Blackpool's Vital View

Worsley Seasider writes about yesterday's game.

"What`s that coming over the hill??.... is it promotion…is it promotion??…." Was one chant from the North yesterday after what turned out to be a great result…eventually!!
So go on then…. How many of you can be honest and say at half time you would have settled for a point from this game?? Because that was the conversation between Bollieboy (from the forum) and myself at the interval, and I think i would have. Pool just weren`t at the races first half. Don`t think we were necessarily bad, but we just lacked the spark we needed to get going. Whether it was nerves, or even contentment at the position we were in, I don`t know, but we were a shadow of the team that came out in the second half.

Pool were backed throughout by the nosiest Bloomfield road I have heard in a long time, and despite a few quiet spells, the sound was great throughout by a fantastic very vocal home support. Despite that I was disappointed with the turn out, we need to be filling the ground week in week out, (and should be from the position we are in!). Some great chants of "one nil and you F*&%@d it up", together with trying to get a chant going for nearly every player on the pitch, was the soundtrack to a great second half performance at a time when we needed it to cement that play off place.

Northampton were not a bad outfit. They had some decent players and worked very well as a team, it wasn`t just us being poor that led to the 0-1 half time score, and it wasn`t until our third went in that I actually thought we were safe! Though there were always a the classic League One direct team, and we were still playing the better "football". The stats however, make interesting reading Pool only just shading possession over the whole game and actually having less goal attempts (on and off target) than the Cobblers, but the play in the second half by Pool was as good as they have played this season, proper free flowing attacking play that we all know they are capable of.

The switch of Forbes for Brandon will get the headlines, but the change in formation should also get a mention as, plus the better work rate throughout the team really made the difference in what really was the classic game of two halves. If the rumours of Adie leaving the ground straight after showering and changing are true, we may not see him again??

First time I`ve seen Brandon "live" and what I liked was the way he was willing to run at defending players, and was always trying to find space, something we are often lacking from the wide areas. His first goal was a great run of determination and a good finish, his second a fantastic goal, though credit has to go to Parker, who showed how he has changed in actually looking up and playing a great ball to a team mate, a few months ago he would have just put his head down and run for goal himself. As for the penalty sandwiched in between I have often seen them not given, and Wes showed his class that despite the prat of a keeper Bunn in goal for them doing his best to disrupt him, (and deservedly getting carded for it!!) Wes put it away superbly. Wes overall had his best game for a while, and his trickery is always better when you have a two or three goal cushion!! In fact the midfield looked good, especially going forward today, the defence had a steady game, and the two up front (as we only had 2 strikers available!!) did as always a great job - though with both of them only getting on the scoresheet once in last 5 when 11 goals have been scored can be read both ways !!)

So - we are all but a miracle going to experience the play off lottery, and the way we are playing should make for a great couple of games. Question has got to be who do you fancy??? One thing for sure is that we need to come out like we did second half and not the first as better teams would have mullered us first half yesterday!
Onto Cheltenham next week then, with the playoffs practically a cert and that outside chance of auto still there… Bristol City vs Carlisle (who I still think may sneak 6th spot) is the game we will all have more than one eye on!!
Worsley Seasider

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