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May
Hull
City 0 Pool 3. Chris Turner played the Fergie minds games all week
stating he would approach the final game like any other game this season.
He would not be changing his formation and definitely not going for all
out attack. Well Pool started with James Coppinger in attack with Graeme
Lee and Kevin Henderson supporting, Paul Arnison dropped down to the bench.
Attacking away from the travelling fans, Pool got off to a dream start.
In only the third minute Ian Clark swung over a left sided corner and
Graeme Lee rose highest at the near post to head the ball home. Cue celebrations
for the 1000+ fans in the away end. Six minutes later and Christmas came
early, Paul Stephenson was brought down and from the resulting free kick
he found Jamie Coppinger who headed into the far corner of the net from
12 yards. Another ripple of polite applause occurred in the away end!
The home fans didn't look too happy and a couple of divots spilled onto
the pitch. In the 20th minute Darren Knowles came out of a 50/50 worst
and was stretchered from the pitch, replaced by Paul Arnison. In the 30th
minute Gary Strodder received the red card from Frazer Stretton (yes him!
remember Halifax away?), Strodder was late with his challenge and went
through the back of David Brown, but red was harsh, yellow would have
been better. Graeme Lee dropped back into the centre of defence. From
Pools third corner came Pools third goal. In the 36th minute Ian Clark
again from the left swung the ball in and after a mini scramble in front
of goal Kevin Henderson tapped the ball over the line. The away fans were
pleased again! The mobile phone companies were doing good business as
the Pool fans rang out for news on Torquay and Southend. A round of 'One
Stevie Howard' signalled good news from Plainmoor as Northampton turned
a 1-0 deficit into a 1-2 lead, but Cheltenham had the lead at Southend.
As the first half came to a close, news of an equaliser for Southend came
through and the fans could try and relax a little during the break. Had
the news of Pools great first half show got through to both Torquay and
Cheltenham? who knows. During the second half 10 men Pool never look troubled
and could have added more goals to their tally. But what the hell was
going on at Roots Hall? If you can't beat them, join them! the ITN mobile
was as busy as any with attempts to find out what was going on. As the
second half progressed, on the pitch Pool were in full control, off it
the fans were doing their best to cheer Pool on no matter what was going
to happen. A second goal for Cheltenham would have signalled the end for
Pool. Chris Turner replaced the hard working Henderson with McAvoy and
then Coppinger with Craig Midgley. Two minutes from time the Pool fans
in the seats jumped up, then the centre of the away end, then all of us,
Southend had grabbed a last minute winner. Pool were into the play off's.
The celebrations had begun, but stopped as the PA announced the final
scores, Steve Howard had done the business at Plainmoor for Northampton
against Torquay and then the confirmation the Cheltenham had lost. Ironically
Pool must face Darlington for the right to play at Wembley. Pool dragged
Darlington into the play off's on Bank Holiday Monday, could they now
go on and destroy the Reynolds dream? With the first leg at Victoria Park,
ticket arrangement became a major talking point as organisation went out
of the window and people stood in line for hours. Season ticket holders
were given little or no priority as get rich quick Pool panicked. Inside
of three days all 7200 tickets were sold and the hype was kicking in.
The local media had picked up on the massive interest and both Pool and
Darlo were gaining coverage in every paper and on all the television channels.
Pool 0 Darlington 2. As the ground filled up and the atmosphere
reached boiling point, news of injuries to key Pool players filtered through.
Kevin Henderson, Darren Knowles and Gary Strodder were all ruled out with
injuries. Central defender Strodder was ruled out with a calf strain picked
up in training of Friday. Striker Henderson was laid low with a stomach
bug, whilst right back Knowles failed to recover from a knee injury picked
up at Hull in Pools previous match. Chris Turner was forced to shuffle
his pack and push Graeme Lee back into the centre of defence. Paul Beavers
and Craig Midgley were brought into the Pool attack. In the 36th minute
the visitors took the lead. A trip on Neil Heaney resulted in a free kick
on the right of the Pool box. The set piece was sent across goal and headed
back to the penalty spot by Tutill, and Craig Liddle was the first to
react and put his half volley past Hollund. The 56th minute of the game
saw what was possibly the turning point of the whole match. Gary Jones
fired in a 25 yard shot which Collett could only parry. Craig Midgley
was first on the scene and quickly gained control of the ball and rounded
the keeper. With the simple task of pushing the ball over the line, Midgley
seemed to get caught in two minds. Take the goal or pass to Coppinger
and Arnison. He rolled the ball along the line with Coppinger unable to
arrive and the back post quick enough and Arnison expecting the net to
bulge. 6300 Hartlepool fans were on the verge of celebrating pulling level,
a truly amazing miss.
In the 75th minute Glen Naylor and Lee Nogan replaced Martin Gray and
Peter Duffield. Whilst Pool replaced James Coppinger with Andy McAvoy.
From the restart Gabbiadini did well down the left and play Naylor in
on goal. Naylor appeared to be three yards offside, a statement David
Hodgson agreed with after the match. The assistant referee did not flag
and Naylor was free to take on Martin Hollund. The Pool keeper was adjudged
to have brought Naylor down has he tried to round the Norwegian. Television
replays showed there was little contact. But a penalty was awarded and
Martin Hollund was shown the red card. Chris Turner immediately replace
Paul Arnison with Andy Dibble, and Pools second choice keeper went straight
on to face the spot kick. Dibble guessed right and appeared to get a touch
to the ball, but he could not prevent Marco Gabbiadini increasing Darlington's
lead. In the 79th minute the game nearly spilled over. Glen Naylor kicked
out at Chris Westwood, who had to be restrained by his team mates. David
Hodgson entered the field of play to try and calm the situation down.
This did little but incense the home crowd. Naylor was booked for his
actions. As Hodgson returned to his dugout he appeared to be hit by an
object thrown from the Millhouse stand. He reacted to this by going to
the edge of the pitch and looked to gesture to the home fans. Hundreds
of fans reacted and Hodgson very nearly incited a riot. Swift action from
the stewards and Chris Turner went someway to cooling the situation. As
the clock ran down Pool attempted to get back into the game. However Darlington
had now pulled men back and were happy to settle for what they had got.
Paul Stephenson tried his luck from the edge of the area, but was high
and wide with his shot.
The team worked hard, but with the late withdrawals of key players the
settled side had been upset. The introduction of Gary Jones proved to
be the turning point for Pool and with a difficult second leg coming up,
the striker should start at Feethams. Defeat in the first leg meant Pool
had the proverbial mountain to climb in the second. Two goals to pull
back was not impossible, but it would need to be one of the all time great
result for Pool at Feethams.
Darlington 1 Pool 0. It was all change again as Chris Turner came
up with another surprise name on the team sheet as he opted for Chris
Freestone to partner Gary Jones and Graeme Lee upfront. Gary Strodder
returned and Andy Dibble took Martin Hollund's place in goal, Hollund's
suspension from his sending off in the first leg took immediate effect
resulting in Dibble's recall. Darren Knowles and Kevin Henderson were
left out after both failed to recover from injuries. James Coppinger was
absent from the team as was Paul Beavers. Pool were looking for an early
goal, but got the worst possible start. In the 8th minute a right wing
cross was turned into his own net by Gary Strodder. There was little Andy
Dibble could do about the goal and Pool now had an even bigger mountain
to climb. Pool battled hard throughout the game and Chris Freestone had
what looked a perfectly good goal disallowed after Collet failed to collect
a Pool corner. A battling display from Turners men, but defeat meant the
end of Pools Wembley dream and a journey to the Twin towers for rivals
Darlington. A disappointing reaction from the home fans who raced towards
the visiting Pool fans looking to spark off trouble. To their full credit,
there was no reaction from the Pool fans apart from even more singing.
An end of season injury jinx saw Chris Turner having to change his team
for both games. Pools only downfall had been a lack of goals, a problem
which has been present throughout the whole season.
The story
concludes.............next.
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