Blackpool 1-0 U's: Not Quite There Yet
Blackpool 1-0 U's: Not Quite There Yet
Another loss on the road leaves United still needing a bit more to feel safe from the drop
It always felt a tough task. While Blackpool aren’t in any sort of inspiring form, and their fans are feeling the frustration of a team that has, in all honesty, performed below their expectations for most of the season, they are still one of the best teams at home in the division. The fourth best, in fact, going into the game.
They’ve built their campaign on their performances at Bloomfield Road, and plenty of teams occupying the top half of League One have gone there and struggled. You could make the solid case that this was probably our toughest fixture remaining, tossing it up between this and Derby at home - but a home game always has to feel more preferable against any opponent in the same division.
So, with that assumption in mind, we’ve travelled up to our hardest remaining fixture, played decently at times, and ended the day still five points clear of the drop, with another game gone. A five point cushion with five to go - before the Easter weekend you’d have snapped my hand off for that.
The only frustration might not be in the result, but the manner of it. And for two different reasons in each half.
The first one was poor - the U’s not even managing a shot, and feeling penned in all half. Waves of pressure down either wing meant Blackpool were getting into good positions far too regularly, and we had no outlet or ability to control the game once we got the ball ourselves. With all that pressure and possession, it just took leaving the impressive Sonny Carey unmarked on the edge of the box one time, and for him to sweep home a confident effort into the bottom corner to open the scoring (and close it, as it turned out). It did feel frustrating to have not carried a bit of the momentum and positive attitude from the Easter weekend into the first half and tried to put our mark on the game a bit more from the start, but part of that was also the opposition exposing us well, in fairness.
In the second half though, that bounce and energy returned somewhat. From the off it was more positive, Zeno Ibsen-Rossi’s surprise substitution for Ryan Bennett was helping us have a bit more control as he drove forward from the back and tried to break the lines a few times, pushing into central midfield. A decent save from a United header at a set piece denied an equaliser, and then around the 85th minute mark Kachunga missed a guilt-edged chance to take what would have ended up being a deserved point, and a huge one in the wider picture of the relegation battle. It was a nice move combining with Bonne down the left; not exactly flowing but some nice simple interchanges. Bonne’s ball somehow evaded the centre back and it looked like Kacha was surprised it landed at his feet. His touch and shot were scruffy, with the finish dribbling against the post and wide.
Blackpool had retreated further and further, and second half it looked like they were much more there for the taking. It didn’t quite go our way, but on another day it would have and we’d be celebrating a huge point. While the negative set-up in the first half was frustrating, we did do well to stay in the game until half-time after going one down, something which we haven’t done a lot of recently.
All in all, not a lot of damage done, and onto the next. The U’s are in a strong position, but you feel they will still need to get something from one of their remaining games to be playing third tier football for a fourth consecutive season next year.
This was a chance to do that gone. As a famous man once said, fine lines…
Soundtrack of the match