What a cracking match last night.

And a good Poolie turn out too.

Last night has got to be the best game of football I've seen for a long time. First 20 minutes we were under the cosh, with practically all of their threat coming down their right wing and they were cutting us to bits. Then we started to get back at them and the momentum swung further our way when the unfortunate Boland had to go off and young Foley came on. The choice of substitution was a managerial masterstroke, as Humphreys at left back had been skinned for fun so he was moved to central midfield with Matty Robson dropping to full back and Foley on the left.

And what a good job Matty Robson did, his pace counter acting their wing play and shoring up our defence brilliantly. The rest of the first half was predominately ours, we passed the ball brilliantly and were unfortunate not to score. 0-0 half time a fair reflection of an even half.

Second half we were excellent again, but the big difference from what we've seen against Pools in the last few years was the threat that Sheff Wed had going forward. Much much better than anything you see in the bottom two divisions, it reminded me of our early 90s foray into Division 3 when the gulf in attacking class hit you in the face in the early part of that first season up.

When we went in front I reckon it was as much as we deserved, but due to their quality up front we were never secure, and having missed opportunities to kill it off with a second they duly scored what was probably a deserved equaliser and took us to extra time.

Again, extra time was even with chances for both teams- either could have won it and it wouldn't have been undeserved. Unfortunately they did and as usual in extra time through a howler. Micky Nelson's double blunder of giving it away and then not getting it cleared back in his own six yard line was unfortunate for him as he'd played well. The whole of our outfield played well. To keep a championship side to two goals in two hours with Budtz in goal was brilliant.

Well done to the lads, well done to the Poolie turnout. If beating Wednesday in the league cup a few years back gave that team the confidence to know they could play at this level, then this match despite the result should give similar confidence to this team.

Gripes? Well there has to be some! Budtz again was an accident waiting to happen. I don't think he caught anything all night and was stuck to his line too much. His kicking was appalling and it was clear from the amount of unecessary hoofs clear that none of the defence have any confidence in him either, which is very worrying.

On the plus side, Matty Robson and David Foley were tremendous. Ian Moore had his best game I've seen so far, McCunnie continues to quietly and very effectively go about his business. Ritchie Humphreys, so far out of his depth at full back, was effective in midfield and with a few games to get used to playing there could be better still (I'll put the giving the ball away a few times down to him being "out of position").

PS. My match ratings...

Budtz- 5- a few spectacular looking saves but couldn't catch AIDS in an African brothel and the defence's lack of confidence in him is clear to see
McCunnie- 7- solid yet again, what a good signing he looks to be
Humphreys- 6- liability at full back, good game when he went into midfield
Nelson- 6- rare mistake for their goal, otherwise quite solid
Antwi- 6- decent game, but step up in class last night shows why he isn't anywhere near Liverpool's first team
Brown- 6- quietish game, certainly by his standards
Robson- 8- one of our better players, reduced their right wing threat when he moved to left back
Boland- 6- ok while he was on
Liddle- 9- the better the team he's playing against, the better and better he looks- absolute quality
Moore- 7- worked his socks off, good running off the ball creating space, best game I've seen from him in a Pools shirt. Oh, and he scored too!
Barker- 6- Worked hard but didn't offer too much
Foley- 8- keeps getting better and better, their defence didn't like him one bit
Monkhouse- 7- canny enough, some good touches and pass into Foley in the box was excellent
Porter- 6- ran about and worked hard, a few decent touches, missed an absolute sitter though

Were you at the same game? Foley gave possesion away time and time again!!! Needs to do much better than that. Being quick is an attribute but he needs to be able to make simple passes. How many times did he run straight into one of their men instead of keeping it simple? 100% effort but frustration nonetheless.

I would like to see the strikers show a bit more confidence. It seems like no-one is prepared to have a dig. There were a couple of occasions where we had the ball on the edge of the D and it was crying out to be struck, yet the players in question tried threading the through ball.

I agree with Jish, Foley didn't cut it for me. He looked dangerous on the ball but there was absolutely no end product.

He created spaces that weren't being created before he came on.

He pushed them back to defend deeper cos they were wary of his pace.

That in itself allowed us to play more in their half and led to us enjoying better possession.

I know what you are saying but I didn't think he was effective like he normally is. At times he looked well out of his depth and needlessly gave possesion away.

I would have personally brought Clarky on for Boland.

At the time so would I.

But we were getting raped by their right wing and being penned into our own half cos we had no pace to threaten them with to stop them pushing high up the pitch.

Hence why in hindsight I think it was a managerial masterstroke cos it changed the whole pattern of the game.

Don't get me wrong, I like Foley, but last night highlighted the fact that he'll be used as a "super-sub" more often than not. It was an ideal opportunity to show what he could do. Like I said, lots of effort but no end product.

Maybe it's something he'll learn with experience.

Porter needs to start on Saturday. Moore tries his hardest, but is anyone (even Wilson) confident that he can score goals. He IS meant to be a striker. I think we need someone who can stick it in the net very soon.

I'd start Porter and Barker on Saturday.

I would have last night if it had been up to me.

I don't think that Barker and Moore work together unless the only objective is to batter teams for 70 minutes and try to score from a set piece or a fresh legged sub in the last 20 minutes who can take advantage of a tiring defence.

It would be much more of a statement of intent of attacking football to start with either Barker or Moore beside either Porter or Foley (depending on fitness etc), especially in home games.