Pool win on penalties in Cup thriller

Match report by BigOwl:

Interestingly after stating in tonights programme that he intends to go 4-4-2 with wingers this season, CT then turns out a 5-3-2 formation to start tonights match. Tidman had a back 3 of Wood, Lee and Smith with Geary and Barry-Murphy as wing backs. This left Quinn, Armstrong and the ever impressive Richard Evans to cover the centre of the park and feed Owusu and Kuqi up front. Kuqi had an early one on one with Hartlepools stand in keeper (just 20 and playing only his second first team game). However the keeper stood his ground and managed to deflect Kuqis shot wide of the post as the Finn failed to get the ball over the keeper.

Unfortunately this was to be the benchmark for the rest of the match as wave after wave of Owls attacks brought little joy. Kuqi was the main culprit though it has to be said that the keeper played a blinder. Kuqi had another shot on target but again this was saved well by the young keeper.

At the other end Hartlepool barely made it past our 18 yard line however the one time they did catch out the defence Tidman went for the ball and failed to connect, it was scooped towards the Owls net bottom corner and was going in when Wood made a last second clearance from off the line.

The 3 centre backs were handling virtually everything thrown at then with Wood and especially Lee showing well. Lee in fact won 99 percent of the headers he went for and looks a class act. The weirdest moment came when Tidman asked the referee to hold play up as a dove (or probably a pigeon) with what looked like an injured wing flapped around on the pitch.

Tidman gently bent down and caught the poor creature before taking over and putting it safely behind the hoardings (where presumably five stewards kicked it to death)! Half time came with no score. The second half started lively and Quinn bent in a lovely free kick for Lee to run in behind the defence and power home a superb headed goal 1-0 to the Owls. Kuqi was foiled twice more by good saves from the visiting keeper when suddenly Hartlepool hit us on the break and as their forward ran into the box Tidman took his leg although the ref saw this a bad timing and not a professional foul.

The result was a booking and a penalty which Robinson dispatched although it looke like Tidman got a hand to it 1-1.

Owusu who hadn't managed a shot all night was replaced by Holt who was soon in the mix. The standard of officials seemed worse than ever as they constantly missed shirt pulling and gave throws the wrong way however the fantasy reffing came to a head when Holt burst through on goal and was hacked down by the centre back in the clearest penalty I have seen in a while. However with both players down injured the ref blew his whistle, waved away penalty appeals and then decided on a dropped ball with only one team in attendance!

He merely dropped the ball and the keeper picked it up. Again the Owls attacked and both Holt and Kuqi saw efforts saved by the keeper who seemed to be raising his game far above expectations. Full time came and the Owls had failed to turn mass possession into a win and extra time beckoned. 1st period of extra time saw Hartlepool take the lead after a defensive lapse allowed a flicked header into the bottom corner. Quinn had a goalbound effort saved magnificently by the on form keeper and still more chances went begging.

Half-time: Owls 0-0 Hartlepool

2nd period saw the Owls pressing again and again with sub Cooke adding more crosses. Holt powered a header just over the bar and Kuqi hooked a shot into the crowd. Evans went on a mazy run from the left, beat several defenders as he got into the bot and powered in a shot which was goalbound until it hit the side of Kuqis head and went out for a goalkick! This really summed up the night. Just as we were thinking it was all going totally wrong yet anoth Owls attack saw the ball spill loose towards the far corner and Woo stole in to smack the ball into the net.

2-2 and thats where the game finished. So it all went to penalties. Quinn scored for us then they scored. Smith missed his as the keeper managed to get in the way of Smiths centrally aimed blockbuster shot and the pace spun the ball up over the bar off the keepers body. Pool scored their second. Although Kuqi, Cooke and Barry-Murphy all scored theirs so did the pool lads with former Owls trialist Gavin Strachan scoring the winning penalty (could have seen that coming)!

We were by far the better side. We had at least 75 percent of the possession. We had many many chances but came up against a keeper on top form. The 1-1 scoreline at 90 minutes I feel is indicative of what we are likely to come up against at home this season as 'weaker' teams hit us on the break and raise their game to make life in D2 difficult for us.

I dont know whether to criticise Kuqi for not scoring tonight or to say that he did manage to get 5 of his 6 efforts on target and came up against an inspired keeper. Did CT make the wrong substitution? Should he have taken Kuqi off not Owusu? At least Kuqi had efforts to score tonight is all I can say in his defence. Any other game I'm pretty sure at least one of those would have gone in.

Oh well we can now concentrate on the league :-(

Tidman: 6 - Actually had little to do.
Geary: 6 - Took a while for him to get back into the swing of things. Got better as the game wore on.
Lee: 8 - Won everything in the air. Good on the floor also. A star in the making.
Smith: 6 - Penalty miss aside was solid if unspectacular.
Wood: 8 - Is already outperforming Bromby and looks to make himself a fixture for some time to come.
Barry-Murphy: 7 - Put himself about a lot today.
Evans: 8 - Ever improving, looks a class above this division.
Quinn: 7 - Again better than this standard, ran his socks off.
Armstrong: 5 - Was he on the pitch?
Kuqi: 7 - For effort he gets a better mark. Ran and ran the whole game. Shame about the finishing but he was on target.
Owusu: 6 - Unconvincing again.

Subs:-
Holt: 6 - Yet to show his worth.
Cooke: 7 - Again a better player than this standard.
My MOM was a tie between Evans and Lee. I cant see how Paul Smith can ever hope to dislodge Evans on this form.

Good points...
Wednesday creating plenty of chances upfront.
Graeme Lee proves he'll be a threat in opposition penalty boxes this season.
Young Richard Wood continues to improve.

Bad points...
Allowing Hartlepool to score twice, despite having only a handful of chances.
The Owls are knocked out of the League Cup at the first hurdle.