The match started brightly enough for the Cherries. A 2nd minute corner was initially beaten away, only to fall at Arter's feet who had to be down smartly to prevent Pool going behind early on.
After that brief moment of excitement, there was little to get overly enthused about. That said though, the Cherries were showing promise. Malone and Pugh were linking well down the left, with the new partnership of Purches and debutant Peters showing promise down the right. Also catching the eye was Baudry in the centre of the defence and Arter in the centre of midfield for their industry and work rate.
The dead lock was almost broken when a Pugh effort had to hacked off the Hartlepool goal line. Almost but not quite ......
It wasn't until the 37th minute when the dead lock was broken when Gregory scored (his Cherries goal) from outside of the penalty area, firing in to the top right hand corner of the goal following patient build up play involving Peters, Arter, Thomas, Purches and finally to Gregory to fire home.
Sadly the lead didn't last long (just over 5 minutes to be precise) ....... Baudry fouled Boyd just outside the area. Solano stepped up to take the free-kick to score in top-left hand corner of the goal. A fine free kick if ever there was one.
HT: 1-1
Listening back to my match commentary, I am struggling to find a great deal to say about the 2nd period.
Stockley could have nosed the Cherries ahead when a free header couldn't be directed with any power of purpose.
The 2nd half didn't liven up until the 86th minute when an off the ball incident saw Warren Cummings left in a heap on the floor. The result was handbags at 6-paces, Ryan Garry dismissed from the technical area and Andy Monkhouse found himself with a yellow card.
Within 90 seconds of the incident, Hartlepool went down the other end with Even Horwood firing home the winner in to the top-right hand corner in the 87th minute.
I've no doubt Bradbury will be taking positives from the game, but a 4th home defeat is a 4th home defeat!
Flahavan: Certainly isn't a Jalal. Could do more to command his area.
Purches: Did okay this afternoon. Glimpses of a useful partnership down the right hand side.
Cooper: Cool and calm as ever at the back.
Baudry: At times reminded me of Jason Pearce, esp with the head band on, and some crunching challenges. My man of the match.
Malone: Showed some neat foot work down the left, ably abetted by Pugh
Peters: Made a fine debut on the right wing. Pacey and skillful. Not sure taking him off was the right decision Bradders ......
Arter: Gets through so much work. Has some on in leaps and bounds in recent times.
Gregory: Was pleased that he got his goal today. Certainly put in a good shift in midfield.
On the midfield partnership. I still feel that we need a more 'combative' midfielder. Recent pairings are too similar at times, leaving a massive amount of space for the opposition to exploit.
Pugh: Some nice trickey down the left hand side. Links up well with Malone
Fletcher: Did well enough ........ didn't see enough of the ball.
Thomas: Never really got in the game. Certainly didn't get good enough service from the midfield to have a clear shot on target.
Stockley: Did well enough ........ didn't see enough of the ball.
Zubar: Wasn't on long enough to make a proper assessment. Did have a good shot on target though.
Cummings: His one contribution was to draw an off-the-ball challenge which resulted in handbags at 6-paces.
AFCB: Flahavan, Purches, Cooper, Baudry, Malone, Peters, Arter, Gregory, Pugh, Fletcher, Thomas
Subs: Jalal, Carmichael, Stockley (for Fletcher, 73 mins), Zubar (for Purches, 83 mins), Cummings (for Peters, 83 mins)
Andy Burton, Portsmouth