Bookings: Molyneux (25, foul); Woods (40, foul); Brown (71, foul); Taylor (90, kicking ball away)
Referee: Declan Bourne (Nottingham): Riddled with inconsistency. Strange decisions throughout 3
Attendance: 3,361
Entertainment: 3/5
HARTLEPOOL UNITED (3-5-2):
6 Loach: A relatively quiet evening, with only shots from distance and some sweeping up to concern him. A second clean sheet in a row at home;
7 Kioso: Defended with some strength again, and covered some ground from the start – given a tough opening, but soon recovered
7 Magnay: He really is enjoying taking the leadership role in the middle of the back three. Dominant and competitive throughout
6 Anderson: Did what was asked of him when called into action and looked solid enough on the left of the back three;
6 Donaldson: Pools were trying to get him in more and more as the game went on. Saw plenty of the ball in advanced positions and delivery was up and down
5 Noble: Busy and enthusiastic, but it just didn’t happen for the captain this time. Difficult deliveries from dead balls when the opposition pushed a high defensive line
5 Featherstone: In a quagmire of a midfield he wasn’t able to dig his way out of it and wasn’t given much time on the ball
5 Woods: Taken off in the second-half and those little openings he tries to engineer didn’t quite come off
6 Kitching: Didn’t get as much possession as Donaldson on the other flank and played a deeper role;
6 Muir: Neat control, nice touches and good movement – but would he have had more impact getting into the penalty area?
6 James: Played on the last defenders, aiming to get in behind but delivery was scarce at times with little to work from.
Subs:
McLaughlin (for Woods 63): Like the man he replaced, didn’t find much success in the middle
(not used): Hawkes, Richardson, Newton, Dinanga.
BARROW (4-3-2-1): Firth 6; Brown 7, Granite 7, Jones 7, Molyneux 6; Rooney 6, Taylor 7, Hindle 6, Caroll-Burgess 6; Kay 6, Smith 6 (Blyth 88). Subs (not used): Correia, Barthram, Jameson, Jennings.
MAN OF THE MATCH CARL Magnay – when Pools needed him at the back he was there to do his job.
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