November Review: Consistency the target

By Albatross
December 2 2005

Hartlepool United had a mixed month of it in November. Other than playing Gillingham twice (with the Gills and Neale Cooper parting company in between the two), what's been going on around the division? Well, Doncaster Rovers have been making all the headlines.....

Dave Penney's side didn't quite have the best record in the division - Colchester also won all three games and had a better goal difference; but by pulling Donny out of something of a slump he's moved them from 18th to 9th, and their continued progress in the League Cup this week by comprehensively beating Aston Villa grabbed him some headlines. With Cup Football and the fall of the days limiting the league to three games in November it's too hard to say whether Doncaster will push on from here into the playoffs or not. Still, with progress made in the FA Cup as well it's been a good month for the Donny Massive.

Seven teams went through the month unbeaten. As well as Doncaster and Colchester, there were four teams with two wins and a draw (Chesterfield, Brentford, Swansea and Huddersfield), and one with one win and two draws (Barnsley). Pools were actually in the top 10 of the monthly pecking order - thanks mainly to the fact that the home game with Gillingham was held over from October. Still, it's been enough to lift us three places overall.

At the other end, six teams failed to record a win and four failed to gain even a point. Surprisingly one of them was Southend: are they being found out a little? Despite this, they remain in third place at the time of writing which has to count as a much better than expected start to the season. Yeovil and Scunthorpe made a trio of promoted sides without much to shout about, but the pain will be felt most keenly at Ashton Gate: Bristol City's nightmare continues. They lost to bottom of the table Swindon, went out at home to Notts County in the FA Cup, have lost eight in a row in all competitions, and are now in the midst of a relegation battle rather than the anticipated playoff or promotion push.

Spare a thought also for Bradford City fans, who had a gloomy month of it to say the least. The only goal scored in any of the three league games they played in November was the one scored by Mark Tinkler for Pools last Saturday, and their only goal in four games is the last-minute LDV winner at Morecambe. If it wasn't for the 2-1 FA Cup win at the start of the month Bantams fans would probably be suicidal by now. And we though we had problems up front!

The division remains tight, with two or three good results enough to make virtually every side think the playoffs are in reach. Scunthorpe plummeted to 15th place from 6th thanks to their poor run; as previously mentioned, Donny went from being two points above a relegation place to three points behind a playoff spot. Barnsley currently occupy 6th spot on 30 points, but Oldham in 16th are just five points down on them. Swansea and Huddersfield are threatening to break away at the top, and Swindon find themselved in real danger at the bottom - but in between them, it's still pretty much all to play for. Consistency is the key: here's hoping that Pools can get it together in the busy month ahead.