Wrexham boss can't believe his mince pies
By Darren Devine
20 December 2004
Denis Smith |
Were we naive with our defending? Yes, at times.
|
A HEAVIEST home defeat of the season added up
to a sackful of Christmas sorrow at the Racecourse.
Team boss Denis Smith watched in horror as a shambolic defensive display
conceded four first-half goals to make a complete gift of it to the Pools.
And he must now fear their best hope of beating the drop lies in their upcoming
appeal to the Football League against the 10-point deduction they suffered for
going into administration.
Before they went into receivership, a defiant Smith said they were good enough
to avoid relegation whether or they were docked 10 points or not.
But after this, many Dragons' fans might be wondering whether that confidence
was misplaced.
With just one win all season on their travels, the Pools had the joint-worst
away record in League One before they swept aside Smith's men.
A combination of the home team's carelessness in possession and the visitors'
ruthlessness on the counter condemned the Dragons to their worst home loss.
Hartlepool's second, third and fifth strikes all resulted from defensive lapses
by the Dragons, with most notably Craig Morgan and Stephen Roberts playing roles
they will want to forget sooner rather than later.
Smith claimed poor concentration had more to do with the result than the quality
of the forward play from the Pools, who lined up with a five-man midfield
supporting Bangor-born striker Eifion Williams.
"They have put bodies behind the ball and relied on breakaways. They waited for
us to fall over or give it to them and then broke away.
"Did we try and pass and work hard? Yes. Were we naive with our defending? Yes,
at times.
"It wasn't even good build-up play - it was just getting the ball out and seeing
what happened and young people at times were not concentrating."
Pools boss Neale Cooper chose to emphasise the incisiveness of his team's
counter-attacking, rather than the shortcomings of the Dragons' rearguard.
"It was just what we needed. The lads were magnificent and I'm delighted they
were able to end our run of bad results away from home," he said.
"Every goal was well made and we got what we deserved for hard work and some
pure quality football."
Despite an even start the Dragons fell behind after seven minutes when
midfielder Anthony Sweeney set up team-mate Ritchie Humphreys to slot home from
inside the box.
Two minutes later Sweeney could have added a second following a Joel Porter
lay-off, but was thwarted by Andy Dibble who tipped the midfielder's effort over
the bar.
But when Roberts lost his footing on 18 minutes Porter and Sweeney combined
again and there was little Dibble could do to prevent the midfielder adding a
second.
Despite the visitors two-goal advantage the Dragons fought their way back seven
minutes later when Spaniard Juan Ugarte converted Morgan's header from a Darren
Ferguson free-kick.
But any hopes of a comeback were dashed 10 minutes later when Wales U21 cap
Morgan surrendered possession, allowing United's Adam Boyd to break down the
left before squaring the ball to Porter to tap in the third on 35 minutes.
A minute later Boyd himself put the game beyond Wrexham with a humiliating
fourth after Humphreys split a Wrexham defence still recovering from conceding
the third.
Within three minutes of the restart United left-back Hugh Robertson fired a
free-kick just beyond Dibble's right-hand post before Chris Llewellyn headed
wide from a Hector Sam cross at the other end.
With the visitors comfortable and little threat of any second-half revival from
Wrexham, Williams fired a dangerous ball across the Dragons' box that just
eluded his team-mates.
Just after the hour mark Pools' goalkeeper Demitrios Konstantopoulos failed to
hold on to a fierce drive from Andy Holt but Ugarte was prevented from reaching
the loose ball by the United rearguard.
The rout was completed after 73 minutes after Morgan was dispossessed by
Williams who fed Sweeney for the fifth.