Pool 1- 0 Swansea

Looking at the remaining 5 fixtures before the match today I was trying to see where we’d be able to pick up the points to secure our survival, I was expected for us to lose today, but how the boys in tangerine proved me wrong with a battling performance against the Swans.

Grayson was forced into one change, Keith Lasley failed a fitness test, he was replaced by Ciaran Donnelly. John Murphy also missed out meaning the front pairing of Parker and Williams had their second run out. Morris and Stockley did pass tests and took their places on the bench.

First Half

Pointed out in our match preview Lee Trundle was going to provide the main threat on Lee Jones’ goal this afternoon. It didn?t take long for the scouser to make his impress on the game and Peter Clarke’s leg too.

Trundle fired in a volley from all of 25 yards from the corner of the box on the turn, swerving in the air Lee Jones was able to keep his eye on the ball and tip over for a corner.

Later on in the half Trrundle was the centre of attention again when he appeared to hack at the back of Peter Clarke in a off the ball incident. Trundle was chancing down a back-pass and with Clarke standing his ground Trundle hacked the back of Clarke’s legs, referee Mr Bates, who had a woeful performance decided that that ‘assault’ only warranted a yellow card.

Clarke went on to have Blackpool’s best chance of the first half, he glanced on Rory Prendergast’s freekick, with Willy Gueret grounded the spot the big French man watched as Clarke’s header drifted wide.

Clark and his fellow defender did have a few scares in the first half, Trundle fired a quick free wide with Jones still lining up the wall.

The only other point from the first half was when Gueret picked up a sliced pass back and a indirect free kick was given tight to the touchline. Parker?s cross was headed wide by Joseph

Second Half

The second half was pretty much the same as the first, with Swansea having the majority of the possession and created more chances, the only hope of a Pool goal would be a counter attacking opportunity which did come.

After soaking up pressure from numerous corners and high balls in the to the box, Joseph played in Donnelly with a ball over the top, with both defeneder closing down Donnelly it left Parker free in the box. Donnelly squared the ball and Parker was able to slot past Gueret from 12 yards.

A great counter attacking goal, and all that was to be done was to hang on to the lead, with some great defending and a big slice of luck.

Pressure from Swansea consisted mostly of long balls to the giant figure of Rory Fallan and then picking up the pieces from there, they didn’t look the best team to visit Bloomfield Road despite being in the mix at the top of the league.

But it was the Seasiders that could have doubled the lead, with two opportunities, Parker pulled a left-footed shot wide after getting on the wrong side of his defeneder.

Next Williams shot over the bar from a free-kick on the edge of the area.

Stockley replaced Donnelly on the right to bolster the defence with the added threat of substitute Leon Knight.

Now the big slice of luck, Trundle found a few yards of

pace in the box and was able to fire in a shot from a narrow angle which beat Lee Jones, smacked off the inside of the post and then back into the relieved hands of Lee Jones.

From that point Swansea weren’t able to create any clear cut chances with Clarke, Edwards and Wilcox dealing with most of the pressure. And that pressure was released with Pool playing some good keep ball down the left with Prendergast.

Summary

A battling performance similar to the Walsall match secured the points today, we might not of played good football or created numerous opportunities but we did the ‘dirty’ work and looked that we wanted it more than the Swans.

With other results going our way this win, we move above Yeovil and five points clear of the relgation zone. If the win against Walsall was a big step towards saftery then the win today was one giant leap.

Well done to bfcluke he predicted a 1-0 win today.

Blackpool: Jones, Joseph, Clarke, Edwards, Wilcox, Donnelly (Stockley 75), Bean, Southern, Prendergast (Morris 90), Williams (Blinkhorn 90), Parker.
Subs Not Used: Pogliacomi, Wood.

Swansea: Gueret, Ricketts, Tate, Monk, Williams, Forbes, Martinez (Knight 66), Tudur Jones, Robinson, Fallon, Trundle.
Subs Not Used: Murphy, Austin, O’Leary, Akinfenwa.

Match Stats

Player Ratings

Jones 7
Another fantastic performance, did well to stand his ground in the aerial bombardment.

Joseph 7
Solid game

Clarke 8
Had Fallon and Trundle in his back pocket all game.

Edwards 8
Did well again against the threat of Fallon.

Wilcox 7
Best performance he’s had in a tangerine shirt.

Donnelly 7
Did well for the goal.

Bean 7
Battled hard in the middle.

Southern 7
Battled hard with Bean too.

Prednergast 7
Another great performance, starting show why we bought him now.

Williams 7
Was quiet but did will in the circumstances.

Parker 7
Was the only player that was likely to get a goal and he took it well.