Pools season going down to the wire?

By Albatross
April 5 2004

Hartlepool United's season looks like going down to the wire, despite losing to Brighton on Saturday - but many will probably be thinking about what might have been. There's still hope though.... and Pools have also started well in the Dallas Cup.

Results for the teams around Pools meant that we didn't actually lose ground on the final playoff place, and maintained our position in ninth. In fact, tomorrow's game against Luton could see us get up into 6th place (albeit with a couple of teams having a game in hand). Any sort of win would lift us to 7th, and a two goal victory would see us push Bournemouth down a place as well.

However, it's getting to the stage now of looking back and saying "if only...." While we are still battling for a playoff place, we've had our chances to be challenging in the top five rather than scrapping for 6th. If only Gavin Strachan had put the penalty away on Saturday - or that Joe Ross had shown Roberts a red card... If only Shuker had put his penalty in against Blackpool.... If only we'd have made the most of our first half chances against QPR.... If only we'd beaten Sheffield Wednesday, or Barnsley, or one of the several games when we've dominated and yet come away with a point at best.

Of course, most of the sides in the division can tell a similar tale of woe. Yes, if Gabbiadini had stayed fit - or we'd been able to replace him with a similarly good finisher - we'd have won more games and even now might be on the heels of QPR, but the reality is that players that can be relied upon to score consistently are always in demand and we suffered somewhat from a number having already signed up elsewhere by the time Cooper was in place. Some of those that had been making a name for themselves have either moved on with varying degrees of success, or have had "hands off" warnings slapped on them by their managers. Jon Stead moved from Huddersfield for a seven figure sum - well beyond Pools reach; Mickey Boulding may have been fairly prolific for Grimsby, but has flopped in a big way at Barnsley; Brian Flynn categorically stated that Lee Trundle was going nowhere - and that would have meant that a bid of well into six figures would be needed to even tempt them into selling. Things may be different now that Flynn (who seems to have a big influence with Trundle having also signed him for Wrexham) has left, but too late for Pools to move this season.

Meanwhile, referee Joe Ross has admitted he made a mistake on Saturday - not to do with the penalty incident, but in booking Richie Humphreys when he should have booked Hugh Robertson. Cooper has expressed his surprise at the fact that Roberts stayed on the pitch after bringing down Boyd, but that is all in the past now and Pools have to look to the future - most specifically a busy period of three games in a week that do have the potential to make or break our season.

So what about our last seven games? With my best Mystic Meg voice ("....and Wrexham may be lucky toooooo....."), here's what I think for the rest of the season.
Luton (H): Win
Bournemouth (H): Draw
Wrexham (A): Lose
Notts County (H): Win
Rushden (A): Win
Plymouth (H): Lose
Swindon (A): Lose

That would give us ten more points for a total of 67. Enough for a playoff place? I don't think so, although no-one will be happier than me if we do make it.

Also looking to the future, news is coming through that Pools Youth Team have won their first group match convincingly in the 25th Dallas Cup. Pools are competing in the u19 (Group A) category this time, and beat local side Dallas Inter Black 4-0. Looking at the official Dallas Cup website, Pools are playing in what is effectively the second level of u19 competition - there's also a "Super Group" that includes sides from the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Eintracht Frankfurt as well as the US and Costa Rican National Youth teams. Even so, for the youth team to progress in this tournament would be a considerable achievement; this year more than 300 teams applied to take part in the competition, with 160 being chosen. Other than Pools and Blackburn, the only UK sides taking part are a team from Knowsley (Liverpool), a Royal Navy side, Arsenal (u17 and u16), and an u12 side from Manchester United. Pools are due to play their second game - against Capital SC - later today, with the final group game against West Broward United scheduled to take place on Wednesday. Should they win their group, they will play in the quarter-finals on Friday.