give the second half a miss if you have not seen the game already.

Great goals from Mols and clever finish from Bogle. Highlights also give a sense of how poor Killip was with crosses. Against a better team we would have been hammered despite a good team performance because Killip has no idea how to deal with crosses into the box. It is very concerning.

Highlight of the second half was the move that started with a great knock down from their centre forward, Luke James hit a great shot on the volley and Killip pulled off a remarkable save. Great action that.

It was not unlike Montys save from Peter Lorimer in the 1973 final, although maybe not as intentional.

Aye, I was thinking that myself. I recall seeing some grainy black and white footage of a similar save by the great Lev Yashin.

Not as ‘intentional’....... surely he must have intended to save it and it and succeeded...and not forgetting a keepers reactive instinct. He did well.

If you watch the highlights he made a few more quality saves as well as the one in the second half, as he also did on Saturday against Palace…

although shot stopping is a big part of being a keeper its not the only thing that matters. for every shot stopped there was a flap on a cross. bet crawley are practising getting crosses in around the edge of the goal area this week.

Crawley will know where our weakness lies just off watching Pools' last 3 league games - the whole panic when the ball comes into the box needs to stop - Lidds has saved his bacon so so many times - I know he has a wonder save or 2 in him but id like to see the other lad have a chance now.

Luke James would do well in our team now - he would be the perfect right/left hand sided attacking player to play along side Bogle (then grey to come on for him to finish teams off). He seems to have bulked up a bit and could hold the ball up. Would definitely welcome him back

think he would be a better player if he came back than the one that left. grey needs to be taken out of the firing line a bit. still a young lad who i love to see coming off the bench where his impact in 20 minutes is as much has it is in a full game. his time will come as a regular but at times i think he is being pushed now too quickly. prefer DC attitude to him.

First half we played some great stuff, second half we fell asleep a bit. Great couple of saves from killip, but he won't go anywhere if he can't pick a ball out the air from a cross.

Onto Crawley we could really do with a win, as expected the bottom clubs are also picking up points, like they tend to do every season.

Those of you who know more about football than I do can perhaps help with a question I have. If Killip is known to be poor in the air why not plan for this by saying defenders will deal with crosses and Killip only attempts to catch or punch if the ball is close to him. I mean it sounds logical to me but maybe in the heat of battle things are not so simple.

Think Oldham will survive on the basis that a former Prem league team cant possibly drop that far down the pyramid.
Many twists n turns to come on who joins Scunny in the NL next season.
Goin with Carlisle.

Killing has made some really good saves recently but that was all they were good saves that you would hope a decent goalie would make. I know it may sound daft but you wouldn’t be a professional goalkeeper if you couldn’t make good saves. Sadly he appears to be lacking in other parts of goalkeeping ie dealing with crosses.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo. For a start they pointed out he’s signing a two year contract with Barrow. His returns have never really worked out in the past and ALWAYS he gets a pass because he’s supposedly paired with the wrong players and this supposedly excuses any less than average performances.
Of course he’s bulked up, the whole Barrow team looked bulked up, like a flotilla of yank tug boats. When you play their style of football you have to bulk up.
You’ve got a team now, get behind them instead waxing lyrical about what if’s who
probably don’t want to come here anyway.
As for ‘kipper’, give the new lad a turn in goal, he’s certainly big enough to catch balls without jumping.

Just a thought but yes you are right hes signed a 2.5 year deal and they obviously see him as part of their plans - the team did play like a tag rugby team at times and i can see why little James isnt so Little anymore. Guessing Tom White will be the next fledgling into the Gym to train hard with the big lads as he seems their smallest player now.

but yeh i am getting behind the team we have as this team now looks to be very good and promising. I feel alot more confident now than i did just after X-Mas.

and agree all for the new GK getting a go on saturday and seeing what hes all about

if he is showing well in training then why not. i,d hate him not to get a game whilst he is here and then find next season he is loaned out to another div.2 club and ends up instrumental in getting them promoted.

He has to tested or why bring him here, it’s a waste otherwise.

The best way of stopping the keeper having to deal with crosses, is stop them coming in.
Something we are really poor at.

Or maybe on the whole we are good at stopping crosses but it takes very few crosses to lead to a goal because of Killip's inadequacies. Not arguing this is definitely the case but just putting it out there for discussion. I recall early in the season statistics showed that Pools had the fewest shots on their goal than any team in League Two. That was in DC's fist pumping days.

well barrow did not have many crosses or corners on tuesday but they looked dangerous every time they had one. its either our other defenders who are not that good with dealing with them plus clearing the ball when it drops to us also or killip makes em very nervous. air shots, slices and clearances that just make the edge of the box happens every week. possibly leave 3 up field on corners forcing them to bring 4 back would make the penalty area less crowded and killip may then have some room to move.

Why don't clubs ever seem to try this? Leaving one up is a luxury most Pools managers have thought they couldn't afford. Where would Grey and Molyneux be more useful - in our box or up near the halfway line?

Yeh its fundamentals of defending against a big team who like to crowd the box.

Sit a few players on the half way line for the break. Make sure your ball winning midfielder is sat on the edge of the box ready to dispatch said loose ball.

It would certainly benefit us now we have a pacy front line with grey and mols in the mix. Otherwise we try and stamp out the crosses better.

Opposition teams whose players consist of aspiring weight lifters have the old melee in the box as their primary tactic. It’s a calculated lottery that can pay off, but more rugby than footy, nothing skilful or entertaining about it, just ugly.