By Albatross
October 14 2003

Forget the League, the Carling Cup, FA Cup... tonight it's the big one - the LDV Trophy! Then again, maybe not. Hartlepool United have drawn Oldham Athletic, but personally I'm not too bothered by what goes on at Boundary Park tonight. Yes, it's that time of year when our thoughts turn once again to cup glory, finals at the Millenium Stadium, that special atmosphere that only a Cup Tie can bring and... oh, hang on, it's only that flaming LDV thing again isn't it. Forget I said that. It's the time of year when teams throughout the second and third divisions, and selected Conference clubs, play in a competition that nobody cares about until the last eight and debate whether or not we should be taking the opportunity to play a few fringe players.

I make no bones about it - I'm not a great fan of the LDV Trophy, or any of it's previous incarnations either. Especially over the last few seasons, a competition that's been at best a distraction from the League (and haven't we needed it sometimes!) has become gradually more and more devalued. There may be money to be made, and a trophy to be won - but you have to get a long way for it to make sense financially, and with the biggest names in the competition being whoever came down from Division 1 the previous season it's not even as if you can get a draw against a big side.

We've had our moments in the competition, most notably a certain Jackie Honour goal to beat Denis "Stigma" Smith's Sunderland side in the late 80's - but that was a long time ago now. I've been to a few of the games in the recent past - one advantage of having a regional competition is that we've played a few teams from the North-West, in easy reach for me - but to be honest I simply don't find these games appealing at the moment. Does witnessing an 8-0 hammering at Crewe eight years ago have anything to do with that? Maybe, but bear in mind I've also seen Stuart Brightwell score a cracking golden goal at Chester, and Jan-Ove inspire Pools to victory over Shrewsbury in this competition too. Attendances though seem to indicate that I'm far from the only fan around the country that sees this as a competition too far.

It's not that I'd turn down the chance to win it - heaven knows we'd love to put some silverware on the sideboard at long last. But it's not something I can get excited about, at least not in these early rounds. More and more teams are playing less than full-strength sides in the opening stages at least; and this isn't exactly saving players for the Champions League is it? Managers too seem to recognise that there's far bigger fish to fry, and for that to come from teams in the lower divisions says a great deal to me about the regard this competition is held in. In theory, this ought to be a serious competition - after all, it's one of only two trophies that teams in the lower divisions have a realistic chance of lifting, together with their divisional title. The reality is very different.

Nevertheless, Pools look set to play a strong line-up tonight at Boundary Park, with Oldham set to do similar. Latics have been in good form of late, and their performances on the pitch seem to be in defiance of all the problems off it. Nine games have passed since their last defeat (at Brentford), with five wins lifting them into 9th place. Recent home victories over Luton, Stockport and then on Saturday against Port Vale, have helped them become one of the form sides in Division 2. Goals have not flowed freely, with their leading scorer being veteran midfielder John Sheridan with 5 - all from the Penalty Spot.

He may not play tonight though, possibly being given the chance to rest his aching limbs (he's come back from retirement to play this season), but the name of Sheridan may well still feature in the Oldham Midfield with brother Darren set to come into the side. Other changes may be to avoid a couple of players risking suspension - both John Eyre and Mark Hudson will miss a game if they pick up another yellow, so David Beharall and sometime Pools triallist Matt O'Halloran may get the chance to start. Newcastle's Calvin Zola - scorer of three goals in his loan spell - will almost certainly start as well.

For Pools, we've been told that the same squad will travel for the game, and Cooper is making noises that indicate he's not going to change things very much. Westie is available again of course, and he may start - but it may be that some of the people on the bench recently may get more of a taste of first team action. Arnison on the right and Boyd up front may be a possibility, and it may be an opportunity for Andy Jordan to show what he can do in defence. Whatever lineup Coops decides on, it's certain to be stronger than the reserve side that got thrashed by Tranmere in this competition last season.

Prediction? Not a very big crowd, despite reduced entry fees, a game that looks more like a friendly or a reserve game in terms of atmosphere, and Oldham to go through 2-1 in Extra Time after Eifion scores to put Pools in front. Then we can all go away and forget this strange competition - for another year at least.