Sadlad's Away Day Review - Hartlepool United

Hopes were high for Walsall before this game at Victoria Park as the Saddlers had gone four games unbeaten and Hartlepool had not won at home for five months.The game kicked off in warm sunshine without the wind whipping in from the North Sea (for once) so the stage was set for a good performance but the game got off to to an untidy start for both sides and after just 30 seconds Clayton Mc Donald gave away a foul and soon a minute later Dwayne Mattis conceded another. After 4 minutes Jamie Vincent was forced to give away a corner which resulted in a mis-hit from Boyd inside the box and just after the same player got in another shot. Walsall finally went forward with purpose on 8 mins and forced two corners. Matt Richards tried his luck with a short corner then a long one which resulted in nothing. Darren Byfield forced a save following a ball from Richards. On 17 mins Hartlepool forced two corners- the second resulting in a foul on Rene Gilmartin. Hartlepool were awarded a dubious-looking free kick 25 yards out which was saved at the second attempt by Gilmartin. Byfield was then injured as a result of a overhead kick which was on target but lacked power. The striker slowly picked himself up but was clearly stunned by the way he landed. It was a really slow start by Walsall who were unable to string many passes together and the midfield looked very tame. The home side, meanwhile, were starting to find their men and launching raids on the Walsall defence. Hartlepool opened the scoring on 25 mins when a through ball found Andy Monkhouse unmarked and he fired home from about 10 yards with an angled shot on the left which found its way into the net under Gilmartin's body. The goal spurred the home side into life and on 34 mins Mark Hughes had to block to overt danger. Walsall did force another corner before the break but except for a few fleeting moments the half belonged to Hartlepool. Just five minutes into the second half Saddlers found themselves further behind. Following a game of pin-ball in the box Monkhouse was there again with a low hard shot. Just afterwards Walsall sent on Rhys Weston for Mc Donald who went off after taking a knock. Following a shot from Hartlepool that went just over Byfield produced a left foot shot that went wide. This saw a purple patch for Walsall as Alex Nicholls cut in and shot wide soon to be followed by another miss by Richards. At least Walsall were doing some decent approach work and setting up chances and on 64 mins Nicholls again shot but always rising and no danger at all of forcing a save out of the keeper. There was a nasty bit of gamesmanship by home keeper Flinders who simply wouldn't release the ball for Walsall to take a corner. Troy Deeney tussled with him fiercely to get the ball off him but the referee booked both players for unsporting behaviour. On 72 minutes Steve Jones came on for Nicholls in a ploy to shake things up a bit but Hartlepool sub Colin Larkin, who had only been on for six minutes, cooly lobbed Gilmartin who had strayed out far too far.So that was effectively game over. Sam Parkin came on for Byfield with ten minutes to go. He never had a chance as he did his best to get involved but didn't get any service as the game slipped away from Walsall. Rhys Weston had one chance in the second half with a header that flashed just wide but overall a game to forget for Walsall and now must get back to winning ways at home.