Turner's not going to rest on laurels

Chris Turner, after Hartlepool United won their opening League game of the season at Carlisle.

Now 12 games in and it's fair to say Pool have had a very good start. Probably even better than that.

Chris Turner is a satisfied man and not wanting to rest on his laurels, he is now looking over his shoulder. He wants his team to rake in an average of two points per game this season; this win at Shrewsbury ensures exactly that.

He's also interested in putting space between his side and fourth place to ensure Pool stay in a promotion slot. "I'm looking at fourth now and seeing what sort of gap there is and how many points they need to catch up on us. We want to stay in the top three,'' he declared.

Torquay stay on their coat tails in second spot, but how long can the south coast surprise package side keep it going? Pool are certainly capable of it, but who else?

Then it's Rushden - and they can - followed by Rochdale, another team likely to be there come May.

Turner told Northern Echo Sport on Saturday that he learnt a lot from Plymouth last season, who managed to keep it tight away from home and win games 1-0. That's two single goal wins away from home this season and six games unbeaten.

Add the five Division Three games without loss from the end of last season and you have a new club record of 11 away trips unbeaten.

And they were hardly in danger of losing this one on Saturday. Shrewsbury, play-off contenders last season, look a million miles from reaching that landmark this time around.

They rarely threatened Anthony Williams' goal - a long range Karl Murray shot which cracked against the post just before half-time aside - and the Pool keeper enjoyed a trouble free afternoon.

That was in no small part to the three defenders in front of him. Graeme Lee was outstanding againstwily Nigel Jemson, the striker who knows how to make the most of defenders' presence and earn plenty of free-kicks in dangerous areas.

Lee was booked early on for bringing down the front man, but didn't let the threat of red affect his game as he kept the shackles on the front man.

In fact he frustrated him to the extent that Jemson ended the game having a go at Pool coach Colin West before venting his spleen on the home crowd.

Alongside him he had Luke Rodgers, the striker Hartlepool United fans love to hate and he was marked by Chris Westwood, the defender Shrewsbury fans love to hate.

Rodgers was quizzed by police last season after an alleged assault on Westwood following the 2-2 Victoria Park draw.

No charges followed, but football fans are hardly the sort to let incidents of that nature pass quietly.

A keen eye was kept on the pair during the game by all - and Westwood won the battle.

Rodgers started the afternoon by waving at the travelling fans when his name was read out; when he was substituted on 67 minutes, he decided against an encore. Rodgers plays the game with attitude. He's a good player and he knows it as he struts around the field with an arrogance that belies his diminutive frame.

You can expect to see him playing higher division football in the future.

But Westwood has been in fine form this season and Saturday was no exception.

One superbly-timed tackle halted Rodgers in the penalty area as he twisted to try to create space to shoot and Westwood never looked like it was his intention to seek retribution for any previous meetings.

Micky Barron clattered into Rodgers and was booked after just nine minutes. A few heated words were exchanged, a few handbags drawn, but that was that.

"I thought we coped with the pace of Rodgers during the time he was on and restricted them to set-pieces and long balls into the box,'' said Turner.

"We knew that flick-ons would be a big danger and we coped with it.

"Remember Spike was booked for a foul on Jemson as well which made it a bit difficult for him but he didn't let it affect him.

"Shrewsbury is a place where the crowd are on top of you, it's a small ground isn't it? Compact and you are going to get a bit of a quick tempo game because of that.

"We passed the ball around well, but I wanted us to do it a little bit more and more often, but any away win is a good win.

"We scored one and could have had a second one right at the end as well - game over.

"I thought we could have scored in the first minute, we had a few chances, but I think we had more chances on goal and we were more of a threat than they were.''

Eifion Williams' sixth of the season was enough for the victory.

Mark Robinson, impressive playing wing back, intercepted possession and fed the striker as he raced beyond the static defence and slotted the ball through the legs of keeper Ian Dunbavin.

It was a great finish from a striker bubbling with confidence who is leading the line in fine style in the absence of talisman Gordon Watson.

Turner, a former member of the goalkeepers' union, was asked how Dunbavin must have felt to be beaten by a nutmeg.

His answer, tongue firmly in cheek. "How would I know? It never happened to me.''

Seriously, he added: "It was a good finish. When you are one on one with the keeper you are always under pressure to score.

"He kept his cool with that finish."

Result: Shrewsbury Town 0 Hartlepool United 1.

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