WITH a Friend like this, who needs enemies?

On the day of the Premier League’s goal rush, nobody can be more grateful for the second half scoring frenzy at Goodison Park than referee Kevin Friend.

Victory for the hosts – in what was a ‘must-win’ fixture for them given that they’d gone into the game hovering just three points above the relegation zone – ensured that the Leicestershire official’s horrendous decision to chalk off a Louis Saha ‘goal’ just before the interval was ultimately not decisive to the final outcome.

It’s a miracle that David Moyes has got any of his red hair left given his side’s frustrations this season – continuously failing to turn on-field supremacy into points – and for a few minutes he and the club’s long-suffering supporters must have feared this was going to be the biggest travesty of all when Charlie Adam put Blackpool in front.

Fortunately though for both Evertonians and Mr Friend, Moyes’ men eventually pulled through and in years to come this pulsating game will be remembered for all the right reasons.

It had been almost 45 years since ‘The Grand Old Lady’ had witnessed a 5-3 scoreline – Portugal’s quarter-final victory over North Korea in the 1966 World Cup – and like then the winners came from behind to triumph thanks to a four-goal individual haul.

And Saha emulated Eusebio’s feat with the first Premier League hat-trick of his career, making the most of the space Ian Holloway’s troops often leave unattended.

Even Kevin Keegan’s swashbuckling Newcastle sides of the 1990s would be considered cautious compared to this team who are as bold and bright as their seaside resort home.

Thrills, spills and excitement are guaranteed but there are plenty of queasy stomachs on the way and things have a habit of turning messy.

Everton dominated this encounter in a similar fashion to the reverse fixture at Bloomfield Road back in October where they nevertheless had to come from behind twice to earn a point.