Two very good goals formed bookends to a game which was otherwise of pretty poor quality, not helped at all by a strong, swirling wind which made skilful play a rarity. After the game Simon Grayson said he thought perhaps nobody deserved to win, but certainly if one team had to come away with three points then Blackpool had more right to it - they created two goals for themselves, and the Leicester goal only came about from a defensive mistake. As with so many games this season it could have gone either way, and once again it shows that Blackpool are fully capable of playing at this level. The manner of the winning goal was encouraging too - veteran he may be, but Dickov clearly still has the knack of finding the net when he is given half a chance.
The weather had improved from the gales on Friday, which had left a ferry grounded off Anchorsholme, but it was still a wild and windy afternoon at Bloomfield Road for the visit of Leicester City. The reverse fixture on the opening day of the season was Blackpool's first chance to measure themselves against a Championship team, a chance they took well. Today was the first game after the transfer window, and while Blackpool had no new faces in the starting eleven, Paul Dickov, on loan for the rest of the season, was on the bench. There were two changes to the team, with Taylor-Fletcher and Hoolahan coming in after the defeat at Bristol City.
The game kicked off with Blackpool attacking the open south end, and in the first moments McPhee had the ball in the net, chipping neatly over the keeper, but he had already been flagged offside. However the home fans did not have long to wait for the real thing, as Blackpool scored in the third minute. They were awarded a free kick out on the left wing, inside their own half, and Stephen Crainey stepped up to take it. He noticed that Taylor-Fletcher had drifted out wide of his marker on the right wing, and he immediately hit a perfect long hard kick which picked out the Blackpool winger near the corner of the area. Taylor-Fletcher was running in and took the ball beautifully, dropping it in front of him, and then hitting a first time shot past the keeper's right hand and into the far side of the goal. It was a wonderful move, with three excellent pieces of skill put together to tear Leicester's defence apart - long pass, control, and shot.
It must also be said that nothing in the rest of the game lived up to this quality, and the rest of the half was scrappy and unmemorable, although in general Blackpool were the better team. They played very little on the ground, relying on the long high ball to Burgess, but in fact this was not particularly successful. The chances which did come generally arose from the few occasions when McPhee or Burgess ran onto a through ball, or Taylor-Fletcher made a move up the right wing. The best of these chances came when Crainey won the ball on the left and fed Hoolahan. He slipped the ball forward to Burgess who ran through into the box on the left. McPhee was free to his right and he should have slid the ball over to him, but instead he tried to shoot, and put it wide. The most interesting thing to happen in this spell was the departure of one of the linesmen with a knee problem - the fourth official took over and a home fan with the correct qualifications stepped up to handle the admin on the line, swapping his tangerine shirt for black..
At the other end Leicester were pressing when they could, but failed to make many clear chances. The best came from a cross coming in long from the right wing - it looked as though a forward would have a free header at close range, but somehow Evatt managed to get up far enough to get to it first and deflect it for a corner. There were a couple of other moments when it looked as though Leicester could be dangerous, but their shots were never on target, and in fact Rachubka did not have a serious save to make. As half time approached Blackpool won a corner on their left, Hoolahan put in a good cross and Barker met it with his head close to the penalty spot. However, although he was not under much pressure, he got under it slightly and put it over the bar.
Leicester made a double substitution at half time, and in the first fifteen minutes after the break they probably had the edge - though again they did not convert this pressure into any serious chances, as the Blackpool defence held out well. They were always threatening, though, while in this spell Blackpool really struggled to establish any kind of attacking move, and you always felt that a moment's inattention in the home defence could prove fatal. And so it happened, as Leicester attacked once more up their left wing. The ball was crossed in low to the near post, where Barker was ready to clear. However for some reason - perhaps a misjudgement, or perhaps he slipped on the soft pitch - the usually reliable Barker made a terrible error, knocking the ball softly back out into space in front of goal, perfectly set up for a Leicester player running in. He was able to place his shot wide of Rachubka, and Crainey, scrabbling desperately across the line, was unable to prevent it from going in.
After this Leicester eased up a little, and Blackpool began to come back into the game. McPhee, who seemed to have slowed a little, was replaced by Paul Dickov, whose first action was to get into a long argument with the referee, until Taylor-Fletcher ushered him away. However he did look lively, and several times won the ball from larger opponents by his strength and positioning. The Leicester keeper came out of his area to get to a through ball up the middle ahead of Dickov, but his clearance was poor and fell to Burgess about forty yards out. However with the open goal to shoot at he hit his lob much too high. A few minutes later Blackpool made a double change, bringing on Morrell and Welsh for Burgess and Hoolahan. With the departure of the big target man the home side started to use fewer long high kicks upfield, and their game improved from that point. Several times they made progress up the left wing and put crosses over, but the telling shot did not come. They won two free kicks outside the box - the first, out on the right, was taken by Crainey, and the second, in the middle, by Jorgensen, but in both cases the result was a ball driven hard into the wall and away. After another attack a ball came bouncing out of the Leicester area to Flynn, but he could not keep his shot down.
Time was running out, and there was always the chance that Leicester might even score on one of their rare breaks. Into the last minute and a visitor was caught offside in the centre of the pitch, midway between the area and half way. Rachubka came out to take it, and struck the kick long and hard up the right wing into the penalty box. Barker got on the end of it and immediately played it into the danger area in front of goal. First to it was Dickov, about six yards out on the near post, and he swept the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net. A classic poacher's goal, and just what Blackpool have been lacking this season.
There were three minutes of added time, and the crowd became very anxious, but there were no serious chances, and the whistle meant that Blackpool had completed the double over their visitors. Not a classic, though the goals were good, but a solid fighting performance and three more points towards the target.
Team (4-4-2): Rachubka, Barker (Capt), Evatt, Gorkss, Crainey, Taylor-Fletcher, Jorgensen, Flynn, Hoolahan (Welsh 77), Burgess (Morrell 77), McPhee (Dickov 70)
Subs not used: Jackson, Fox
