In recent weeks Blackpool have failed to win games which they dominated. Today they took all three points at home for the first time this season, after being outplayed by Wigan for much of the game. However for all their pressure, and Blackpool's defensive frailty, Wigan struggled to create many clear chances, while Blackpool took theirs well.
Blackpool brought in John O'Kane in place of John Hills. This could have been in order to play three centre-backs, but in fact O'Kane went into midfield, alongside Bullock, Collins and Simpson, with a four-man defence - Coid, Thompson, Reid and Jaszczun. Blackpool started brightly, knocking the ball about and looking as though they were determined to play the game their way. Murphy was looking sharper this week, and working hard, though his life was made difficult by Pullen's kicking. Throughout the first half Murphy was taking up position left of centre, and signalling for the kick to come inside him, so he could flick it on up the middle. Instead every time the kick was sliced towards the touchline, so that Murphy was struggling even to keep it in play, with little chance of setting anything up. Murphy was also being marked by two defenders for most of the high balls, and seemed to be unlucky with the referee's decisions. On at least one occasion one defenders pushed him into the other one, and the foul was given against Murphy.
After eight minutes in which Blackpool had most of the ball, without finding a clear shot on goal, the break came in very nice style. A high ball was played up to Murphy, just outside the box. He knocked it down to Ormerod, who immediately played it out to Simpson on the left wing. His first-time cross was perfect, dropping between two defenders beyond the penalty spot, on to the head of Murphy. He had the time he needed to get power and direction on the header, and he powered it past the keeper into the goal. In theory not a difficult chance, but nothing is easy when you have not scored for months, and he took it very well.
Blackpool continued to look the better team as they went after the second goal which would give them a little comfort. Murphy was working hard through all this, while Ormerod looked a little less than his best, not always controlling the ball first time. On the right Bullock was very subdued - the Wigan number five, McMillan, was a very good defender and Bullock could not get past him. Ormerod made a couple of good runs into the box on the left, but the resulting crosses were poor. A neat interchange on the edge of the box gave Simpson a chance to shoot, but his drive was wide of the right hand post. A little later Collins had the ball on the right - he lost it, and was lucky to be given the free kick when it seemed to me that he jumped in two-footed. Simspon lined up the shot and curved it around the wall, going for the top corner, but the keeper was expecting it, and had time to catch it comfortably.
As time went by the balance of the game started to swing slowly back away and Wigan started to threaten. They were pushing well up both wings, and Coid especially often looked isolated, but the crosses when they came were not great. One did find Pullen wandering miles from his goal, almost to the edge of his area, and failing to make contact, but fortunately Blackpool won the ball and got it away. The most dangerous moment came not from a cross, but from a break up the middle. A Wigan player broke free into the box, but a fine tackle from Reid from behind took the ball away cleanly.
Wigan were looking slightly on top as the first half came to a close, and this was emphasised when a corner led to a free header for a Wigan forward. He took it well, but a man on the line managed to hack it clear. After the break we hoped that Blackpool might have reorganised their defence, but instead Wigan, who had made a double substitution up front, continued to be the better side. Blackpool seemed to lose confidence, and no-one wanted to take charge. This was not helped by two incidents, close together, when Reid clashed heads first with an opponent and then with Thompson, so that both of them needed treatment. About this time O'Kane dropped back into the centre of defence, and Blackpool really conceded midfield to the visitors after that.
Still, for all their pressure, Wigan were not getting in many shots on goal, and most of Blackpool's worries were caused by Pullen's odd excursions. Once again he went racing miles out of his goal after a cross, which dropped over his head to a Wigan player. Luckily for Pullen he was able to leap and grab the return ball out of the air. Twice both Pullen and other defenders hesitated and stood off a loose ball in the box, allowing a forward to run on to it and put in a shot.
With 25 minutes left Blackpool made a double substitution, bringing off Simpson and Bullock, replacing them with Fenton and MacKenzie. Before we had a chance to see what effect this change would have, Blackpool gave Wigan the goal they had been seeking. Again it was Pullen's rashness which did it. An attacker got the ball in the area, near the byline but with his back to goal. It was not a desperately dangerous moment - he was marked, and the area was crowded, so there was still a lot to do before Wigan could get a shot in. However Pullen came running across and dived through the back of the attacker's legs to try to reach the ball, and the referee had no doubts about the penalty. It was tucked neatly away in the right hand corner, with Pullen going the wrong way.
Blackpool were now really on the rack. The most dangerous area was on the right, where Coid was constantly finding himself alone against two or three attackers. With Bullock having left the pitch, nobody seemed to want to get across to help him, and generally Blackpool were failing to find any urgency about their play. ON 78 minutes Jamie Milligan came on to replace Collins, with no obvious effect, and as the game moved towards its final minutes, there was no doubt that Blackpool were hanging on grimly - we were very aware that there would be a lot of injury time, after Reid's two head injuries.
Suddenly, with five minutes to go, everything changed with one moment of individual skill. The right wing had not been getting much service - with Coid on his own there seemed little point. Now, however, he made a good tackle on the half way line and won the ball. His opponent tried to grab his legs as he got away and he stumbled, but recovered, and the referee played advantage. He ran on towards the area, beating a couple of tackles, and suddenly he was on the edge of the area, in the middle, with time to shoot. He let fly with a fierce shot, sheer power, and it flew straight past the keeper's right hand into the top corner of the goal.
The game was changed in an instant, and less than two minutes later it was all over. MacKenzie took the ball in midfield, and then he also went on a run up the middle taking the ball into the box. However he then slid it to his left where Murphy was unmarked, clear through on the keeper. He fired his shot high,and it struck the bar, but when it dropped there were two or three attackers waiting for it, and Mackenzie knocked it into the empty net. It was right that he should score, because he had done all the hard work.
Wigan were now shell-shocked, and really didn't have much more to offer, so the question in injury time was whether Blackpool could add a fourth. Ormerod charged down a clearance by the keeper and got the ball in the area, but he could not get it across effectively, and it was cleared for a corner. From another corner Murphy had a chance to shoot, getting the ball near the edge of the area, but this is not his best aspect, he needed too much time and his shot was blocked.
The referee signalled three extra minutes, which was nonsense, and played six, which was more like it, before Blackpool celebrated a home win which had seemed most unlikely ten minutes before. Murphy was Man of the Match, deservedly, but Blackpool still have major defensive issues to sort out - Barnes must be optimistic about getting a start very soon.
Team (4-4-2): Pullen, Coid, Thompson, Reid (capt), Jaszczun, Bullock (Fenton 64), O'Kane, Collins (Milligan J 78), Simpson (MacKenzie 64), Ormerod, Murphy
Subs not used: Barnes, Parkinson