By Poolie Kev
August 25 2005

Poolie Kev didn't just come up for the Carling Cup win over Darlington - he brought a lucky mascot with him. A good time was had by all, and he's also had the opportunity to take in a reserve game to see how Mark Tinkler's return from injury is going. Somehow the A1 on the way home to Worksop seems shorter when I’ve travelled up to the Vic and we’ve won. On Tuesday night it seemed shorter than Belk Street. Where did they get that name??

I brought a mate of mine up to the game. He’s a keen Blades supporter and also an ex-player sometime just after the war I gather and having been to three aways, all of which we’ve won 1-0, was keen to sample the cauldron that is the Vic on match days. What better game to introduce him??

So arriving outside the Jacko’s at 4.15pm, quaffing began via the Ward Jackson and through the disembarking Darloids, who had a motorcycle escort and a protective screen of policemen, who’s paying for that then?? to the Millhouse, via the shop where he obligingly put £30 in the coffers for a training top. What a nice chap. We hit the ground about half seven just as the trading of insults began with it’s usual fervour. I wonder if they kiss their mothers with those mouths??

Happily, my mate Rog has still never seen Pools lose. The auld enemy vanquished good and proper and the excuses that flew from the Darloids were as risible as ever. ‘If Sam Russell had played you’d never have scored’ ‘Your players all cheated’ ‘The referee was a homer’ etc etc etc. Ladies and gentlemen of a Darloid persuasion, may I offer you this??

Your team’s not very good. Clyde Wijnhard is a donkey of massive proportions. So is Ndumbu Nsungu. He’s about as mobile as HMS Trincomalee. I could go on player by player and the one good one you’ve got has a vital flaw in his game. We know you’ve won a couple on penners so far but really, accusing US of cheating with Logan doing his Spanish footballer impression everytime there’s defender in the same half is just stupid, he’s not even good at it. It might work in the lower leagues, like…………

So next morning still bathing in the reflected glory and slightly hung over from the lock-in we got at the local on our return (luckily Kingy’s missus had had their new bairn earlier that evening and there was a head wetting ceremony in full swing, some nights are just made for celebration) I was eating a leisurely breakfast in Sainsbury’s with the local rag and noticed on the back page that Sheffield Utd B were playing Pools ressies last night. In Worksop. My cup runneth over and I spent a very convivial evening at Worksop Town watching a creditable 2-2 with Mark Tinkler as midfield general and tackling as ferociously as ever and breaking their play down, coming away with the ball. He looks good. So does the future on four unbeaten.

See you at Huddersfield.