more joy for the 400 (all ticket why was that then) carlisle fans who trapsed over to hartlepool. this was a display as poor as any this season. only dobie seemed to want to play in the first half. in the second half we just sat back and waited for the inevitable. when that came (from hartlepool's right for a change) we put on young defender reid for bowman which looked like a good swap. then we put harries on for tracey who somehow managed to stay on the pitch for 70 minutes and contribute zero. a typical example was in the first half when dobie chased a ball 50/50 with their keeper. he got there first and squared the ball towards a completely empty goal but tracey was ambling about on the half way line. quite how harries (man of the match at macclesfield and no starts since) can't get a game is beyond me. dobie had a shot which the goalie saved comfortably and then another which was blocked. then with 4 minutes (count em - wilkinson obviously likes to give people a chance) to go the change carlisle fans have been waiting for all season happened! off went peter clarke and on came damon searle. he nearly scored with his very first touch within seconds of coming on but squared the ball back along the six yard box and it was cleared. he then got to the byline twice and put in two excellent crosses which had their keeper and defence in a flap. how strange to see a quality cross delivered from the byline instead of the hoof back to the opposition goalie/centre half from half way inside the opposition half that clarke and co do all the time. alas it wasn't enough to save the blues from an inevitable defeat and a dire performance.
bad things
dire performance
no confidence or spirit
poor team selection and "tactics"
hartlepool were crap and we lost
good things
chester lost (oh great there's someone who is as bad as us)
searle came on for clarke long may that continue
reid had a solid debut at the back
man of the match
dobie (or searle for his short contribution)
these two muppets must be on borrowed time but the rot starts at the top. the chairman thinks he can appease the fans by making silly bids with phantom money and talking about getting that scouse lad on loan (owen and fowler out for 2 months eh mmmm that seems likely). he should not insult the fans by making these false promises. and if aspinall comes back as manager i've had enough and not going back. at least to the away matches anyhow.
chris
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