THE LEAGUE Cup - or in whatever guise is appears these days - has few supporters.

And it probably has even fewer in Hartlepool, because Pool's winless run in the competition was last night extended to seven years as Pool went down to Tranmere at Victoria Park.

You have to go back to a thrilling 7-6 penalty shoot-out win over Scarborough in 1995 to discover the last League Cup tie Pool won.

Tranmere have twice knocked Pool out in the first round of the competition, the first time in 1997 when the competition was a two-legged affair.

Pool clawed level at 1-1 with 11 minutes to go through Eifion Williams, but an expertly-taken free-kick from Ryan Taylor four minutes later sunk Pool.

While there was no place in round two for Pool, there was no starting place last night for Gordon Watson.

Watson was in line - as revealed in yesterday's Northern Echo Sport - to face Kevin Gray for the first time since the then Huddersfield defender shattered Watson's leg in an horrific tackle in 1997.

Their last meeting was in 1999 in the High Court when the Pool striker won almost £1m in damages.

Last night, however, Pool boss Chris Turner ensured his star striker was kept out of the action and missed what could have been a fiery reunion.

His place went to Adam Boyd, and Watson - with five goals to his name this season - wasn't given the chance to add to his tally, or even prove a point to Gray, as Pool chased the game.

With a minute on the clock, Watson's regular partner Williams should have scored, but with just the keeper to beat his shot was pushed out by John Achterberg for a corner which was amazingly not given by Chester-le-Street referee Mark Clattenburg, despite the visitors taking up defensive positions in the penalty area.

Pool keeper Anthony Williams produced a great block to deny Stuart Barlow and the former Everton man then screwed wide from six yards.

The Pool keeper however was beaten on 37 minutes. A left-wing corner from Taylor was touched past Williams by Haworth.

The passion the Pool fans wanted came after half-time. Boyd was denied his first goal of the season when his header was kept out by a combination of Achterberg and Gray.

With just ten minutes left Turner threw Graeme Lee up front with Boyd dropping deeper and the switch soon paid dividends as Boyd saw his shot charged down and the ball fell for Williams to tap into an empty net.

But just as Pool got themselves level, they were soon behind. Robinson conceded a free-kick on the edge of the area and Ryan Taylor curled his shot past Williams.

Result: Hartlepool United 1 Tranmere Rovers 2.

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