ON the weekend that a group of Hartlepool United fans made the music charts, the club's hopes of moving up their own hit parade were, ironically, ended by a DJ.

Dudley Campbell came to the fore as part of the Yeading team that met Newcastle in last season's FA Cup and the striker known as DJ made scored one and made the other as Pool's four-game winning run was abruptly ended.

The Monkey Hangerz entered the Top 40 at No 24 last night. Their CD shot at musical stardom features versions of Two Little Boys and Never Say Die. Yet it was the visitors who epitomised the latter.

After four meetings last season, Pool needed no introduction to Brentford's game - chase, harass and battle for everything. A real Never Say Die attitude.

Pool didn't look like a side full of confidence and self-belief on the back of four wins - their best run of results since April 2004. Their run of four wins in February was punctured by a draw with Brentford in the FA Cup.

Chances and openings were few and the Pool strikers got nothing from dominant defenders Michael Turner and Sam Sodje. Pool started with Jon Daly and Michael Proctor, but soon moved Eifion Williams into the forward line with out of sorts Proctor moving to the right.

Before the hour mark, Proctor was replaced by Michael Maidens, but the Pool midfield remained lop sided.

Thomas Butler has been Pool's liveliest individual this season and he was again on Saturday, seeing plenty of the ball on the left and running in possession at will. Mark Tinkler and Antony Sweeney compliment each other well in the middle, but it's on the right where Martin Scott is still looking for a solution.

A welter of players have been tried on the flank this season, but none have made it their own.

Perhaps Chris Llewellyn has looked the best bet in patches, but others haven't grabbed their chance and Darrell Clarke, who has proved in the past he can be the answer, still disappointingly appears some way from full fitness and the first team after 15 months on the sidelines.

Creating chances has proved a problem this season and against Brentford, it's hard to remember keeper Stuart Nelson being forced into a save.

Eifion Williams took the ball square across the keeper in the first half, but shot over the bar on the turn from eight yards. Sweeney's goal aside, that was it as far as creations go.

It's no revelation that Pool are missing the spark of the Adam Boyd - Joel Porter partnership. It's not only their goals that are being missed, it's their ability as both individuals and a pair to create chances from nothing.

Take almost 50 goals from any team at any level and the affects would be felt.

"You have to take chances when they come and we have seen in recent weeks that goals change the mentality of players,'' said Scott. "We had a bit of luck in front of goal in recent weeks - the own goal against MK Dons got us back level.

"We don't just look at defenders when they concede, we look at strikers when they don't score. It's their responsibility in the side to score goals.

"They all know it - Eifion, Proc, Daly - but what I will say is that them three especially have done very well for us. We are down to the bare bones in the striking department, but if you look at their performances all season, they have all played their part.

"It's full credit to them that we are in the position we are at the moment - 23 points from 17 games, which is not far off - just one win - off the form of last season.''

He added: "We are snapping at things at times in front of goal and we need to score more.

"We know why we haven't got as many as last year - our main scorers are injured.

"But the current strikers, and everyone has been involved, have done well and they will do well.

"Others in the team need to score more goals and we need to carry it on.''

Pool travel to Kent on Saturday to face a poor Gillingham side who they beat at Victoria Park less than a fortnight ago.

That Pool's away form is better than their home record - ten points at home to 13 away - means they can go to face their former boss Neale Cooper in expectation rather than hope.

Micky Nelson, in the same position from where he scored seven days earlier, passed to Eifion Williams and he shot wide from 15 yards.

But Pool were caught out soon after. Dimi Konstantopoulos pushed out a cross when he should have held it and, when the ball returned to the area from the second corner, Campbell headed in his third goal in professional football.

Konstantopoulos saved one-handed from an Owusu header after Neill Collins was caught in possession.

A long Proctor ball was nodded back across by Nelson to Eifion Williams and he skirted around the keeper but screwed his shot on the turn high over.

Brentford don't allow teams to hold onto the ball and, after Ritchie Humphreys was robbed, Owusu and Campbell went close in a scramble that saw Konstantopoulos save and Campbell put wide.

The leveller came when Sweeney got a head to an arcing Butler volley to divert it high into the net.

But if being warned twice previous about being pickpocketed in midfield, the next time it happened proved costly.

Campbell took the ball off Mark Tinkler inside the centre circle and the ball was played the defence for Owusu to run onto.

Pool appealed first for a foul on Tinkler, then for offside against the scorer. The first was debatable, the second more so, although Neill Collins appeared to play Owusu onside.

"I thought it was a foul on Tinkler, but the referee has tried to play advantage, then he slipped and got caught on it,'' said Scott. "We tried to hold a high line defensively and it's touch and go for offside, but I think it was a foul initially.

"I think Uriah (Rennie) has seen it, but I can't stand here and have a go at him - it's an impossible job.''

Pool's only chance of a leveller came when striker Williams burst into the area and stayed on his feet under a couple of challenges - Scott has often extolled the virtues of going down under pressure in the area to his striker - and he flung the ball across goal but out of reach for all.

"I though we deserved a point if I'm totally honest,'' said Scott. "We knew all about Brentford and we switched off from set-plays and got punished from one.

"We need to be better focused and organised at set-plays and not concede - the players know that.

"It's disappointing from that point of view, but the effort and commitment was spot on again. We knew it had to be like that because if you aren't then Brentford will walk all over you.

"As an ex-defender I take pride in keeping clean sheets and the players are gutted because they have conceded two again.

"Keep it tight and you have a great chance of winning 1-0, like Brentford have done this season, they are probably the best at it in this division, and like we did at Doncaster and Bristol City. Both those games were back to the wall, but we did it and won.

"We know that no team at this level scares us, we are more than a match for anyone, but you have to perform.''

Result: Hartlepool United 1 Brentford 2.

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