Blackpool 5 Kidderminster H 1
John Seckers Match Report
(3rd March 2001)
Kidderminster Harried by John Secker
After two narrow away defeats to the top teams in the Division, Blackpool badly needed to get back to winning ways at Bloomfield Road this afternoon. They certainly managed that, with a fine victory, not without flaws but overall very impressive. In September the away game at Kidderminster proved to be the launch pad for Blackpool's revival from the bottom of the league; let's hope that this game provides a similar platform for the final push for promotion.
Brian Reid passed a fitness test for today's game, and Steve McMahon decided to go with Reid and Shittu at the back, between Coid and Jaszczun, leaving Hughes on the bench. Midfield was Bushell, Milligan, Wellens and Simpson, with Ormerod and Murphy up front. The team settled down quickly, and the first chance came within a minute or so - the ball was played to Ormerod in the centre outside the box, but he had a long time to think about it as it bounced, and he put his shot well wide. However the pressure continued, with Coid looking keen to get involved up the right. After a couple more attacks which came to nothing, Blackpool won a free kick wide out on the right, which was advanced ten yards because of dissent. Simpson took it and had a shot, but it was comfortably saved. Simpson was involved a lot in the game today, but he seemed to be just slightly short of something, maybe fitness or inspiration.
Soon afterwards another attack up the right led to a cross which was headed out, and played back out wide to Coid. He cut in towards the box and hit a nice cross, about six yards out. John Murphy, running in and jumping better than the defence, met it perfectly and planted it into the net, a classic centre-forward's goal.
Blackpool were combining very well up the middle now, and they could have gone further ahead very quickly. A pass to Ormerod and a flick on put Murphy free in the box. His first shot was blocked, and when the ball rebounded to him his second attempt was bound for the far corner of the goal, but the keeper did well to get a hand down to it and divert it around the post. A little later a similar move saw Ormerod collect the ball in space out towards the right hand post; he fired in a rising shot, but again the keeper did well to turn it wide. We also saw one of Ormerod's failings, a lack of the true striker's instinct. An attack developed up the left; it was passed across, about on the edge of the box, to Murphy, who passed it on to Ormerod. He beat his man with a neat dummy, leaving him free in the centre of the goal, well inside the area. However instead of taking the chance to shoot unhampered, he amazed everyone by passing the ball sideways again, to a team mate who was marked, and the chance went away.
Kidderminster had not been letting the home team have it all their own way during this time. They play a passing and possession game which is not unlike the Blackpool style; perhaps McMahon and Molby picked it up from the same teacher. On twenty minutes they developed an attack up the right wing, which resulted in a good hard low cross being played into the box. It flicked off Danny Shittu and struck Coid, bouncing off him past the despairing dive of Barnes and into the net.
This was a blow, against the run of play, but it did not take Blackpool long to get back in front. About six minutes later another attack came up the Blackpool left wing. The ball was played to Murphy, who collected it well over on the left inside the box, and with his back to goal. He is not at his best in these positions, but today he turned very nicely, and placed his shot just past the hand of the diving keeper, and just inside the far post.
After this, Blackpool seemed to go off the boil a little, and the exchanges in the final twenty minutes of the half were pretty even. Whatever was said in the dressing rooms during the break, it didn't work for Blackpool, and in the early exchanges of the second half they struggled very badly to play as a team. All their passes were going astray, and nobody seemed to be able to read the intentions of the man on the ball. Blackpool were frustrated by Kidderminster's possession football, and found themselves chasing their tails. Fortunately the defence held out well, with Shittu and Reid very effective, each in their own way. Shittu is a big guy, and covers a lot of space, but his legs look rather disconnected from the rest of him, and you never have a lot of confidence in him when he is on the ball. He is the sort of defender to whom accidents tend to happen, like the incident at Brighton, or his part in the own goal today. Reid, on the other hand, is the classic experienced professional, calm even when the rest of the team are getting a bit frantic. many times today we saw him step up to intercept a pass, and control the ball rather than simply hoofing it away. During this period when Kidderminster were getting on top, Reid was the most significant figure on the pitch for Blackpool.
On the hour, Kidderminster's pressure resulted in a golden chance. It was rather like Blackpool's first goal, with a winger getting free on the right and putting in a good cross from the edge of the box. The forward didn't meet it as well as Murphy had done; he jumped a little too soon, and tried to get power by flicking his neck as the ball arrived. All he did was to flick it on beyond the far post. It was chased and won by another Kidderminster forward, who beat Shittu in the box, but then mishit his cross, lobbing it gently into Barnes' arms at the near post. Barnes kicked the ball up the right, where Bushell picked it up. He ran up the wing, and played it in to Wellens, inside the box. Wellens took a shot; the keeper got a hand to it but only partly saved it, and it rolled gently over the line, just inside the post, with Murphy racing in but not being needed.
The goal was against the run of play, and it was a cruel blow to Kidderminster, who never had a chance to recover. Within a couple of minutes, Wellens collected the ball on the right wing, just inside the Kidderminster half, and set off on a run straight into the area. He beat a couple of players, and by the time he reached the box he was going so fast that it only took a nudge to send him flying for a clear penalty. Murphy, on a hat trick, seized the ball; he stepped up to take the penalty, and placed it firmly into the top corner.
After this, it was Blackpool all the way; Kidderminster never gave up, but the home team were now full of confidence, knocking the ball around and probing the defence from all angles. Several chances were created, but none clear cut - Simpson had some of these, but he always wanted one touch too many. With ten minutes to go, and the match clearly over, McMahon took off Murphy and Jaszczun, replacing them with Walker and Neil Murphy - he went to right back, with Coid moving over to the left back slot.
Five minutes after this an attack came up the left wing. The ball was played forward to the edge of the box, in the middle, where Walker flicked it neatly to Ormerod, running through on the left. He was clean through, and this time he beat the keeper with no trouble. McMahon then pulled him off too, replacing him with Clarkson - probably the home game on Tuesday against Plymouth was on his mind, and he wanted to give his key players a little more rest.
It was another excellent performance, and hopefully should put the show firmly back on the road for the final push. Good, too, to see the team scoring freely; Murphy now has 21 goals in all competitions, and Ormerod 15, the first time Blackpool have had two steady scorers since Preece and Ellis were playing together. The run in will be difficult, with only five home games and eight away, but on this form a playoff place should be well within Blackpool's grasp, and an automatic place is still not impossible.
Team (4-4-2): Barnes, Coid, Shittu, Reid (capt), Jaszczun (N Murphy 80), Bushell, Wellens, Milligan, Simpson, J Murphy (Walker 80), Ormerod
(Clarkson 86)
Subs not used: Kennedy, Hughes
John Secker