Bit later than usual, just in , didnt have use of a laptop on way home tonight.

Funny old game tonight, if you took a straw poll of people at the game you may find that every result could have been mentioned , some would say Stockport deserved to win, some may say Pools deserved to win. Me well I'll sit on the fencs and say a draw would have been fair tonight.

First half we started fairly brightly and probably edged the first 10-15 minutes with some half chances. Though until later on they probably had the best chance when a cross from the right was headed high and wide from a good position and a good snap ahot flow only just over the bar. But the best chance of the half,in my opinion fell to Liddle just on the half time whistle when he intercepted the ball and ran straight at the centre half, he seemed to lack the confidence of some sort of shot from 20 yds or so , dallied on the ball wnating to pass to I think was Porter to his left and left it to late to do just that and the chance was lost. But at 0-0 it was probably fair at half time.

Virtually straight from kick off a game of pinball in the Stockport box and around it should have led to Pools taking the lead ,but 2/3 half chances went begging,not connected with right and the ball was cleared.

Then the inevitable a piece of bad defending, and I dont usually apportion blame, and this will give his knockers some ammo, but Humphreys fell asleep for a second in the box , one of their lads got in front of him and we're a goal down.

Their 2nd goal is a good strike but once more comes from a poorly taken POOLS, yes POOLS corner again, they break quick and end up winning a corner of their own, this is put of to the same side for a 2nd corner which although headed clear doesn't really get any distance( not sure who the header from) and it hit straight back for 2-0. Pools do persist in trying to get back into the game but when chances fall it appears no one had the confidence to actually have a go. Our goal comes from Mackay who has replaced Foley when he receives the ball in the left side of the box and he curls the ball past the Stockport keeper into the far corner. All in all not to bad a performance, though a Stockport fan was heard to describe us as the worst team to visit Edgeley Park this season, his mate replied well with Turner in charge what can you expect. Whether Turner in charge or not I find it hard to believe we are the worst team their this year , if that the case then there must been some very good ones.

Decent perfomances by most, nothing outstanding inmy opinion and nothing to bad.

We stay 15th the gap 8 points and one game more used by the teams chasing us , so not to bad a night, other result wise.

Cheltenham is important on Saturday and hopefully we can get the points.

Steel my thunder eh Fetish

Sums up pretty much what i put i think.

Stockport were the worst team I've seen for a long time. But we always seem to lose to teams that don't impress.

Do you know why they won? Because they could be arsed to go forward. We couldn't, especially Gary fookin Liddle.
Monkhouse didn't turn up either tonight, which made a big difference.

Oh yes, I forgot our defence. When they had us under the cosh for those two or three minutes when they scored their first, all it needed was for one of our players to welly the ball over the stand or at least attempt to pass it upfield and that would have put an end that.
For their second we just didn't take the threat of a shot seriously

That was it. They had about ten minutes of good spells in the whole game. We had much, much, more.

Players who played with enough conviction: Sweeney, Clark, Porter, Parker, Mackay.
The rest can welcome to the board until they understand a game lasts 90 minutes and every minute counts.

Parker looked good at Stockport! His best game for us! Mackay took his goal well but i think we should have made subs earlier!

Sorry like but I cant resist. This is pissing me right off at the moment.

We have too many so called good players that just dont score any goals.

Parker 0 from 3.
Nardiello 0 from 4?
Guy 0 from 5
Henderson 0 from 10?
Foley 0 from 3,567

Even Porter doesnt score many in away games.

Infact other than one Rune Lange goal at MK Dons, the last striker to score for pools in an away league game (other tha Mackays late consolation last night), was Joel Porter on the 22nd November at Leeds.

THAT IS FOOOKIN APPALLING.

Yet we all just keep blaming the defence.

Well sorry ladies, but the defences confidence must be wafer thin knowing that we dont have strikers with balls to step up to the plate in away games.

They will never keep clean sheets whilst they know no fooker is ever gonna score at the other end.

So other than Langes goal at Franchise FC, WHICH PUT US 1 UP FOR ALL OF 30 SECONDS , can someone tell me the last time went one up with a goal from a striker in an away game?

James Brown Carlisle October 28th

and that ladies, is why we are 15th.

Porter has scored once away in the league all season, and that was in a 4-1 dicking (at Leeds).

It's the whole team, do we really 'domimate' so many away games? How many clear cut chances do we create away from home?? If we created as many as is suggested I reckon Joel might have scored more than one away goal in the league.

Oy you yer great noddle! Notice I blamed our failure to press forward before addressing the problem of our defence which keeps oscillating between on and off.

For the record Mackays finish was superb, sheer class. The last result I was expecting was a goal. He was up there on his own, one on one with the goalie and no one to pass to, and the angle looked far too small for him to shoot. The goalie closed the angle down even further and did everything right by the book. A lot of strikers might have hesitated and ended up running into trouble. But Mackay eyed up the target and found the exact spot. A fookin' beauty in pure finesse. Well done Michael.

We were extremely fortunate that Stockport's Striker (O'Grady or summat - the Number 7) was probably the worst professional footballer that has ever graced a footy pitch. He single handedly managed to fook up at least a dozen good Stockport attacks.

We'll probably end up getting him in on loan

Was he the Joleon Lescott look-alike?

yer