could be the shortest match report that I could ever write. Having lived with the monkey-hangers since last seasons debacle I hoped for a little better to relieve the constant ribbing I've been getting. OK, 4-0 is a little better but.....

Flynn sent out a 4-4-2 with Freestone, Evans, Howard, Tate, Smith at the back; Martinez, Britton, Williams and Mumford in midfield and Nugent and Richards up front.

Quite frankly, I haven't got much good to tell.

We were ripped apart down our right with Wiliams unable to help Evans stem the Humphreys tide, the midfield AWOL against a much slicker outfit and the front 2 battling hard to hold the ball up and bring the midfield into the game. Howard was a little luckier as he recieved some help and managed to keep the crosses down to a minimum but the 8 in front of Roger seemed to be rabbits caught in lights for all the good they did.

Hartlepools' first came right down the middle with a shot from 20 yards going in off the post with RF helpless. The second came as Britton gave the ball away in the middle that left RF with (another) one-on-one. At this stage I thought we would be looking to give away more than 7 as Hartlepool were shooting for the fun of it and if they had taken it more seriously we would have gone down by 6 or 7 at half-time.

To see Richards get sent off for what looked like a stupid retaliation just made a hard job impossible. If it was stupid, a noticeable lack of complaint suggests it was, then I hope he travelled in the little room at the back of the coach all the way home!

The second half became farcical as Hartlepool ran riot and only their total lack of killer instinct in front of goal allowed us off the hook. Every variation of miss and clearance was used.

When RF went off injured all Swans players seemed to find some problem with their boots/laces/pitch and it seemed to be that Tate went in for RF only because he was standing closest to Rog at the time. Credit to him but you knew it was bad when the locals started cheering his every touch.

This was appalling and the 200+ Jacks had a right to feel hard done by.

Marks:

• RF; 6 - It all fell apart in front of him
• TE: 4 - Exposed and never got the help he needed
• JS: 4 - Where was he?
• BT: 7 - Because he stood up and was counted
• MH: 4 - As JS
• RM: 4 - Nice touches, wrong place, wrong time
• LB: 4 - As RM but ran around more
• AM: 4 - As JS
• JW: 2 - Because he was on the pitch
• KN: 6 - Worked hard
• MR: 1 - Not on long enough to mark
  
  
• JT: 4 - Tried
• GP: 3 - Tried to try
• KO: 4 - OK

Good Points: 1. The game only lasted 90mins 2. They took pity on us. 3. We wont play them next season

Hartlepool 4-0 Swansea

BBC Online

A Richie Humphreys hat-trick saw Division Three leaders Hartlepool romp to victory over ten-man Swansea.

After a seven-goal defeat at Victoria Park last season, the Swans suffered a similar fate as Pool extended their unbeaten run to 10 games. Humphreys was in dazzling form and the home side dominated the game right from the outset.

He struck first after 10 minutes with a 20-yard shot which went in off the base of the post. There was more gloom for the visitors when striker Marc Richards was sent off for a foul on Chris Westwood.

Three minutes later Humphreys added his second goal and his hat-trick was completed with a looping header from Michael Barron's cross. In the 78th minute Darrell Clarke's pass allowed Tommy Widdrington to score a simple fourth goal, his first of the season.

Hartlepool: Anthony Williams, Barron, Lee, Westwood, Robinson, Clarke, Widdrington, Tinkler, Humphreys, Eifion Williams, Boyd. Subs: Provett, Richardson, Henderson, Arnison, Sweeney.

Swansea: Freestone, Evans, Tate, Jason Smith, Howard, Mumford, Britton, Martinez, Richards, Nugent, Williams. Subs: Hylton, O'Leary, Thomas, Watkin, Phillips.

Referee: N Barry (N Lincolnshire).