EIGHT home draws proved the bane of Hartlepool United's life last season.

They've managed two single point returns at Victoria Park already this season, but, perhaps, this stalemate with Barnsley won't fall into the category labelled disappointing.

It wasn't necessarily a point gained and certainly not two dropped, but you wouldn't find anyone leaving - either in blue shirt or red - not content with their return.

Perhaps, for Pool, it was more of a success. With a squad short in numbers ravaged by injury, boss Neale Cooper was quick to use the substitutes' bench as a pointer to highlight the difference in the clubs.

The Tykes, after a summer of recruitment fully supported by chairman Peter Ridsdale - he's been there before with Leeds and look at the outcome there - had five outfield players sitting down with a wealth of ability, experience and wages.

Pool had goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos and four teenagers with 16 league starts between them.

With Micky Barron, Darrell Clarke, Mark Tinkler and Hugh Robertson sidelined, Cooper's case for new faces has never been stronger. It's time for the chairman to realise.

"I know we keep going on about the size of the squad, but you look at the squads on Saturday," he said.

"They went and signed Chopra last week and they are paying big money for him. Let's have a reality check - their bench was strong, we had four kids on ours.

"We lost Eifion with a hip injury and we are already without four players. Hopefully we can get Kevin Betsy back on loan this week and we really need him at the moment.

"We are short on numbers. Tinks might be back in training in the next couple of days, but Hugh needs an MRI scan to determine what his foot problem is."

Pool looked a better side after the break when they played 4-4-2, with Steven Istead coming on out wide.

And Cooper admitted his side were outmuscled in the early stages.

"First half we were bullied by them, they were physically stronger at the back and up-front, quicker in the tackle and we weren't at the races," he said.

"But we had words at the break, we aren't the sort of team who can go around being physical like that, and then we came out and got on top.

"We started to play football and were a lot brighter and better for it. We started with Boydy off the front two, a different system and they looked great when they worked on it on Friday.

"But we didn't manage to take it out there and,with Eifion going off, we brought a winger on and looked a bit better for it.

"They played a similar way to us, but we didn't play it well. The full-backs didn't get forward like they can."

Cooper has long courted a target man and Barnsley have one in Barry Conlon. Lauded by Darlington fans, the journeyman striker had an on-going battle with Micky Nelson.

As Barnsley bullied and bossed Pool in the opening half, it was one of referee Ray Olivier's many mind boggling decisions to book Nelson the first time he touched the front man, after half a dozen infringements the other way round.

Mr Olivier added a new characteristic to the referee's armour, the ability to give a free-kick to Adam Boyd when the official had his back to play and didn't see the incident.

They get more clever by the week, these referees.

Shame their assistants don't as Craig Barker had an absolute stinker on the Mill House side in the second half.

With Adam Boyd playing behind the front two in the first-half, Chris Shuker did the same for Barnsley.

There were no wide men on the field and it was only in the second half, as Boyd switched up front and Istead came on on the flank, that Pool looked a threat.

By then they were one goal behind. Antony Kay got into space behind left back Matty Robson and crossed low.

With Nelson and Jack Ross caught flat-footed, Michael Chopra showed why Barnsley are willing to pay his astronomical wages by tapping in from three yards.

Quite what his angry reaction to the Town End was about is anyone's guess.

If Pool were daft enough to pay nearly £10,000 a week then perhaps Chopra could have been in a Pool shirt on Saturday, so maybe he was showing how much he didn't want to move 25 miles or so to little Hartlepool.

Chopra was booked on 43 minutes and spent the next two minutes making a fool of himself as he tried to run and chase every ball like a cat scouring the gutters for a mouse. He ended on his backside twice.

One booking later - Robson on 53 minutes - and referee Olivier was showing red. It was about the only decision he got right all day, but then there wasn't really a decision to make.

Pumped up Tony Vaughan raced 30 yards crossfield to try and stop Joel Porter's break down the flank and he was closer to putting the striker over the stands and into the North Sea than he was to winning the ball.

Cooper added: "We were coming on top of the game at the time, but if I was their manager I would be livid at the sending-off. You could see him coming over the day before.

"No doubts about the card. But from then on we started to dominate.

"Matty swung a great ball over and it was a well-worked goal."

Tails up, Pool soon levelled. Robson's cross, swung over from the left, was headed back across goal by the unlikeliest of sources, substitute Istead, for Boyd to head high into the net.

There were chances for Pool to win it, but too many fell to defender Chris Westwood instead of a predator in front of goal.

Teenager Andy Appleby was introduced with 11 minutes to go and he caused problems for, until then, the most assured man on the pitch, defender Matt Carbon.

Appleby's intelligent running into channels off the defenders opened up the back four.

But while it's great for the club that another youth team product came through to look the part, surely Cooper shouldn't be solely relying on the kids.