After Saturday's fine win against Huddersfield, Blackpool were in confident mood for the arrival of Queens Park Rangers, although the visitors were riding much higher in the table. They lined up in 4-4-2 formation, with Coid and Jaszczun at fullback, Reid and O'Kane in central defence, Bullock and Hills on the wings and Wellens and Collins in the centre of midfield, and Ormerod and Murphy up front.
Blackpool started with a will, and the first fifteen minutes were unremitting pressure from the home team. The followed the tactics which are becoming familiar now, with short passes and running at the defence. Very quickly this started to produce results - inside five minutes both Hills and Bullock had broken into the box on the wings, but in each case the cross did not find a Blackpool player. Soon after this Bullock made another run at the defence and got behind them on the right. His ball across the six yard area brought a shot from close range, but the QPR keeper made a fine save.
QPR were only attacking on the break, but there was already evidence of nervousness in the Blackpool defence, and also a determination to play the ball out of their own area, rather than playing it safe. After some minor problems, this very nearly led to a goal. The ball was played across from right to left, with each Blackpool player being put under pressure, until Jaszczun, wide on the left, conceded a foul after losing the ball. The free kick was fired in hard and low, and Reid was deceived by the swerve. His header almost glanced the ball into the net, but Pullen made a fine reaction save and turned it around the post.
Blackpool were still having the vast majority of the attacking, with Bullock on the right wing being the most productive source. There were two more splendid saves from the visiting keeper, as Blackpool sought to convert one of their many chances. Another opportunity came when the ball fell to Murphy at the far post, but somehow he failed to put a shot on the target.
Just after the half hour, Blackpool finally paid the price for foolish defending. There was little danger, with the ball on the edge of the area, but once again each pass played the recipient into more difficulty. Eventually Hills passed the ball straight to the feet of an attacker, inside the area. He passed it to another forward, unmarked and with an easy task to slot the ball into the empty net.
Blackpool continued to press, and there was an odd incident when Bullock ran into the area, then bounced sideways under a challenge. The referee refused calls for a penalty, and then booked a QPR defender. The only possible explanation is that he was booked for trying to get the referee to book Bullock for diving. Although they continued to attack, Blackpool also carried on with very uncertain defending, and we were pleased to see the half time whistle, which would give Steve McMahon a chance to reorganise things.
This was what we hoped, but these hopes were dashed moments after the restart. It was a harmless ball up the middle of the Blackpool defence. It was headed back to O'Kane, who went to kick it and missed it completely. An astonished QPR forward found himself with the ball, and he lobbed it over a bewildered Pullen and into the net.
The was a lot of time left, and Blackpool had been generating plenty of chances, so hope was by no means abandoned. Blackpool stuck to their game plan, and continued to press on the ground, down both wings. There were a lot of offside decisions, and the referee failed to protect Murphy from several pushes and shirt-pulling incidents. Bullock, running at the defence, released Ormerod, who found himself only a few yards out with the goal at his mercy, but his shot was pulled wide of the post.
Only a few minutes after conceding the second goal, Blackpool won a corner on the right. They had been strangely reluctant to test the QPR defence with a simple high cross, but now at last they did so. The result was immediate - out beyond the penalty spot, O'Kane met the cross cleanly, and powered it into the net off the underside of the bar.
Blackpool now redoubled their efforts, and the chances continued. From a corner on the left, Murphy had a free header, but it whistled just beyond the far corner of the goal. Soon after that he had another chance, from a cross coming over from the right, but this time his header hit the bar and went over. Blackpool were now looking to release forwards through the middle, where the visitors looked vulnerable, but every attempt was met with an offside flag. As time went the home team became more frustrated, and the referee's decisions seemed to be consistently in favour of the visitors. This culminated in an incident in the box, when w long ball was won by Murphy, who knocked it sideways to Wellens. As he shaped to shoot he was knocked over, but the referee denied the penalty, and instead booked the Blackpool player for diving.
On the hour Paul Simpson was brought on, replacing Hills, and while the chances continued, the offside trap and poor finishing continued to prevent an equaliser. With 12 minutes left, Wellens came off, with Fenton replacing him, and Blackpool were now playing three dedicated strikers.
It was beginning to look as though all the pressure was going to count for nothing, but with less than two minutes left some justice was finally done. It was another ball up the middle, but this time there was no flag, and Fenton was clear with only the keeper to beat. He kept his head, and clipped the ball neatly into the net. There were six minutes of injury time, and Blackpool continued to press for a winner, but it was not to be.
This game showed the best and the worst of Blackpool. They kept one of the better sides in the Division under constant pressure for almost the whole of the game, and they created numerous chances. Unfortunately they failed to take enough of those chances - admittedly this was partly due to some fine goalkeeping - and they also gave away two goals with the most basic defensive errors. If they can eliminate the bad parts and keep the good ones, then Blackpool can be a real force in the Division - let us hope it is not the other way around.
Team (4-4-2): Pullen, Coid, O'Kane, Reid, Jaszczun, Bullock, Wellens (Fenton 78), Collins, Hills (Simpson 60), Ormerod, Murphy
Subs not used: Barnes, Thompson, MacKenzie