SURELY it can't come down to this!

It was suggested at the time that it would be a travesty - even a tragedy - if the "goal that never was" controversy had any bearing on Wanderers' fortunes in the Premiership.

But no-one thought for one minute that it would really happen and particularly not with Everton being the club to benefit!

Football can be the cruellest of games but only a psychopathic sadist would have Wanderers going down for the want of the win they were denied when neither Steve Lodge nor his linesman spotted the ball clearly over the Everton line!

Had justice been done on that historic first night at the Reebok, tomorrow's fixtures at Stamford Bridge and Goodison Park would be academic.

Wanderers would already be safe and Everton relegated!

They will argue long and hard on Merseyside that, had the goal been awarded in the 54th minute when Terry Phelan cleared Gerry Taggart's looping header from almost two feet behind the line, the game would not necessarily have ended 1-0.

And it has to be said that Wanderers find themselves in the position they are in today because they've dropped a variety of points through their own shortcomings.

But try telling that to the fans who believe they we're the victims of one of the season's biggest refereeing howlers.

Gary Speed, then of Everton of course, confirmed that the ball had crossed the line and even those who couldn't see clearly at the time had their suspicions confirmed by video and photographic evidence.

It's more than eight months ago but the memory is still fresh and you really can't blame Wanderers fans for doing their arithmetic (40 + 2 = 42pts and 39-1 = 38) as they look at the league table as it stands today and wonder what might have been.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.