Banana Skins slipped on
Notts County v Sutton
Bromley v Hartlepool
Stockport v Dagenham
Stockport v Woking


Remaining:

Maidenhead v Sutton
Sutton v Hartlepool
Barnet v Sutton

Stockport v Torquay
Torquay v Barnet
Altringham v Torquay

Stockport v Torquay
Stockport v Woking
Yeovil v Stockport

Sutton v Hartlepool
Aldershot v Hartlepool
Hartlepool v Weymouth

I suppose Sutton and Torquay's kits look like banana skins...

This might help a bit. But not much!

Judging by the number of home games remaining Sutton and Stockport look to have the best chances. Torquay have the toughest set of fixtures and only 2 home games left.

Then again, banana skins are the results nobody expects. Chances are somebody will suffer an upset on the last game of the season, even though everybody looks to have a winnable fixture.

I hope Sutton miss out. 4 more games on their plastic pitch and all set to do a Harrogate. It doesn't sit right with me.

can see the last games of the season being banana skins for the other 3 somehow. the day when nerves really kick in. think it will help pools with challinor being in this position more than once and his ability to get a group of players over the line. never thought i,d ever be in the position of wanting halifax town to win a game like i do today. there are a few games where each team play eachother but thanfully not one that play everyone which can happen.

I suppose, make that hope, that fatigue may come in for Sutton with them having to play an extra game. Torquay too have some very long trips but then they always do. Ultimately these things give Stockport a marginal advantages.

Pools the only team of the 4 to play at home on the last day

I’ve just watched Woking vs Weymouth. Those 2 are the banana skins that Pools slipped on. These 2 couldn’t stop anything today. How the heck did we drop any points to them.

Looking like a close exciting finish for the top 4 teams.
Wudent be surprised if it's mathematically possible that all four can still win the league on the last day.

Pools to score 2 injury time goals in a 5 0 win v Weymouth to win the league on G/D.

Karma Time.

biggest game for pools will be the game at bromley tomorrow. they had saturday off and pools finished late and travel down today. not much real rest. would take a point now. typical pools luck having a game like that away so quickly after another.

One advantage of having a big squad is Pools can rotate players for this game. Challinor said in his post-match interview there'd be changes made. Could be kidology, but from the sound of things Cass is one who'll be kept away from the plastic pitch, maybe Shelton too. I reckon Molyneux will start against Bromley.

whilst the squad is a bit stronger than it was there are still a number of players that have not had much game time and you cannot rely upon to be involved much in games. games for a few clubs today will become a bit of a lottery. one team with a nearly full squad to pick from and others struggling. 2 games in 3 days with no fans seems pointless to me and these games should have been put back either 24 hours or 8 days.

updated

My gut feeling is :

Remaining:

Sutton v Weymouth. H
Sutton v Woking. H
Maidenhead v Sutton. D
Sutton v Hartlepool. D
Barnet v Sutton. A

Torquay v Bromley. H
Stockport v Torquay. D
Torquay v Barnet. H
Altringham v Torquay. A

Stockport v Torquay. D
Stockport v Dagenham. H
Stockport v Woking. H
Yeovil v Stockport. A

Hartlepool v Maidenhead. H
Sutton v Hartlepool. D
Aldershot v Hartlepool. A
Hartlepool v Weymouth. H

That would give us all 10 more points except Sutton who get 11

That would leave the table pretty much as it is, Torquay win it and we finish fourth, a point behind Stockport.

If we manage to beat Sutton and all other games as above then we would finish second.

As well as obviously winning our games, the crucial one is Stockport v Torquay and I think the best result for us is probably a Torquay win to make sure of a top 3 finish as to catch Torquay would need Pools to win all games and they only picking up 5 points, unlikely.

I don’t recall the last time I was so interested in other teams results at the right end of the table!

all these ifs and buts will affect our sanity in the end. never has the saying take things a game at a time as ever been as true as this. barring a real miracle pools are in the play offs now. its getting the right position for the one or two games we,ll have to play to get into the final. some teams we,d rather play than others. thats where luck comes in for all the teams.

Our kid has a degree in Mathematics

And worked it out that due to a few teams below us are playing each other .
They can't all win so we have already qualified for the play offs.
Hopefully this little blip in form is behind us and we back on track for promotion.
UTP.

Tonight match Stockport v Dagenham might not be the walkover that most will expect. Dagenham are coming off the back of a 5-0 away win so confidence will be high. Also they still have an outside chance of a play off place.

pools came off the back of hammering wealdstone and chesterfield and lost their next 2 games. anything can happen in any game and stockport can have an off day like our defence had on saturday. they are on a better run than pools where and we know once the run is up what can happen. dagenham can really do pools a favour tonight.

Ye.
You previous result in this division counts for nothing as a few teams think they just have to turn up to win and that includes Pools.
Crazy division which I imagine the bookies do well from.

yes, and those games that people class as easy because of the opposition have nothing to play for is rubbish. no player likes to lose a game and are looking for contracts for the next season at some club or another. anyone who looks to have a could not care less attitude will be well down a managers wish list.

Up to a point - if you're suggesting there being no relegation from the NL this season has had zero influence on results I'd have to disagree with you.

I posted several weeks back that the scratch sides that some teams have had to put out because they've furloughed most of their players will give it a right go for 45 minutes but aren't capable of keeping it going for the full 90 against the better sides. There've been plenty of examples of that sort of performance. Wealdstone going in 0-0 at half time at Stockport on Bank Holiday Monday before losing the game 4-0 is typical.

I'm sure there'll be more to come in the remaining games. Pools home to Weymouth on the last day of the season should be one - as long as we don't gift them a couple of early goals like we did at King's Lynn

Woking could do us a favour at Sutton tonight but are unlikely to. They have given up in all but name. Lots of youngsters starting and the older ones are increasingly injured. Could be due to them knowing they are out the door next season. I'm still working on how I can get a ticket to the Sutton vs Pools match.

1-1 draw! Great call there - you don't do racing tips by any chance?

Woking, predictably, going down at Sutton. Looks like we will be needing together some points off Sutton to ensure a top 3 finish

Third spot is now the realistic goal to aim for, the games against Aldershot and Weymouth ones we need to win. The Sutton game is going to be tough, especially at theirs, so a point would be a good result. It’s between us and Stockport for third place, below that will be a much tougher route.

I’ve got an eye on Notts County. Just starting to turn for them since their assistant was fired. Always a team coming into form who pull something off in the play-offs.

3rd spot would be massive for us. At full strength I think we’ve got a chance.

Just call me Nostradamus:)

realistically its a fight between us and stockport for that third spot unless the wheels really come off for both clubs. in the play off lottery stakes it will be about a full strenth pools side. last saturday we saw what having certain players out or coming back did.

I can't see how we can finish 3rd unless we beat Sutton. I expect Stockport to get 6 or 7 points depending on the result against Torquay. I reckon they'll win the other two. For us and assuming that we win in the other two games (otherwise its academic) We need to finish a point ahead because equal points leaves us well adrift on GD.

3 wins for Pools and Torquay winning at Stockport on Saturday would do the trick, but it's a very tall order.

Pools winning at Aldershot and Sutton and County drawing with Torquay and beating Woking would set up a real nail biter on the last day of the season, with both teams on 76 points. A Stockport win at Yeovil would give them 3rd place whatever we do against Weymouth short of winning about 15-0. But Yeovil are a decent side despite having a terrible season, and last day nerves getting to County just might swing it for us... or they score a winner in the 94th minute.

All things considered, come on Pools, come on Torquay!

just wish pools had two home games instead of 2 away ones. my lad wishes stockport had 2 away ones. think he said that they have only won 8 at home all season which has cost em winning the league. anything can still happen apart from pools getting a winner in torquay time after the other games have ended.

Our best chance is winning all three and hope someone does us a favour but ...............

Stockport County 2- Torquay United2

So it all comes down to this - Pools only shot at finishing 3rd* - provided we get the small matter of beating the NL champions elect on their plastic pitch out of the way next Saturday .

Can't be more than a 10% chance of it coming down to Pools nicking 3rd place on the last day of the season. Still, massive well done to Dave Challinor and everyone at the club for getting us into the play offs!



*unless Woking do something at Stockport, which is not in a million years going to happen.

Can't see us beating Sutton at their place especially now if they win they get automatic..

Even if we finish 4th it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise - if we have to win a play off quarter final it might give us momentum to go for the away win in the semis

What's the craic with the covid attendance for games, is it 25% across the board regardless of capacity?

According to this government guidance issued last month, for small stadiums like the Vic the capacity limit is set at a maximum of 50% of seated capacity.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... spectators


According to an article on Victoria Park on Wiki the total seated capacity at the Vic is 4,249, so 2,100 fans ought to be possible rather than 1,700.

I think the local authority and/or the Police also chip their twopenneth in as well. Apparently on top of that there is a safety problem with the NW corner, though I'm not sure whether that is a factor or not.
The club should just announce an exact official figure and how it was arrived at. That would save all the speculation.

Could do without Sutton's plastic pitch. We never fare well and always seem to encounter numerous injuries/scrapes/knocks whenever we play on them!

i always feel pools are beaten before they go out on these plastic pitches. we must have players and management who just cannot come to terms with the things. one way to avoid playing on them in the future is getting out of this league forever.

Drawn the last couple at Sutton haven’t we? Stockport will win the last two, so no point worrying go to Sutton and just have a go.

If we can take it to the final day - you never know - Yeovil might pull something out the bag for us against Stockport.

might end a pointless game like ours against weymouth. if pools lose on sunday and stockport beat woking then thats it.

There's always twists and turns in football, who would have bet on Villa putting 7 past Liverpool and them loosing 6 on the bounce at home v lesser clubs. I can't here a fat lass singing just yet.

Notts County are coming into this in red-hot form as well. The Play-Offs are unbelievably good quality this year.

County have a great chance of finishing 5th. If Pools have to play two play off games the first one could be home to anyone of Wrexham, Chesterfield, Bromley or Eastleigh - who are finishing strongly and have a game in hand on the rest. Halifax still have an outside chance but look to have blown it. I fancy our chances against any of them at the Vic.

I fancy ourselves at home to any of them in the first playoff game. Its the 2nd one when we are away that worries me, trying to get a win at any of the current top 3 is going to be difficult. If we get through that game, then I fancy us to beat anyone in the final, as we will both be away!!

Got our little blip out of the way.
Expect us to see the season out unbeaten which =
Back in the Football League.
UTP.

agree if we have a full squad to pick from. the nightmare defeats have been with players out with the replacements just not up to it.

Stockport got theirs!

Stockport 1 Woking 1

Ahhh Hmmm! what did I say! UTP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got ours too. Nobody expected a good shoeing.