Hartlepool put to the sword at the Seaside

By Albatross
October 18 2003

Blackpool 4, Hartlepool United 0 - and we were lucky to get nil. It was a performance worthy of a place in Madame Tussards' Chamber of Horrors, never mind Bloomfield Road, and about the only positive was that at least the sun was shining.

Blackpool haven't half got a good ground - no sorry, they have got half a good ground. Two sides are complete and look impressive; however on the other two sides are a part-demolished eyesore and a temporary stand. It was in this temporary stand that a large crowd of Poolies assembled hoping to see another Pools masterclass; however, if we'd known what was to follow some would probably have set off for home there and then!

As expected, Cooper brought Provett in for Williams, who has obviously not found favour after his comments in the week - Konstantopoulos preferred on the bench in a move that surely signals Taff has little time left at the Vic. The only surprise was the absence of the other Williams - Eifion not being risked, not even on the bench.

Blackpool kicked off towards the wrecked stand, and it didn't take them long to put Pools on the back foot, winning an early corner that lead to a Pools free kick for pushing in the box. Pools then attacked, but could only provide a half chance to Robinson who shot weakly at the keeper.

Disaster struck just a minute later. Blackpool moved quickly down our right, Clarke and Barron didn't make a great job of policing the move, and Danns was able to pass the ball across for Douglas to slot home with no Pools player anywhere near him. Unfortunately this was only a taste of what was to come.

It was all Blackpool attacking, and Barron had to be alert to hook a cross away on 6 minutes; and Blackpool should have doubled their lead a minute later. Douglas was allowed to get in a cross from the Pools left, and an almost unmarked Murphy headed wide when it looked easier to score.

Danns was the next to try his luck, his long range effort easy for Provett. Paul Robinson was then substituted, Boyd coming on with just 12 minutes on the clock. Injury? Possibly, although to be fair he'd done little enough to show he could unlock the Blackpool defence anyway. He was to prove far from alone in that....

Some better play from Pools did allow Mark Robinson to swing a couple of crosses over, the second almost causing the Seasiders Keeper some embarrasment before going over the bar, and it was noticable that when we got the ball down and played we looked capable of causing Blackpool a few problems. Pools defence was looking shaky though, not helped by an assistant ref whe seemed to be constantly 15 yards behind the play.

When the second goal came though, it was not at all controversial. Humphreys dwelt on the ball, lost it, and Douglas sent over another good cross for Scott Taylor to sweep past Provett.

Barron was booked shortly after the goal when he was adjudged to have felled Bullock in full flow; initially I thought there was little contact, but with the Blackpool player being substituted shortly after that must not have been the case.

Provett had had little chance with the goals, but did show his worth on 25 minutes when he made a great save from Murphy inside the six yard box; this however was symptomatic of the time and space Pools were allowing Blackpool on the flanks and also within the box. Meanwhile, far from playing the neat football we've grown used to seeing from Pools, most attempts to get forward seemed to be aimless long balls forward that gave the Blackpool defence little to worry about.

Some better play though did see Pools attack with more purpose, and when a cross was cleared as far as Westwood he was able to play the ball to Strachan; however, the ball was running a little too far away from the midfielder and his shot was well wide.

Coid had come on in place of Bullock and tried to make a name for himself on 30 minutes; his long-range shot though was easy for the Pools keeper.

Blackpool pretty well finished the match as a contest on 38 minutes. A Pools attack broke down, and before we knew it Danns was haring down the wing. Some terrible defending from Barron allowed the pacy midfielder to cut inside, and his powerful shot could only be parried by Provett. The waiting Taylor needed no second invitation to finish the job.

Pools had been much the worse side in the first half, with Blackpool showing invention in midfield, and plenty of pace down the flanks that was giving our own wide men no end of trouble. Meanwhile, we were too often resorting to a long hoof upfield that with Gabbiadini and Boyd up front we were unlikely to get on the end of. It was frustrating, because we've seen the same players do so much better in the past, and some had already had enough by the time the whistle went for the break.

Cooper tried to change things around, bringing on Brackstone for Robinson, but this failed to spark Pools into life. Robinson had not done well in the first half, but if Coops had tried to replace all of those below par he would have had to have changed at least eight players.

Provett was one of the ones doing OK, and he was called on again early in the half to tip over a Hilton shot from distance. A few minutes later though he could only watch as Blackpool produced a move that summed up the difference between the two sides. Pools won a corner on the right, Humphreys put the ball at a nice height for the keeper to catch - and Barnes then quickly threw a magnificent ball out wide to put the Seasiders on the attack. The ball made its way to Wellens, who shot from just outside the area and was a little unfortunate to see his shot hit the bar and go over.

Just after this came possibly Pools best moment of the match. A long clearance down the left from Brackstone found Boyd, who did well to beat his man on his way into the box before shooting powerfully towards goal and forcing a good save from Barnes.

Easter came on for the ineffective Darrell Clarke on 70 minutes, and this proved the final straw for yet more Poolies, who headed for the exits. If they'd stayed for just another couple of minutes they would have seen the misery complete: another quick break down the left saw Coid cutting in, Nelson fouled him, Penalty, yellow card, and a hat-trick for Taylor who gave Provett no chance.

The rest of the match was like watching the game at Rochdale last December all over again. Having won the game pretty much how they liked, the Seasiders sat back a bit and Pools tried to attack. However, despite a lot of huffing and puffing we never really came close to pulling one back, and Blackpool showed with a couple of piercing attacks that had we had any lingering hopes of getting back into the game they still had plenty in the tank. It was almost mesmerising, and the remaining Poolies - much fewer than at the start - couldn't help but be relieved when the ref's whistle finally drew proceedings to a close.

Cooper is understandably livid with this performance, and he's far from alone in that. The only players to come out of the game with much credit were Provett and Westwood, who did his best to hold a disintegrating defence together. Brackstone didn't do much wrong, but even so we were horribly exposed down the flanks and lacked control in midfield to offer much going forward. If Robinson is injured and Eifion not fit for Tuesday's game at Chesterfield, all of a sudden we're looking very short of options.