AFTER leaving Victoria Park as Public Enemy No 1, West Ham United striker Carlton Cole has been described as possessing ‘no malice’ by one of the men marking him during Hartlepool United’s fourth round FA Cup exit.

Ben Clark spent years graduating through the England ranks with Cole and was always impressed by the striker’s approach to life and the game.

But the West Ham man’s style came under scrutiny on Saturday, when the 25-yearold was at the centre of numerous incidents that infuriated the home support and players.

He had already been accused of deliberately throwing his arms around when jumping for headers before he stuck the studs of his boot into goalkeeper Arran Lee-Barrett’s chest six minutes before half-time.

Another referee could have judged that such a challenge warranted a red card, but Lee Mason brandished the yellow.

Cole escaped a second booking after the restart, when he again went in late on Lee-Barrett and Hammers manager Gianfranco Zola was quick to replace him.

But Clark, who witnessed all the unsavoury flashes at close hand, was quick to defend the former Chelsea striker, who was linked with an £8m switch to Tottenham this month.

“To be fair, I thought Carlton went for the ball when he got booked in the first half,” said the Pools defender.

“I think it’s just one of those really. You’ve got to be careful with goalkeepers and you can’t really touch them.

It was just handbags really.

“I know Carlton’s not like that. He’s a fantastic player.

He’s done really well. He’s a real handful. There was no malice from him.

“The ball was there to be played and if it had been at the other end, we’d be disappointed if our strikers didn’t go in for the ball.”

Clark and central defensive partner Micky Nelson did well to keep the threat of Cole and Italian front-man David Di Michele at bay, but that proved insufficient for Pools.

Once Valon Behrami’s strike into Lee-Barrett’s bottom left corner a minute before half-time had been followed by Mark Noble’s penalty seconds later, there was no way back.

In hindsight, and courtesy of television replays, Noble should never have been handed the opportunity to add that second.

But Clark chose not to look too deeply into Mason’s decision to award a spot-kick when Cole’s flick-on hit Nelson’s arm just outside the box.

“To be fair we didn’t know if it was inside the box or outside the box,” said Clark.

“The lads who have seen it said it was outside the box, but the referee has got to make a decision.

“It’s a hard job and although he got that decision wrong, overall I think West Ham did deserve to win it.”

Clark was one of the last to trudge off the Victoria Park turf, having to come to terms with failing to go down in history as the first Pools team to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup.

But the 26-year-old, who was part of the Sunderland team that defeated Pools in front of 40,000-plus at the Stadium of Light in the third round five years ago, is certainly not despondent.

“West Ham are a quality team with quality players,”

he said.

“The most disappointing thing is we’ve given them two goals.

“It was nearly half-time, we thought we were comfortable, and that’s why those lads are playing in the Premier League because of the way they punished us.”