March: What happened there then!

By Albatross
April 1 2003

No danger of Hartlepool United getting Manager of the Month this time round: maybe the curse of the award decided to strike a month late after lulling us into a false sense of security. Make no bones about it, March was not a great time to be a Poolie.

Saying it's been a poor month for Pools is an understatement: it's been a terrible month. Partly this is of our own making - we were 22nd in terms of results over the month - and partly due to the fact that Rushden have had a very good month that has seen Brian Talbot take Manager of the Month. Five wins, two draws and a defeat saw them amass 17 points to Pools' 6: truly a case of "Beware the Sides of March".

The fact that pretty much every team is battling for something showed in the fact that every side won at least one game, and only one side was unbeaten: Torquay, who although undefeated drew five of their seven games.

Possibly the biggest surprise package of the month was Macclesfield. The Silkmen were in danger of sinking like stones at the end of February, but 14 points from their eight games have lifted them to 18th. They are still in danger though, just three points ahead of Carlisle in the second relegation spot.

The fact that they are by no means out of the woods shows how tight it really is at the bottom. Exeter are two points adrift of Carlisle, but then five teams have 40 or 41 points, and there's only another five points until you reach Rochdale in 16th. Darlington, Southend and Hull could still be dragged into it in theory, but look fairly safe now. Several of the clubs in the bottom eight had good months, with Bristol Rovers, Swansea and Exeter all reaching a double-figure points return in addition to Macc. Shrewsbury and Carlisle both had poor months, but both also have games in hand: their Cup Runs may have brought some glory and money to the clubs, but the downside is that they have a lot of games this month, against opponents that will usually be that little bit fresher. Both may yet come to rue their knockout exploits. Kevin Ratcliffe appears to have done a little bit of panic signing on Deadline Day, and it remains to be seen whether the signings of Robin Hulbert (Bristol City - Loan), Scott Partridge (Rushden - Free), Steve Watts (Orient - Free), and Andy Holt (Hull - loan) will make a difference. Counting against them is the fact that Luke Rodgers is currently facing a five game ban.

Meanwhile, the Playoff and Promotion battle continues apace. Almost every side seems capable of taking points off the others, and this is working to the advantage of us and Rushden: it may be that the 76 points we've already amassed is enough for automatic promotion. Another six points would make it mathematically certain, but as things stand Wrexham will have to play six away games out of their nine remaining, and even if they put a great run together and overtake us, one of other sides jousting behind us would have to take 14-15 points from a possible 18 to deprive us of third spot - and that's assuming we don't pick up a single point for the rest of the season. Seven points seperate York in 3rd and Cambridge in 12th; while even some Rochdale fans fancy their chances of getting in the frame, although realistically they would have to win at least eight of their nine remaining games.

Whatever you think about the quality of the football in Division 3, the fact that with a month to go every team still has something to play for (in theory at least) should make for plenty of excitement and tension. Predictions? Pools and Rushden will both be mathematically promoted by the end of the month, and everything else - the title, third spot, playoff and relegation places - will be settled on the last day of the season. For the moment, that's all I'm prepared to say....