Barnet 7 Blackpool 0 POOL travelled back from north London after suffering nothing short of disaster at the Underhill Stadium.

Barnet's new player-manager Tony Cottee making his debut watched his side knock a total of seven goals past Pool without reply, writes Chris Reece.

You have to back years to find a similar defeat from Pool. The nearest comes in the form of a 7-1 loss to Birmingham when old favourite Melvin Capleton was in goal.

Steve McMahon surprisingly made little change to the team that lost to Shrewsbury though Brett Ormerod and John Hills both returned to the line-up from injuries.

When the game kicked off you would never have predicted the final score on the evidence of the opening 15 minutes. It could have been argued that Blackpool actually had the better of the play although despite some early crosses from Hills, Pool didn't create any chances worh mentioning.

But the impressive opening spell was soon forgotten when Tony Cottee opened the scoring for Barnet on his debut as player manager. After some pressure by Pool, Barnet went searching for a counter attack through a long clearance by Keeper Lee Harrison. The ball bounced over everyone in the Seasiders defence and fell kindly to Cottee after a mix-up between Kennedy and Reid. With the experience Cottee has no-one was surprised when he cooly finished to put his side in the lead.

Minutes later Cottee was again involved in the scoring when his whipped cross was converted by Tony Richards. It looked as though the Blackpool defence could handle the cross when it came in from the left but somehow the ball found its way through and Richards had the easiest of chances.

The second goal did seem to wake Blackpool up a little and shots by Ormerod and O'Connor threatened the Barnet goal for the first time. And when Richard Wellens' 33rd minute screamer went close, Blackpool looked like they might still get something out of the game, if they carried on the way they were going.

But minutes before half time Barnet distinguished such hopes by adding another two past Jon Kennedy.

Tony Richards drilled home his second of the game after Hills had cleared off the line. And on the stoke of half time Darren Currie got his first of three with a brilliant 35 yard free kick. It was arguably the only goal of the first half that didn't seem to have an element of luck in it for Barnet.

Half time 4-0, could it get worse? It certainly can when Blackpool are involved. After a dull opening half hour to the second half Barnet continued scoring in another goal rally towards the end. On the 73rd and 83rd Darren Currie added another two to complete a hat-trick from midfield. Before that, Mark Arber got in the action with a 80th minute header.

After the game Steve McMahon kept the team in the dressing room for longer than usual and later gave "we caved in" as the reason for the seven goals conceded.

He added that one consolation from the match was that Pool only conceded the same three points as if they had been beaten by just one goal.

With some fans calling for McMahon to go after the game a big improvement is required if the Tamgerines are to avoid getting dragged back into the relegation zone.