Huddersfield Town 2, Hartlepool 1

Aug 29 2005 By Mel Booth, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

His workrate was second to none in the first half where he terrorised Hartlepool down the right flank and, apart from a quiet spell in the second half, he would have been a strong contender for man of the match.

That award went to Schofield on the opposite flank because of his contribution to fuelling an attack in which Abbott and Gary Taylor-Fletcher looked very effective partners.

Taylor-Fletcher, competing strongly in the air, burst through on a couple of occasions without finding a finish, while Michael Collins - making his first start of the campaign - and returning skipper Jon Worthington were a driving force.

One tame shot on target from Proctor was all that Hartlepool could managed as Town launched wave after wave of attacks, and it was no surprise the 892 travelling fans gave their team the bird at half time.

Town, on the other hand, left to a standing ovation for some of the most fluent football they've produced in a while and it took the introduction of the prolific Boyd and Lee Bullock to knock them temporarily out of kilter.

Boyd's strike was a scorcher, giving Paul Rachubka no chance from 25-yards after Humphreys had passed inside, and it lifted Martin Scott's side for a promising 20-minute spell.

While Town defended too deeply at times and endured some scary moments - Rachubka saving well from Proctor and Boyd at the near post - they counter attacked smartly towards the end and could easily have restored the advantage.

Abbott was clean through only to be blocked by outstanding goalkeeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, while Tom Clarke arrowed in a header from a corner and Taylor-Fletcher hammered another drive into the keeper's chest.

Schofield, too, was twice close to scoring in the last 10 minutes, firstly with a curling shot just wide from an Adams raid and secondly when seeing a fierce left-foot drive turned away.