Cheltenham Town 1 Hartlepool United 1

Last updated : 16 February 2008 By Footymad Previewer
Hartlepool United goalkeeper Jan Budtz acted as both hero and villain for his team as they ground out a point at Whaddon Road.

Budtz was at fault for the Cheltenham goal scored at the end of the first half, but went on to redeem himself with a string of fine second half saves after Australian striker Joel Porter had levelled.

The game took a while to get going on a freezing cold afternoon but Cheltenham should have taken the lead in the 21st minute when on-loan striker Steve Brooker got up to meet a David Bird cross with a firm header, but Budtz reacted to sharply to beat it clear.

Dave Bird sent a left-foot shot just past the post, but Cheltenham defender Andy Gallinagh was required to clear the ball off the line when Greame Lee met an Alan Thompson corner with a goalbound header.

The stalemate was ended six minutes before half-time when Alex Russell's corner was cleared to the edge of the box where Andy Lindegaard was waiting to thrash a shot back at goal.

Budtz flew to his left and got two hands to the ball but was unable to keep it out of the net.

Porter got his goal seven minutes into the second half when he moved away from defender Gavin Caines and found room to curl a shot from 20 yards over Cheltenham goalkeeper Shane Higgs.

After that it was a question of whether Cheltenham would be able to break Hartlepool down and even when they got past the defence, Budtz was there to provide a barrier.

The big Dane blocked a Steven Gillespie shot with his legs then flew to push aside a curling free-kick from Russell and a header from the same player.

Gillespie hit the crossbar with a shot from a tight angle and substitute Scott Brown shot wide with his first touch after going on as Cheltenham tried hard but came up short of three points.