Spa Athletic..........5

Pool.........................2

THE only saving grace on a day when a catalogue of errors saw Pool's first league defeat since August was the fact that fellow title-contenders Kirkby Malzeard also lost at Ilkley, thus keeping the race for champions wide open.

Pool's day started badly, arriving at the Spa ground at the last minute minus two players lost on the way. The long walk from the changing rooms to the pitch meant that Pool had no time to warm up.

Spa duly took advantage and were two up within 20 minutes. Pool's lost pair then turned up and a substitution was made and with Singleton then pulling a goal back for Pool things seemed to be back on track.

Spa had other ideas, though, with the blow of a goal right on the stroke of half-time, to restore their two goal advantage.

As if things weren't bad enough for Pool, on the hour Jamie Taylor was sent off for a second bookable offence with Spa scoring from the resulting free-kick to twist the knife.

Pool were now raising the game desperately. A fine strike from Joyce gave them some hope but in their endeavours to push forward gaps appeared at the back, with Spa putting the game out of Pool's reach once and for all.

Pool's Man-of-the-Match point went to Mat Healey.

Pool Reserves..............2

Rawdon.......................3

Rawdon came to Pool full of confidence after beating their opponents only three weeks ago in the league. Pool created the first opportunity straight from the kick-off, as Reddington was put through by Graham, only for the shot to be just wide.

Pool kept putting pressure on the Rawdon defence but just couldn't find the sharpness to finish in front of goal. Pool's back four of Groves, Wilkinson, Newbould and Winterburn kept the Rawdon front two at bay for half-an-hour until a good run from the forward, and poor defending led to a goal that Rawdon probably deserved.

Rawdon kept putting the pressure on the Pool defence but just couldn't find a way through to double their lead. With a minute of the half to go Newbould brought down the Rawdon youngster, causing the Rawdon manager to needlessly confront Newbould, therefore causing a ten man brawl. This led to Newbould being sent off along with a Rawdon forward.

In the second-half Pool again started brightly. Chances were created through Graham and Ireland but Pool just couldn't seem to find the target. After about 60 minutes Pool equalised. Rawdon punted the ball up field, only for Chris Wilkinson to clear straight to Reddington who slotted past the Rawdon 'keeper.

Pool kept attacking the Rawdon goal and five minutes later Pool took the lead. Hall collected the ball in midfield, passed to Nicholson who took the ball past the defence and the stranded 'keeper.

Rawdon threw everything at Pool from that point, hitting the bar twice but the Pool defence kept them to long-range efforts until Pool's centre-back Steve Winterburn headed a low cross past the disbelieving Paul Wilkinson into his own net. This stroke of luck lifted Rawdon, who were soon in front, another defensive error costing the home side dearly.

Pool now had to throw players forward in search of an equaliser. Lenik came on towards the end of the game and went close to scoring when his volleyed shot hit the underside of the bar and bounced on the goal line only for Graham to shoot over from five yards. Rawdon held on for a lucky win and dumped Pool out of the cup. Match Point went to R Hall for a solid display in midfield.

Pool A..............................2

Marton-cum-Grafton.........2

In perfect footballing conditions Pool A started quickly on the attack with early missed chances from Cowgill and Dickinson. Pool A continued to pass the ball around with great style and passion. A new back four formation of Forbes, Martin, Jones and Keddle kept Marton at bay, laying the foundations for prolonged periods of pressure.

After 20 minutes good work from Hodgson released the ball through the defence for Forest, who saw his well hit shot paired by the 'keeper with Howden following up with a good finish. Further pressure saw a second goal scored following a sweeping move involving Stott and a neat lay-off from Cowgill to Dickinson to score from 20 yards in the left-hand corner. Pool went into half-time 2-0 in front.

The second-half saw the away team cause Pool more problems. Pool kept creating and missing chances which came back to haunt them with Marton scoring two goals in the last 20 minutes.

Pool managed to hold on with some determined defending and some fine saves by Hall. In the end 2-2 was a fair result which could have gone either way. Match Point was shared by Hodgson and Stott.