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Stoke City 1 Blackpool 1
Blackpool fought hard to gain a deserved point in their late kick-off at the Britannia Stadium, as Ben Burgess had an eventful afternoon.
The big striker put the visitors in the lead with his 37th minute goal, but was also at fault for Stoke's equaliser after he headed the ball back across his own goal, leaving Leon Cort with a tap-in.
How different it could have been if Sidibe's header had gone in four minutes into the game, instead of hitting the post. Not that all of the travelling fans will have caught that moment, however - a crash on the M6 had left the roads in chaos, meaning the game had to be delayed until 3.30.
Once it finally got going it was a corker of a match that never let up, and what was most impressive was that Blackpool deserved their point, if not more.
With Shawcross, Lawrence and Fuller (so troublesome in the reverse fixture) all absent, the Seasiders went there to win and they made a good fist of it.
They went in at half time in the lead through the goal from Burgess. He linked up well with Gary Taylor-Fletcher and when the ball came back to him in the box he hit a shot cleanly with his left foot. The keeper would probably have saved it were it not for the deflection which took it the other way.
The lead was gone almost immediately after the restart with the scrappiest of goals. Stoke's 47th minute corner found only the head of Burgess, but the striker, who apparently had the sun in his eyes, could only head the ball back into the fray. Cort still made the finish look like hard work, bundling over the line.
It would be unfair to criticise Burgess after the work he put in. He comes in for some stick from the stands, often unfairly, but you can tell from watching them that opposing defenders just don't like playing against him. He causes serious problems for them and while he may not be Fernando Torres, he is effective in his own way.
What really earned Blackpool the point though was the stern defending, particularly that of Ian Evatt and Stephen Crainey, who both had near-perfect games. In the second half Stoke looked as though they simply wanted to get through this one in the absence of their big-hitters.
Hoolahan began to get into the game too, and most of Blackpool's play came down the left. It was the crossing that let them down, not quite finding the head of McPhee who got into good positions all afternoon.
Stoke are no mugs though and gave a reminder of their quality towards the end when another Sidibe header had to be cleared off the line by Claus Jorgensen.
This meant the travelling fans, who had provided most of the atmosphere in an otherwise quiet Britannia Stadium, left feeling grateful for the point. Yet on reflection Stoke were not on top form and Blackpool bossed the second half.
The biggest tribute to Grayson's men was the way that the Stoke players looked exhausted at the final whistle, bent double and clearly glad it was over.
Not to sound greedy, but it was another point that could have been three. Blackpool may not be completely safe yet then, but more performances like this and they soon will be.
5:03pm Sunday 23rd March 2008
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CommentPosted by: robloc, stoke on trent on 10:57pm Sun 23 Mar 08
Well done to you lot, i think on reflection, a draw was a fair result, having said that, either team could have took the 3 points. Blackpool played very well & once again, we didnt, not to take anything away from you lot but i go to most of the matches & of late, we dont appear to want to win matches, frustrating from a stokies point of view. Good luck for the future & once again, well done. Be loyal, be proud, be stoke
Well done to you lot, i think on reflection, a draw was a fair result, having said that, either team could have took the 3 points. Blackpool played very well & once again, we didnt, not to take anything away from you lot but i go to most of the matches & of late, we dont appear to want to win matches, frustrating from a stokies point of view. Good luck for the future & once again, well done. Be loyal, be proud, be stoke
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