FOUR goals in as many games and what Hartlepool United have been missing all season has returned.

Adam Boyd and Joel Porter, 45 between them last season, are back in tandem and giving defenders the sort of headaches they caused week in, week out last campaign.

It's two for Porter and two for Boyd and in the ten games before Boyd returned to action, Pool had netted a mere five times.

Porter's second goal in three appearances - and on his first start since last May - wasn't enough to give Paul Stephenson his third home win, but there was ample evidence to indicate that Pool won't be giving up their League One place without a battle.

The performance may not have been as spectacular as the victory over Huddersfield eight days previous. It was, however, another point in the bag against a side at the top end of the table - a place Pool used to occupy last term.

After his Huddersfield side were beaten, Peter Jackson said that Pool would do his side plenty of favours in the coming weeks in taking points from their promotion rivals.

They did it on Saturday and now they could do with it again at the weekend, when they go to leaders Southend, surprise losers at MK Dons on Saturday.

This game might not have been Boyd's day as he laboured through the game, but to get 84 minutes of non-stop action out of Porter was more than anyone could have expected.

"God knows how we got so long out of Joel,'' quipped Stephenson. "I left him on because he was the stronger of the two. Adam's had three starts in a week and it caught up with him as well.

"I know that Porter and Boyd are back which is what everyone has looked forward to and everyone is talking about it, but they are just back.

"There's a long way to go before they are back to their best and they both have showed since they recovered from injury that they have great quality - Adam's got two, Joel's got two and we've missed them.

"I think we might have to get the cotton wool out for both of them this week.''

While Gillingham were thumped 6-0 on Saturday, weeks after Swindon conceded seven, Pool are giving little away. With the return of their first-choice frontmen, things are looking bright at both ends of the park.

"We've got a superior goal difference to quite a few of the teams down there and we are all in very good spirits - that's how we go to Southend,'' said Stephenson.

"We lost the other night at Scunthorpe, but we stopped that turning into a run against a team in the top six.

"We've nothing to fear, we go into that game confident. We've showed that this division is a tight one. They are up there and I feel that if we had all our players fit and available all season we would have been up there, without a shadow of doubt.

"We are in a battle and we are ready for it.''

Porter had already caused problems with his workrate and willingness to close down and he put Pool into the lead.

Micky Nelson headed on a corner and Porter was lurking with intent inside the six yard area and turned the ball home as Paul Heckingbottom stood off.

Barnsley seemed content to knock the ball long over the Pool defence, but it was easy meat for the in-form pairing of Nelson and Ben Clark.

Nelson almost made it two, when he met Ritchie Humphreys' corner and volleyed against the crossbar from 12 yards.

Boyd created a chance, skipping past Heckingbottom tight on the byline and his cross was headed at goal by Chris Llewellyn.

But Colgan went full-stretch to make his first wonder save and tip it over to deny Llewellyn a first goal for Pool from open play.

It was all one-way, but the Tykes levelled with their first opening.

Heckingbottom swung over a cross from the left that was met by Antony Kay and his header bent around the dive of Konstantopoulos.

Pool started to lose their way a little and it was down to Konstantopoulos that they stayed level.

First he back-pedalled to push Chris Shuker's cross-shot from under the bar before flying across goal to tip a Marc Richards header over.

Pool came more into it, but the closest they came was when Boyd tried to poke the ball in from close range.

The big Pool keeper then made a superb save to keep out Howard after the midfielder met a cross on the volley from six yards and the keeper's firm hand pushed the shot over.

Nelson's expertly timed tackle halted Paul Hayes as he was about to pull the trigger and still in injury time, Darren Williams got forward like his manager wants and put in a teasing cross which Eifion Williams knocked high into the side netting.

Stephenson added: "At the end we could have nicked it.

"And just before that chance, Micky Nelson made a fantastic tackle in the area.

"I said after the game that last-ditch tackles like that are just as important in the run-in as someone sliding in to stick one in the back of the net at the death.

"We are going to have cases when we need last-ditch tackles like that and we are going to have cases where we need someone sticking one in at the other end just the same.''

With Boyd and Porter back together, there's every chance that will happen.

Hartlepool United 1 - 1 Barnsley