Pools crash out

Friday night football means the next two Saturdays are free in the Pool calendar; the FA Cup exit at Swindon sees another blank weekend in the dreaded run up to the holiday period.

Pool are without a Saturday game until going to Bristol Rovers on December 15 - and that means the dreaded days out at the MetroCentre or Teesside Park beckon.

Yet it's even worse for those fans who don't regularly travel away, they have to wait until December 29 before they see their side on action on a Saturday.

And what will make being dragged around the shopping emporiums of the North-East even harder to bear is the fact that Pool could easily be in the second round of the FA Cup.

A 3-1 defeat may have onlookers rubbishing the claim; anyone there will paint a different picture.

Apart from it seems those at Match of the Day. "An easy 3-1 win for Swindon" they declared on Saturday night.

The result more than flattered the home side, it should have embarrassed them.

"I don't think there will be any other team that gets beat 3-1 and will feel pleased with how they have played,'' reflected Chris Turner.

"We had a mad one minute, but apart from that we were well in control - even before and after they scored in the second half - and played well.

"We could easily have had four on another day - we hit the bar three times. Of course I don't like losing, but playing like that and creating chances against a Second Division side away from home it would have been easy to capitulate when they scored twice, instead we worked hard and took the game to them.

"I think the reaction of our fans at the end said a lot; if we are going to lose then do it playing well.''

Swindon boss Roy Evans has won the FA Cup with Liverpool in 1992. Maybe that was praying on his mind when he was writing his programme notes.

"For Chris Turner and his side this is a mini Cup final,'' he mused. Swindon are currently 16th in Division Two - it would hardly have been a shock of Whitby v Plymouth proportions if Pool had triumphed. They hardly looked like a side capable of going much further.

"Roy thought we were excellent,'' revealed Turner. "He's been around in the game for a long time and he knows when his opponents have done well and he said we played well.

"In general play I really couldn't see them scoring. Our two up front were a handful and created plenty of chances in the second half.

"Hopefully they can form a partnership which get goals in the League. If we can work hard and play like that we can have a good season.''

Pool were looking more than comfortable against their Second Division opponents to the extent that the moans of home fans were becoming more and more frequent before a two-goal burst in a minute.

First Jon Bass brought down Eric Sabin in the area and big Neil Ruddock stepped up to slot in.

Seconds later, Anthony Williams couldn't keep hold of a cross and pushed the ball into the path of Danny Invincible who wasn't going to miss.

But Darrell Clarke hit back just as quickly, volleying home his first goal for Pool when Gordon Watson's header came off the bar.

That gave Pool the determination to claw their way back. They played the better football, asked all the questions and still managed to fall further behind when Matt Heywood headed in a corner.

There was only 16 minutes to go and Pool still had time to almost salvage a draw.

Gordon Watson broke through and his shot cannonned off the bar, falling into the path of Ritchie Hmphreys, but instead of hammering it home first-time, he took the ball under control and instead of celebrating his first goal for Pool, saw his effort blast back off the bar for the sort of chance likely to be seen on those football bloopers videos Pool fans can buy in the shops next Saturday.

* Defender Mark Robinson was on the bench on Saturday after suffering a hamstring strain in training on Friday. He is expected to be fit for Tuesday's game with Halifax. Gordon Simms hurt his foot in the first half on Saturday when he kicked an opponent's foot and had an X-ray on Sunday night.