Dickinson Double Sinks Pilgrims

An unbelievable debut from on loan Liam Dickinson stole all the points at Home Park for The Seasiders this afternoon. The Derby County striker, who signed at Bloomfield Road on Thursday afternoon, came off the bench to find the net twice in three minutes after Paul Gallagher had given Plymouth the lead.

Simon Grayson went into the game having made three changes to the side which lost 2-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night. Alex John-Baptiste, Alan Gow and Adam Hammill all missed out and were replaced by Kyel Reid, Shaun Barker and Ben Burgess.

Blackpool (4-4-2):
Rachubka
Barker – Edwards(c) – Evatt – Martin
GTF – Hendrie – Southern – Reid
Burgess – Kabba

Plymouth (4-4-2):
Larrieu
Barker – Seip – Cathcart – Doumbe
Clark – Folly – Summerfield – Gallagher
Mpenza – Fallon

Blackpool, who looked to see out the opening stages without harm, managed to create some early opportunities with Kyel Reid having a shot flash wide of Larrieu’s post.

Reid, the left winger on loan from West Ham United, looked lively throughout, jinking past his marker with ease, but lacking the final ball at times which would’ve seen more chances carved out.

Both teams were evenly matched in the opening period and traded blows with Ben Burgess and Luke Summerfield both testing the goalkeepers, but there was never any real threat of the deadlock being broken.

Reid was imposing himself on the game more and more as the half grew on but time ran out on The Tangerines, with referee Trevor Kettle blowing for half time just as Blackpool were starting to take real control.

However, they must have been pleased to keep it relatively tight; 0-0 at the break.

‘Pool then found it difficult to pick up from where they left off, and although Reid had a rasping drive fly over, Grayson’s team didn’t create anything like the openings in the first period.

And with the game ambling along, Plymouth boss Paul Sturrock showed his signal of intent: Rory Fallon and Emile Mpenza were hauled off and replaced by Craig Noone and Steven MacLean.

The substitutions gave the home side a lift and just seven minutes afterwards, on 67, Plymouth had the lead by a bit of individual magic from Paul Gallagher. The on loan Blackburn Rovers winger – who was pushed up front on the hour mark – curled in an exquisite strike from the edge of the area into the top corner of Paul Rachubka’s goal.

And the goal seemed to deflate ‘Pool for a time – Plymouth really should have edged further ahead. Knowing that they weren’t going to get anything out of the game at this rate, Grayson made a triple change on 75 minutes. David Fox, Liam Dickinson and Adam Hammill all came on for Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Steve Kabba and Lee Hendrie. It was noted that Kabba especially looked dejected and angry after being brought off – his days at Bloomfield Road do look numbered…

Larry has been heavily criticised for his subs in the past, but today he got it spot on. Dickinson scored his first goal at Championship level just three minutes into his debut when he fired home a long ball by Rachubka on 78 minutes and at that point ‘Pool looked like they were going to fly up to the North West with a well earned point.

But Blackpool and Dickinson weren’t finished there. On 81 minutes, Kyel Reid, who came back into the game after a quiet spell found Dickinson in the area and he slotted home – much to the delight of the 200 travelling support.

And from then on they were in complete control and held on for a fantastic three points. The Seasiders have moved seven points clear of the relegation zone, although they remain in 18th place.

The most important thing though is that the team have stopped the recent rot, and with some important games coming up against the likes of Charlton Athletic and Nottingham Forest, the Christmas period could have much more cheer than expected.