Boo-boys vent anger at Pool; Fans frustrated as home side fail to break deadlock.

Hartlepool United 0 Brentford 0 AGREAT deal has been invested this summer in transforming Hartlepool United''s squad, but as yet there has been little reward for the Victoria Park faithful.

Most of their best performances have been reserved for away games, with just one win and a draw from seven home games before last night.

Little wonder attendances have remained stubbornly low, with last night''s 3,105 the Teessiders'' lowest in the league this season.

On a dreadful night for playing and watching football, neither side could overcome the elements to make a convincing argument for the stay-away fans to rush back. The few that showed up were certainly unimpressed, booing their team off after a drab draw.

It was not only the elements which were against Hartlepool. As chief executive Russ Green admitted in the programme, the decision to switch the game to a Friday spectacularly backfired.

The Teessiders were anxious to avoid a clash with England, only for the Three Lions to qualify early for the World Cup, move their kick-off and fail to find a television company willing to show today''s game with Ukraine.

But the football did nothing to help and the natives had grown restless long before the end. The grumpiness of the Camerons Brewery Stand moaner who cheered two consecutive passes from the hosts late on was less outspoken than usual, as the boos from the Town End when Chris Turner replaced both strikers for the final quarter of an hour illustrated.

Brentford reject Denis Behan missed Hartlepool''s best chance to secure the win which would have been enough for either side to briefly hit the dizzy heights of the top half, but a lacklustre performance in difficult conditions deserved no more than it got.

The swirling rain made life difficult for the goalkeepers in the first half, Brentford firing the slippery ball at Scott Flinders, Hartlepool hoisting the ball across Nikki Bull''s area.

Flinders dealt well with Sam Saunders'' low shot from a third-minute free-kick he won himself. The goalkeeper got down well and pushed the ball away from goal.

When he failed to hold Sam Wood''s shot, captain Sam Collins pounced quickly to clear the loose ball.

The Bees'' best chance of the first half came when another Saunders free-kick picked out Carl Cort, but he was only able to head into the turf and at Flinders.

Behan''s optimism in shooting from a tight angle was almost rewarded when the ball skipped in front of Bull and nearly inside the far post.

Not until he went clean through in the second half would the hosts have as good a chance. Anthony Sweeney''s first-half shot was deflected over and he cleared the bar again soon after with a volley.

James Brown failed to get above Peter Hartley''s left-wing cross in the 36th minute and the half petered out.

In the second half, Boyd''s early shot just wide was no sign of things to come, though his strike partner could have settled the game in the 56th minute.

Robbing Mark Phillips as the central defender over-complicated a simple long ball on the halfway line, the Irishman had a clear run on goal but blasted off target.

Wood thought he had won the game with 13 minutes left, only for his header to deflect just wide.