A Point And Some Positives

Last time out it was all about Appleton, with another late goal conceded resulting in another defeat, sealing his fate. This time, with speculation focused on the name of the next head coach (for crying out loud what is Warnock doing among the bookies’ favourites?), the practical question was could we expect any sort of bounce from the temporary stewardship of Fleming (we had after all won our other game this season under a stopgap)? Blackpool went into the game on the back of three consecutive wins, set against our three consecutive defeats (and of course no win in 10, a run stretching back to late November), hungry for points to try to close the gap on the top six and with a very strong home record. So, a tough ask.

What we got was a very mixed but ultimately satisfying afternoon. For much of the game it felt like more of the same, as Blackpool were well on top in the first half, could easily have been two or three up at the break, then started the second by hitting the bar and then getting gifted the lead. But this one ended up differently. First, the luck was on our side (now what was that Napoleon said about generals?). I imagine Rhodes had nightmares about his failure to put the ball into an empty net from a yard out, while Ness slept a relieved man having slammed an attempted clearance against the post and out. Also, we equalised completely against the run of play and out of the blue, via two deflections of a May effort. Second, and very different than of late, we finished the stronger team. Blackpool’s attacking threat was reduced at half-time by Rhodes being injured and replaced while for us the introduction of Kanu and later Watson(L) proved effective. Blackpool (and their fans) became increasingly frustrated and we were gaining ascendency.

Over the full game Blackpool will still be shaking their heads over their failure to take all three points; but had it gone on another 10 minutes I would have backed us to win it; imagine what a last-minute winner would have done for us. And for me the real encouragement was that after they took the lead we didn’t crumble; another for them then and the game would have been over; and after we equalised we dug in and saw out a tricky period.

Fleming’s team showed three changes from Appleton’s final game, two of them enforced. With Edun unfairly suspended, Watson(T) swapped sides and Asiimwe came in as the right-side wing-back. Coventry it seemed was having an enforced concussion break and the surprise choice was to move Edmonds-Green into midfield alongside Dobson and Bakinson, a pretty clear indication of the desire to protect a fragile defence. Nevertheless, Fleming opted for another change to the central defensive three, with Jones dropped to the bench and both Ness and Thomas coming in to accompany Gillesphey. Anderson made it back into the squad, taking the final place on the bench.

We did have a chance or two in the first half, but mostly it was a case of near miss after fluffed chance for Blackpool. They knocked it around well and exploited the spaces, with Asiimwe in particular looking rusty and the ball played behind him several times to a guy running on. He briefly switched sides with Watson(T) and the same happened there, leading to a ball in and a clearance off the line. And after around 30 minutes came a moment when we had, shall we say, the rub of the green. Back pass to Maynard-Brewer but his clearance hit Rhodes (suspicion of handball but nothing was given) and looped up. It fell to him again about a yard out, just needed firm contact and it was into the net. Instead he only managed to divert it sideways for a prostrate MB to gleefully collect. It will go down as one of the misses of the season.

Not long after another ball down their right side for a guy into our box. Maynard-Brewer rather rashly came out and was nowhere near it. The ball was clipped over him and towards another around the far post, only for Ness backpeddling to intercept but so nearly to send it into the net, the ball instead crashing against the post and out.

Add in a Blackpool penalty shout (Ness seemed to bundle their guy over before being able to make contact with the ball) and several dangerous crosses somehow not converted and the relief was palpable at half-time that the game was not already done and dusted.

Both sides made a substitution with for us Jones replacing Gillesphey, presumably the result of an injury, while for them Rhodes did not reappear. Either an injury or he just couldn’t stop shaking his head looking at the replays of his miss. It didn’t seem to matter as Blackpool started the second half by crashing one against the bar, with Maynard-Brewer well beaten. And just as it seemed our goal might lead a charmed life through the game we finally went behind, in the too familiar fashion of handing out gifts.

Jones won the ball facing his own goal, realised that the back pass had been cut off, so turned well to seemingly shrug off their player. But fatally he then took another touch instead of … well, anything else. Seems it was Morgan who got across to block the delayed ball forward and fortunately for them it ran to Dembele, in plenty of space. He needed no second invitation, driving the ball into the corner of the net from around the edge of the area.

For the next 10 minutes or so the game might have got away from us. Blackpool pressured us, we were picking up yellow cards (I thought Dobson had been booked in the first half, so when he fouled again and the ref went to his pocket I thought it was going to be another yellow and a red). But we managed to see out that period without conceding again.

Just past the hour we made another change, with Asiimwe withdrawn and Kanu coming on, with Edmonds-Green seemingly dropping into the back three and Jones moving across to wing-back. It wasn’t clear exactly where Kanu was fitting in, but really before we had the chance to find out amazingly we drew level. May collected the ball inside the area, cut across and put in a shot. Seemed on target but not especially dangerous, but one defender managed to deflect it wider but only onto another who caught on the hop sent it back into the net. I don’t know the rules on these things, but seemed to me that May’s original effort was on target before the first deflection, but seems to have been labelled another OG.

That stung Blackpool and once again for a while we came under the cosh. With still almost 20 minutes left on the clock Maynard-Brewer was booked for timewasting. But then with a little more than 10 minutes on the clock we made another substitution, with Watson(L) coming on for a tiring Lapado. That settled us back into a more classical 3-5-2 again and Watson(L) was to prove influential in the final stages. The balance of play tilted and we began to create chances.

Watson(T) collected from a throw and played in Kanu, his low cross not getting converted. Then Watson(L) picked out Kanu in space against a retreating defence. He seemed to hesitate between taking the shot or passing to May and a defender was able to get in the tackle. May shot over the bar, then we seemed to catch them very cold on the break with numbers getting forward, only for the ref to pull play back for a crafty tug by Thomas on one of their number. The final chance came from a corner for us, which looked as though it was going to be headed home for a dramatic winner. That wasn’t to be, instead there was just time for May to get himself booked again, for dissent.

So mixed emotions at the end I suspect. We were enjoying our best period of the game, causing them problems and appearing less threatened at the back. Equally, after all that had gone on leaving the pitch clutching a point gave us tangible reward for hanging in there, one which may prove very important. Fleming now has a week to get them ready for the visit of Derby and for the board to decide whether or not to go for a quick appointment (and just in case anyone missed it, not Warnock, not in a million years).