Goals:

1-0: Bird (16, corner chipped into the six-yard area for the former Pools loanee to head in)

2-0: Williams (54, header from a yard out after a corner was twice nodded on)

3-0: Bennett (72, raced onto a half-cleared corner to fire in from 20 yards)

3-1: Amond (90, turned in a close range angled volley)

Bookings: None

Referee: Kevin Johnson (Weston-Super-Mare): Allowed the home side to get away with a bit too much and didn’t give Pools a lot 5

Attendance: 2,271

Entertainment: 1/5

NEWPORT COUNTY (3-4-3): Day 5; Jones 6 (Demetriou 82), Nelson 7, O’Brien 6; Pipe 7, Bennett 7, Rose 6 (Flynn 78), Butler 6; REID 8, Williams 8 (Samuel 86), Bird 7. Subs (not used): Sheehan, Bojaj, Rigg, Bittner.

HARTLEPOOL UNITED (4-3-3):

4 Bartlett: Conceded three times and question marks over his role in the first two as the ball landed in his area;

6 Donnelly: Scrapped away, little success going forward and he tried to attack from deep

5 Bates: Not a commanding defender, and there wasn’t much room for calmness on this occasion

5 Harrison: Won his early headers and tried to compete, but it became too much for him as the game went on

6 Kavanagh: Always sharp in the ball and made attempts to advance, but it was only in the last minute when he got it right;

4 Walker: In a game which he was afforded no room, no space and no time he never got the chance to repeat last weekend’s display

4 Featherstone: Bogged down on a bog of a pitch, which wasn’t suited for any sort of passing game which is his forte

4 Woods: Little impression and didn’t make the breaks from deep which he was back to doing seven days previous;

3 Alessandra: Too weak and brushed off the ball too easily on too many occasions; little physical strength

5 Oates: Won a few headers, but didn’t have anyone in or around him and was ultimately outfought

6 HAWKINS: Played in a front-three, but ended up doing most of his graft in a deeper position because Pools were forced back.

Subs:

Smith (for Woods 55): Tried to work away, but impossible on that pitch 5

Amond (for Oates 67): Neat goal to make it ten for the season 5

Laurent (for Hawkins 85)

(not used): Deverdics, Martin, Richardson, Fryer (gk).

MAN OF THE MATCH Craig Reid – hustled and bustled and his set-pieces weren’t dealt with