By Albatross
April 21 2003

Champagne? "No celebrations please, we're Poolies" is the order of the day as the draw with Rochdale means that the destination of the Division 3 Championship is no longer in our hands. It finished 2-2, and here's the report. Newell sprang a big surprise by naming the same starting 11 that capitulated to Scunthorpe. This meant Kevin Henderson continued up front with Eifion Williams. Rochdale meanwhile included Chris "Judas" Beech in their side.

Rochdale kicked off attacking towards the Town End, and it didn't take long for Beech to make his mark: with less than a minute gone he fouled Eifion Williams.

Pools started the brighter, with Spike heading wide from a free kick and Eifion forcing a save from Gilkes with a 20-yard effort from the right.

It didn't take Rochdale long to hit their stride though, and they then had a good spell of pressure. Tinks blocked a cross from Doughty, who then saw his corner put out for a throw; and Dale were showing that they were by no means just here for the beer.

It was Pools though he created the next good chance on 15 minutes. Some good attacking play saw the ball worked to Humphreys, who shot just wide; a minute later Hendo could only shoot weakly wide from a Barron cross.

It was now Rochdale's turn to press forward, and they won a couple of free kicks on the Pools right. The first ended with a deflected shot from Hill; the second lead to a goal. A poor ball back from Widds played Westwood into trouble; he fouled Doughty, and when Flitcroft took the kick, he whipped in a cross that was bundled across the line by young defender SIMON GRAND. At this point, you couldn't help but think that it wasn't going to be our afternoon....

Pools next opportunity came from a long free kick from Taff; Eifion got on the end of it but saw his header go just wide. A few minutes later Eifion almost got on the scoresheet; he collected the ball in midfield and ran powerfully towards goal only to see his well-struck shot saved by Gilkes.

Pools were pushing forward more, winning a couple of corners and putting some decent crosses in; but it was an unconventional source that saw us finally equalise on 41 minutes. Widds had already had one effort go well over, when a long ball up the right from Taff was worked well across to Humphreys; his powerful shot from the left wasn't held by Gilkes, and TOMMY WIDDRINGTON was following in to poke the ball home.

Just as everyone was thinking about the half time results though, Pools went behind again. Some confusion between Robinson and Westwood allowed LEE MCEVILLY to collect the ball just inside the right hand edge of the area; and he curled home a superb shot that gave Taff no chance.


Pools came out for the second half looking more like the team we know they can be though, and almost equalised just two minutes after the restart. A Widds freekick from the right was knocked down into the path of Eifion Williams, who with time and space sent a powerful shot just over the bar.

Another kick from a similar point three minutes later saw Pools win a corner; and then another free kick as Hendo was fouled. The cross was cleared out to Darrell Clarke, who laid the ball across for TOMMY WIDDRINGTON to thump home from just inside the area.

Following the goal, Pools then started producing some great stuff as they went in search of the winner. A great move down the left provided an opportunity for Williams, who put his shot over the bar; and then some good interplay between Clarke and Humphreys saw the latter shoot venomously from the edge of the area: the ball hit a Rochdale defender on the line, and then went over the bar via Eifion's knees.

Williams then made another chance for himself with some good control that saw him beat his man, then another before shooting powerfully and causing Gilkes to produce a good save that lead to a corner. It was cleared, but the ball from Ritchie back in was headed wide by Tinkler.

Pools were laying siege to the Dale goal, playing some great stuff: Tinkler saw another opportunity go wide, but it looked o be a matter of when rather than if Pools scored again.

On 67 minutes came a controversial incident: a good ball in from the right towards Eifion saw Gilkes leap and take the ball from where Eifion was standing, only to carry the ball outside the area by a good yard. Despite the fact that Gilkes was the one who had made ground and collided with Eifion, who had merely jumped at the ball from a standing position, the Ref astonishingly decided the Pools striker had fouled the goalie! Had he done what he should have, the Dale 'keeper would surely have seen red.

More great play from Pools saw Tinks do well to chase a cross that had gone a little bit too far from Clarke; he kept the ball in and fed it back to Humphreys, who put a great ball in the Clarke at the back stick headed wide of the near post.

Taff was then called into action, making a good save from the dangerous Platt before Spike completed the clearance; the ball was played out to Clarke, who crossed into a crowded box for Henderson - who saw the ball very late - to head weakly wide.

Flash had been warming up for some time, and it was obvious to most what the change would be: Henderson hadn't been having the greatest game, and had looked out on his feet since the 65 minute mark. Amazingly, when the board was held up it was for Eifion Williams to make way for Watson; a decision that was met with booing before cheers for the Welshman, who had been doing a lot of work and causing a lot of problems to the Rochdale defence. It was no surprise to hear a few chants of "You don't know what you're doing" either - it was certainly a very odd decision, as it also left us without much pace up front.

This showed as for the remaining 15 minutes Pools didn't look like the same side without Eifion. Taff didn't help, almost getting caught out when he tried to take on Platt, before getting away with it big time when McEvilly put his shot towards an open goal well wide from Taff's weak clearance.

Paul Smith replaced Widds as Pools tried to get the all important goal, but despite spending most of the last few minutes camped inside the Rochdale half we struggled to create anything like a clear chance. After two minutes of stoppage time, the Ref blew his whistle and once more a few boos rang out round Victoria Park. Once again, no-one felt like celebrating much; and with the news that Rushden had demolished Macclesfield to stretch the gap to four points, who can blame us.

The destiny of the title - so certain just a couple of months ago - is now no longer in our hands, and it looks highly unlikely that the Diamonds will slip up at Leyton Orient next Saturday. The 1800 travelling Poolies at Nene Park look almost certain to be witnessing Rushden parading the Division Three trophy - a bitter pill to swallow when for so long it looked to be in our grasp.

Only Pools could do this - but come rain or shine, Pools fans we will remain. Though somehow I doubt that anyone there today will ever be able to look at this and laugh in years to come; or at least not without a hint of bitterness.