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Barnsley 0 Blackpool 1 - full match report
THERE is a clip on the website Youtube which shows a circus worker doing an elaborate act with a crocodile, which involves him putting his arm inside the croc's mouth.
As it wouldn't be on Youtube if everything had gone to plan, you can no doubt guess what happened next.
Maybe it was a Monday morning and he was in a bad mood but the croc suddenly decided to slam shut its mouth, removing the guy's arm in the process and leaving 500 or so audience members wondering whether this was part of the act ... though the sight of a one-armed bloke staggering about the stage while leaking large amounts of blood should have told them differently.
What leads people into this kind of work?
I can imagine the advert in the paper: 'Wanted: one adult to very slowly put their arm inside a crocodile's mouth', and some guy sitting in his kitchen exclaiming "That's it Janet. I'm quitting Sainsbury's, I've found the job for me!"
There are no crocodiles in Barnsley, not unless the local zoo is a belter, but Blackpool's trip to these parts was almost as dangerous.
Defeat and the Seasiders would have been in serious trouble.
The Tykes, with games in hand, would have leapfrogged Tony Parkes's men and left Pool with endless fretting to do.
However, thanks to this battling and dogged win, Pool have no such concerns.
Parkes's men have had perhaps their most enjoyable and productive seven-day spell of the season, following good results against Norwich and Sheffield United with this victory.
Those seven points have lifted Pool out of immediate danger and although it would be foolish to assume all their worries are over, it certainly gives them great heart that they will beat the drop – greater heart than they had 10 days ago at any rate.
To give you some idea of how rare a victory at Barnsley is, by the way, last time Pool achieved it, the general consensus was that Adolf Hitler was a decent bloke who looked a bit like Charlie Chaplin.
That was in November 1935, Pool leaving Oakwell with a victory that they failed to replicate – in the league at least – for the next 73 and a bit years.
One hoodoo broken, they also smashed another, for this was their first win wearing the black third kit introduced last year.
It would be wrong to write that the Seasiders thoroughly deserved it. They didn't really.
Saturday was a battle between two teams desperate not to lose. A strong, swirling wind, creating conditions better suited to flying kites than playing football, made it difficult for either side to get the ball down and play. The result was a scrappy, low quality affair, seemingly destined for a goalless draw.
Then came the one moment of quality, created and scored by two men not many of us would have predicted as filling the right and left wing berths.
Joe Martin dinked a delightfully pinpoint deep cross towards Wade Small, and the man signed from Sheffield Wednesday barely 24 hours earlier sent a perfectly executed volley flying into the top corner.
A terrific goal, followed by an even better celebration (hurling shirt into the air, diving into the away fans, grabbing a small child, dancing like a nutter), and enough to settle this grim contest.
Barnsley huffed and puffed but apart from bombarding the Pool penalty area with a series of long throws, never seemed likely to recover. The Tykes are in trouble. They may have games in hand but on this evidence they aren't going to win many of them. Simon Davey is a manager under real pressure and not popular with the locals.
But that is not Pool's concern. They will wake this Monday morning with a spring in their step and renewed optimism that Bloomfield Road will be hosting Championship football again next season.
The feel-good factor that returned after the Norwich and Sheffield United games has lingered.
And while they clearly weren't at their best in this contest, they grafted and stuck to the task and earned the points through sheer stubbornness if nothing else.
The story of the game is pretty easy to tell, mainly because there's not much to say.
Chances were few and far between, especially in a spectacularly bad first half where the main entertainment was supplied by a woman in front of the press box who, at least twice a minute, screamed "Get up an'at 'em Tyyykkkes". You had to be there I guess.
Pool should have taken the lead on 11 minutes when they carved out perhaps their clearest opening of the entire game.
Small's right wing cross found its way to Martin at the back post but, in a great position, the winger slammed his shot wide with the net at his beck and call.
A Charlie Adam effort which trundled wide a minute or two later was as good as it got for Blackpool in those first 45 minutes.
Barnsley were just as average, their best chance arriving when Paul Rachubka failed to claim a corner but Dennis Souza's goalbound header hit Alex Baptiste and bounced to safety.
Adam Hammill, the lad who swapped Tangerine for the red of Barnsley in the New Year, came close on the hour with a fine effort from 20 yards.
Rachubka, who has always been a first class shot-stopper, tipped away brilliantly. Indeed Pool's keeper made several notable stops at key moments, imperative to Pool's victory.
DJ Campbell volleyed wide but in truth it continued to be a pretty abject contest, fine for Blackpool who, as the away team, simply wanted to make sure they didn't get beaten.
However, they went one better when, in the 70th minute, they snatched that priceless goal, a real cracker from Small. In truth the new boy had a quiet game but that one moment of quality, which won the game, made it a hugely successful debut.
Barnsley tried to respond but they didn't really have the class or the quality to hit back. A barrage of long throws, which became increasingly desperate as the game wore on, was about as dangerous as they got.
Pool celebrated with the terrifically large and vocal away following at the end.
This was a priceless three points and with home games against Southampton, Plymouth and Nottingham Forest to come, the Seasiders look perfectly positioned.
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Weather for Blackpool
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 32 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 28 mph
Wind direction: North west
