Blackpool 0 Preston 0

7:07pm Sunday 16th March 2008

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Both sides forgot to bring their shooting boots as the derby ended goalless at Bloomfield Road.

Although there were chances, it certainly never looked like being a high scoring game and crucially, Paul Dickov was absent for the Seasiders - a player that could have been the difference in an incredibly tight match.

That said though, the first half was entertaining to watch and had a goal gone in during the opening twenty minutes, it would have been a different story.

Half past twelve kick-offs are rare these days at Bloomfield Road, so perhaps it isn't surprising that Blackpool took a little while to wake up.

The opening ten minutes were PNE's best, with Carter having the best chance; a shot that Rachubka just got to, even if the defence was caught unawares.

However, once Ben Burgess had almost got the better of Lonergan, the Tangerines were well and truly in the game.

Just before the quarter of an hour mark, Hoolahan weaved his way into the box and found Jorgensen, who hit wide with a decent effort considering he was twenty-five yards out.

Crainey saw his free-kick fly over, before another long-range effort went begging, Gary Taylor-Fletcher this time, hitting straight into Lonergan's arms.

By this point it was starting to look like a proper derby match, and the yellow cards started popping up. Mulwene and McKenna were the first victims of the ref's attempts to calm things down, before Evatt picked up a yellow for a clumsy challenge on Brown, who was going away from goal.

Sedgewick, perhaps feeling a little left out, threw a top-class tantrum just before half time and talked himself into the ref's book as well.

So you'd think all this would set up a quality second half. It looked like a goal was coming, and possibly some controversy since tempers were starting to bubble over. We were about to see a sending off, maybe, or even a good scrap.

And yet the second half was disappointing. It's hard to say why exactly, but it just didn't seem to come to life after the restart. It looked as though Alan Irvine had put a rocket up his team's backside when they dominated the first ten minutes of the second half, but their impressive spell seemed to fizzle out.

Blackpool continued to play the better football, but lacking the cutting edge of Dickov or the drive of Keith Southern (just as badly missed as the fiery Scotsman was), they couldn't quite break through.

One interesting point was the introduction of Keigan Parker who came back from the dead late on to replace Taylor-Fletcher. The former fans favourite did pretty well, one cross finding the head of Burgess nicely, even if squaring it for an incoming McPhee may have been the better ball. Credit must go to the striker for breaking back into the team.

But even Parker couldn't break the deadlock. No-one had a particularly bad game, in fact the Seasiders did their fans proud, but by the end both sides seemed content with a point each.

The headlines will centre around the usual inevitable controversy, this time with the alleged racist chanting coming from the Blackpool contingent, something which is incredibly depressing if it proves to be true. The club is already a throwback to the eighties with it's laughable stadium, without this as well.

Yet none of this can disguise the fact that this was a disappointing derby match on a day when an off-colour Preston were there for the taking.