Pools got back to winning ways with a hard-fought win over
Woking. Rhys Oates' low strike was the difference between two sides that
The game started with few chances for either side.
Featherstone and White controlled the midfield well, and the first touch for
either goalkeeper was when Killip collected Sam Ashford's cross.The first clear-cut chance of the game came in the 14th
minute. After slipping past Diarra, Rhys Oates pulled the ball back to Luke
Molyneux who could only strike the top of the Woking crossbar.Two more chances followed for Pools with Williams dragging aclose-range chance wide and Tom White firing over from 25 yards out.
It was then Woking's chance to attack. A long ball through
the middle finally found Matt Jarvis whose hooked cross was headed over by
returning striker Niko Muir.Ferguson continued to put balls into the box, but the first
half finished without a goal for either side. Ryan Johnson's booking for
dissent was the only other talking point of the half after he disagreed with
the assistant referee's decision.Pools started the second half on the front foot and had a
chance with Liddle, but the experienced defender could only head straight at
Smith. Fortunately, the referee had already blown for a free-kick.Former Poolie Muir was replaced on the hour as Woking
pressed forward. Their pressure was almost rewarded after Matt Jarvis found
space and crossed for Ashford. The forward thought he had scored, but Killip
pulled off the save of the season to claw his effort away.Another chance for Woking followed as Ashford got clear andhit the right-hand post with Killip beaten.
Back-and-forth possession followed with few chances carved
out by either side. Casey had a long-range effort flash over Killip's crossbar
and a cross from Oates was claimed by Smith, but much of the game was lost in
the midfield.Holohan and Shelton were introduced to inject energy into
the midfield, with both putting pressure on the Woking backline. Johnson had a
half-chance for Pools after a good corner from Ferguson but Woking defended
resolutely.It was the impact of Shelton that led to the first goal.
Collecting the ball 30 yards from goal, the midfielder slid the ball through to
Rhys Oates who fired across Smith into the bottom corner.Pools controlled much of the closing minutes with skipperRyan Donaldson replacing Luke Molyneux for the final few minutes.
The result keeps Hartlepool second in the league and they
can look forward to Tuesday's trip to Dagenham & Redbridge knowing they've
got back to winning ways.Bookings: Johnson (37)
Subs: Williams and White/ Shelton and Holohan (70),Molyneux/ Donaldson (91)