Nelson's late leveller sends Brentford south with a tall order

It cannot be safely predicted what Martin Allen will do if Brentford overcome the odds and win automatic promotion next Saturday. When Hartlepool snatched their equaliser here seconds before stoppage-time the man who had barked instructions at virtually everybody all afternoon simply sat down among the substitutes. For once, Allen was lost for words.

He was soon talking the talk again, if slightly hoarsely. The formula is simple for final day: win and pray, the same ordeal that Hartlepool face. If Allen has his way the Bees will be swarming all over Bournemouth on Saturday, doubly irritated by this setback. "We've sold all our tickets for next week, 2,500 supporters," he said. Brentford's fans will do their bit, but Yeovil - now safe - must also do theirs, by beating Colchester.

Brentford have been trying to overcome the dual threat of Essex Man - namely Southend and Colchester - but have become draw specialists at just the wrong time. Six in their past seven games point to another play-off expedition - unwanted territory for a club who have been there five times and not got a single winning T-shirt.

Allen does not need reminding of last year's failure. But he is unafraid. "If that's what it is, I'll be ready. It won't take me long to get going again. The team has improved since last year. They're more experienced, stronger all round, quicker. They played 59 games last season and they're over 50 now."

The draw sequence suggests that Brentford have suddenly become inhibited. "There have been occasions when it's got to them," Allen admitted. "But one pleasing thing today is that the players did not hide, they never froze, which is always the fear. They didn't play with any tension."

Which made the result all the more inexplicable in Allen's eyes. Yet there was a further sense of deja vu, as he recalled. "Like the last home game - one set play, their guy wasn't picked up by us, ricocheted and then goal."

The outcome was Michael Nelson's fierce shot into the top corner just as the stoppage-time board was being prepared to show five minutes.

Only six minutes earlier the full-back Kevin O'Connor had succeeded where his team-mates had so often failed by driving a 22-yard free-kick inside the near post of the impressive Dimitrios Konstantopoulos. Hartlepool's cause was hindered, too, by the loss of Mickey Barron with concussion. The captain is almost sure to miss their finale with Port Vale, when anything bar a win will send them down.

Man of the match Ritchie Humphreys (Hartlepool United)