By Albatross
May 21 2003

February continued in much the same way as January for Hartlepool United. Not everything was rosy though - as the fans wondered about the fact that Gordon Watson had still not returned to first team action. The Pools Online review of 2002/3 continues here.... The last days of January had seen heavy snowfalls all down the East Coast, and with the game at Darlington and the Tyne/Tees Derby already casualties, you might have expected the Pools game against Torquay to go the same way. The club though had other ideas, and appeals for help went out as everyone - from the Mayor to the Youth Team - got involved in helping the groundstaff. After a gargantuan effort, the match went ahead, and the three points gained from a comeback 3-2 victory were well worth the trouble. By this point, Pools were almost the only team in the division with no games to re-arrange, and with the points on the board the pressure was growing on Rushden and the other chasers. One disappointment though was an injury to Eifion Williams; he had to be taken off during the first half.

Eifion was already due to miss the next game, which was against Exeter the following Saturday, and Pools missed the suspended frontman. The game looked to be fizzling out to a 0-0 draw, but the introduction of Kevin Henderson with 12 minutes to go galvanised Pools, with goals from Humphreys and Boyd in the space of a couple of minutes handing Pools the win despite a late penalty for the Grecians. Meanwhile, Rushden were held to a 2-2 draw by Darlo, and their inability to beat Swansea the previous week meant that our lead at the top was suddenly in double figures.

The Gordon Watson saga though was starting to take yet another turn. Despite playing for the reserves, there was no sign of Flash returning to the first team - and rumours were soon circulating that Newell and Watson had had a falling-out. In fact, there had been whispers for some time, but now, with the fans clamouring for Flash to return to action, there was more credence given to them. Watson himself made a statement on the official site that he wasn't ready, stating that his leg and ankle still didn't feel right - but this did little to convince the increasing number of sceptics. "We won't see him in a Pools Shirt again" was heard from more than one or two people.

Back in the real world though, and February 15th saw an historic game: the first time my Fiancée went to a Pools match. OK, maybe not quite for those reasons, but Pools took on York for their second game on Sky of the season, and achieved a first for the club: we didn't lose. The financially struggling Minstermen were second best for much of the game, but a great performance from the on-loan Michael Ingham saw the game finish 0-0.

Struggling Swansea were the third visitors of the month to Vic Park, and Pools took advantage with a 4-0 win, Humphreys netting a hat-trick. The Swans were well and truly taken to the cleaners, and had the Pools finishing been a little better they could have been facing a hiding to match - or even exceed - the 7-1 scoreline the previous season.

The Manager of the Month award could easily have gone to Newell again, but instead Sean O'Driscoll of Bournemouth collected the award. His side had earned 3 points more than Pools over the month, but had needed two more games to do so. Still, things could hardly have looked brighter: Rushden were struggling in our wake, 14 points behind us, the playoff contenders were 20 points behind, and the bookies were no longer taking bets on the destination of the title. Watson was going to be back soon. With the last-ever Feethams derby to look forward to, Poolies were in exuberant mood. However, things were about to take a turn for the worse.