Blackpool 1 Plymouth Argyle 0
Match Report (6th March 2001)
LAST GASP by John Secker T
This game was like one of those fireworks, which splutters and fizzes for ages, without doing anything very interesting, and then explodes with one final surprise flash which makes it all worthwhile. In some ways you could feel a lot of sympathy for Plymouth. They came a very long way on a foul night, and brought a surprisingly large following with them. They had clearly done their homework on Blackpool, and planned to stifle the home team's passing play by pressurising the man with the ball and never letting him settle. They did this very well for most of the match, and this, combined with the gale and heavy rain, made it poor entertainment. The visitors must have thought they had done enough to earn a point, but in the fourth minute of injury time the substitute Richard Walker popped up with the night's one moment of brilliance to seal the game for the Seasiders.
Blackpool had one change from the side which put five past Kidderminster on Saturday - Wellens was out with tonsillitis, and was replaced by Lee Collins. Shittu retained his place in the centre of defence, which meant that Hughes stayed on the bench. It was clear from early on that Plymouth intended to close Blackpool down at every opportunity, and the home team struggled all night to find a counter to this, although they never stopped trying. The passes were all hurried, and rarely found a man in space. In the early exchanges Plymouth actually had something of an advantage, and they won two corners before Blackpool managed one. However the home defence handled everything which came over with no problems, except those which they caused themselves. Shittu showed his usual habit of putting himself under pressure by making mistakes, and then recovering from them. The most notable of these was when a high ball was played up the Plymouth left wing. Shittu got his head to it but looped it up and behind him into the box, where a Plymouth player was first to it. However his cross was feeble, into Barnes' arms at the near post. Again in the first half a short back pass made Barnes kick much too near an advancing forward, who was struck by the ball. It flew high in the air, back over Barnes, but fortunately not too far, and he was able to get back and catch it as it dropped.
At the other end Blackpool were unable to put any real pressure on Plymouth. There were a few long range shots, off target, by Simpson, Collins and Coid, and several crosses, played from too far out, none of which found a Blackpool head. Most of them went right over beyond the far post - if Blackpool ever figure out how to get a man deep in that position he will clean up. The most exciting moments were a couple of runs which Ormerod made from the right, into the box; each time he beat two or three defenders but didn't manage to get past the final man. Blackpool seemed to have a fair shout for a penalty, when a high ball was dropping into the box towards Murphy, and he was bundled to the ground, but nothing was given. The other memorable incident came after a corner for Plymouth. It was headed out, and there was Shittu taking the ball and racing upfield with it. He was tackled near the Plymouth area, but his strength enabled him to win it back and he had a shot, unfortunately not a good one.
After the break Blackpool were kicking towards the South Stand, with the north east wind making things hard for Barnes, who kept putting his kicks into the building site. About five minutes after the restart, Ormerod should have put Blackpool ahead. A cross came over from the right; Murphy tried a header in the centre of the goal, but it was blocked and the rebound dropped a few yards back to Ormerod, who hit it on the half volley but lifted it just over the bar.
As the half went on Plymouth's attacking ambitions disappeared almost completely - there was one scramble with Barnes going down at the feet of a forward, but very little other action in the Blackpool area. Despite this the Seasiders found it hard to put enough pressure on the visitors where it counted, in the box, and most of their attacks were stifled before they reached the danger zone. Several players tried shots from outside the area. The best was by Danny Coid, who ran in from the wing and unleashed a drive which was not far wide of the right hand post. Collins and Simpson both mishit shots when they were in position to do better - Simpson looked well short of 100% this evening.
The first real shot on target came after the hour, when Shittu got his head to a corner. The ball looped towards the top corner, but the French keeper got back well and turned it around the post, with Reid poised for a rebound. As the game went on Blackpool were getting more anxious, and you could see them thinking that this was not their night. One incident seemed to confirm this. Ormerod did well up the right wing, cut into the box and pulled back a cross, head high. Murphy's header was blocked, with the keeper falling to the floor. Murphy tried to flick another header in, but it was blocked again, with the ball spinning high into the air and dropping .... right into the arms of the keeper, still lying on the ground.
With ten minutes left. McMahon pulled off Milligan and brought on Walker. His first few touches were not impressive, and then he missed a sitter. A good long cross from the left found Murphy beyond the far post, and he knocked back a perfect header to the feet of Walker, who was inside the six yard box in the middle of the goal. He could have tapped the ball past the keeper with his left foot, but he tried to take it with his right instead, and somehow scooped the ball high over the bar.
With the weather getting worse all the time, and time running out, Blackpool had a series of corners, but they were all cleared. There were four minutes of added time, and three had gone by when Blackpool had one final attack. A good long cross field ball found Jaszczun wide on the left, midway inside the Plymouth half. He advanced with the ball, and as two defenders came towards him he launched yet another long cross. It fell to Walker in the middle, only just inside the area, and he met it perfectly with a powerful header which flew past the keeper into the top corner of the goal, still rising as it hit the roof of the net.
The crowd went wild, Plymouth were stunned, and there was only time for them to kick off before the game was over. Danny Coid was made Man of the Match for a good hard working performance, and a couple of useful runs and shots. Brett Ormerod worked hard, as ever, but in truth this was not a great performance by Blackpool, who struggled to break down a team which had worked its tactics out and stuck to them. The defence was pretty solid, given the conditions, and Barnes did all he needed to, apart from kicking the ball straight. It must be said, however, that they all kept working hard right down to the last minute, and this persistence was finally rewarded. The other teams in the promotion chase all drew or lost, so Blackpool are now fifth, solidly in the playoff places. They have a tough last dozen games, though, with eight of them away from home, so they will need to apply themselves well in the away games if they hope to retain their current position or even improve on it.
Team (4-4-2): Barnes, Coid, Shittu, Reid (capt), Jaszczun, Bushell,
Collins, Milligan (Walker 80), Simpson, Ormerod, J Murphy
Subs not used: Kennedy, Hughes, Clarkson, N Murphy
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John Secker