By Albatross
March 24 2003

It's about time we had a few Player Profiles on this site, so let's start with the two players Hartlepool United have in one of the most important positions on the pitch: the Goalkeepers.

Anthony Williams Squad No: 1

Born in Ogwr, Taff signed for Pools from Blackburn in the summer of 2000. Although he never made the first team at Ewood Park, he was highly thought of there and gained experience out on loan at Bristol Rovers, Gillingham and then Macclesfield.

He really started to make his name though with Wales u-21s, where he was a regular and performed the feat of saving two penalties in a match not once but twice.

He's shown his ability at penalties for Pools as well, including a stop in front of the Sky cameras at Bournemouth. He broke into the side following an injury to Martin Hollund early in the 2000/1 season, and had a superb season between the sticks that had other clubs interested in signing him - and kept Hollund, the established number one, out of the team for the rest of the season.

A similar pattern followed in 2001/2, but Taff didn't play as well consistently, making one or two glaring errors. His touch with penalties deserted him somewhat at Cheltenham in the playoffs as well - although as is always the case in that sort of situation, any save is always a bonus.

This season has been an up and down one for Taff; at times he has looked brilliant - notably in the Bournemouth game where he made a whole string of quality saves to keep us in the game far longer than we had any right to expect - while at others he has looked dire - the game at Rochdale saw a number of errors that helped 'Dale to a 4-0 win. He is one of the players capable of dividing Pools fans, with some convinced he's one of the best keepers in the division, and others saying that he's the worst. The problem is that he's capable of being both....

It's fair to say that Williams on his day is one of the best in the division - and this is maybe what Pools fans find most frustrating. We know he can do it - and in that first season he consistently came up with the goods; but since then he has lacked the consistency of a true top goalie and makes the odd silly error that a goalkeeper can ill afford. For all that though, he has already kept 14 clean sheets this season, which isn't half bad in anyone's book. Now 25, he should be approaching his peak years between the sticks: the question is, can he prove that to the fans - and management.

Jim Provett Squad No: 21

Trimdon-born Provett has made his way through the ranks at Pools, and was awarded a professional contract last summer. He had spent part of last season on loan to Spennymoor of the Unibond League, turning in some impressive performances with them in a spell that Chris Turner said was to "toughen him up". With the release of Martin Hollund, Jim is now the number two keeper at the club and is always on the bench and features regularly for the reserves, where he has put in a number of solid performances.

So far he has made just one first team appearance, when Pools fielded a reserve side in the LDV Trophy at Tranmere. It was a baptism of fire for the 20 year old as Tranmere played their strongest side and put five goals past him.