Blackpool 4

Matthew Blinkhorn 2' Mark McGregor 84' Keith Southern 99' Scott Vernon 104'

Northern Area

First Round

Wrexham 3

Mark Jones 77' 78' Darren Ferguson 94'

Tuesday 18 October 2005

 

Kick Off @ 19:45



Match Report

Blackpool 4, Wrexham 3 (AET)
By: Mark Currie, Daily Post

WREXHAM surrendered possession of the LDV Vans Trophy in shambolic fashion as they paid the price for an appalling defensive performance in an exciting period of extra time at Bloomfield Road.

Having previously gifted twice-winners Blackpool an early lead, two goals from Mark Jones late in normal time seemed to have turned the tie in the Dragons' favour, but former Wrexham defender Mark McGregor popped up to force the extra half-hour.

Dragons captain Darren Ferguson restored Wrexham's lead with a fine shot in the 96th minute but two horrendous defensive mix-ups in the space of six crazy minutes allowed Keith Southern and Scott Vernon to snatch victory with 15 minutes to spare.

With Andy Holt passing a late fitness test to play, there was only one change for the visitors - Trinidad international Dennis Lawrence returning in place of Paul Linwood, who was recalled on Monday by Tranmere Rovers.

Although there few other defensive options open to Dragons boss Denis Smith, the switch was looking decidely dodgy after only 90 seconds when, with keeper Mike Ingham odds-on favourite to collect a long ball, the big central defender inexplicably headed it over his team-mate and Matt Blinkhorn had the simplest of tasks to score.

Lawrence was immediately moved to the right of the back three, with Dave Bayliss given the task of directing defensive operations as Wrexham set about repairing the damage.

But long-range shots from Chris Armstrong and Jamie Burns were a timely reminder not to throw caution to the winds and when Holt surrendered possession to Tommy Wright on the by-line who picked out Simon Wiles, the defender did well to recover his ground and complete a goal-line clearance.

Wrexham wasted a great opportunity to level the game on the half-hour when Ferguson picked out Jon Walters' run, but the striker was being harried by two defenders going into the box and drove the shot wide of Les Pogliacomi's goal.

Bayliss and Wright were both booked after a tussle which reflected the tension bubbling just under the surface as Wrexham gained more of a foothold in the game and it needed a fine challenge by Peter Clarke to deny the turning Walters just six yards out.

The visitors continued to force the pace from the restart, but the anxiety of chasing the game was creeping in. Too often passes went astray at the vital moment and composure on the ball was at a premium.

And when Wrexham did get it right, Jones threading the ball through for Walters in the 55th minute, Clarke was there once more to protect his keeper.

The Dragons striker was involved again when picking up the ball 60 yards out and feeding Alex Smith down the left before running on to meet the return, only to fire high and wide from the edge of the penalty area.

The introduction of substitute Lee McEvilly for Simon Spender after 62 minutes gave an added presence up front, but it signalled a revival by the home side and former Racecourse favourite McGregor saw his goalbound effort through a crowded box blocked.

McEvilly went desperately close in the 69th minute, sticking out a boot to meet Holt's low cross but the ball skidded inches past Pogliacomi's right-hand post.

But when Robbie Foy replaced Bayliss with 17 minutes left to create a 4-3-3 formation in the clearest indication of Wrexham's desire to get back on terms it quickly paid dividends with two goals in as many minutes.

Just as they did at Barnsley on Saturday - conceding a brace in quick succession - Blackpool fell apart again after Walters found space on the right to pick out Jones' run and his shot from 20 yards slid under Pogliacomi's body.

Two minutes later Walters was on the other flank and, though his cross missed Ferguson, Jones obliged once more with stunning accuracy to the delight of the 200 or so travelling fans.

Jones should have completed his hat-trick eight minutes from time when he raced onto Foy's ball, but screwed his shot wide. And it was to prove costly when the home side equalised two minutes later, McGregor turning on a poor defensive clearance to lash the ball past Ingham and force extra time.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Darren Ferguson. Led by example and kept going to the end.

Match Reaction

Denis Smith: "I thought we were easily the better side, playing the better football, but just gave goals away. The first was plain comical, while the other three should all have been cleared! I could make excuses and the back four that we finished with would not have been my choice, but it was what we were left with. We needed to do something to get back into the game, so I took off Dave Bayliss because he had been booked and hoping that Dennis Lawrence could make it through to the end of 90 minutes. We had to give it go and it was a move that worked well, as we scored twice through Mark Jones to give us a chance of winning it in normal time. But once again we made mistakes and showed that we struggle to hold onto a lead at times. Even then Mark had a chance for his hat trick and to kill it at 3-1. While Lee McEvilly's header in injury time was another golden opportunity. Dennis had to come off at the start of extra time leaving us with little alternative, but to switch things around once again. Having said that, we should still have prevented their goals. We appear to have gone from one of the best defences in the league to one of the worst - and I think you can put that down to the continuous injuries we seem to be picking up. There were plenty of bad things in our game, but I can still look the many good points. Yet the papers show that we lost and have gone out of the competition. To score three goals away from home and to come back with nothing is not good enough. When I think of the chances we had, then we could have scored six or seven, but then again had we done that, we would have found a way to give away more. Overall though it was ridiculous to lose in the manner we did and goodness knows who I'm going to put against Bristol Rovers at the weekend!" [Source: Wrexham AFC]

 

Colin Hendry: "I CAN certainly say that the punters who have come along and parted with their fiver have got their money's worth. I can also tell you that I take this competition seriously. Anything in football I take seriously and I felt it was important that we win this game.
By winning we have done better than a lot of teams, regardless of who did or didn't play their strongest teams. I don't care. It's about what we do and we turned a team out that I felt was going to win. We did and it was pretty convincingly as well because before they scored they didn't really have an attempt or a chance when it looked as though they were going to get a goal. Indeed it could have been four or five nothing to us. We had to react to going behind after having had so many chances and I was glad we did that. It got a little bit end to end at times but I don't think they had too many chances. It wouldn't be Blackpool would it if we didn't have those two minutes of madness? The good thing is that the players that were on the pitch turned it round. They showed their character and they pulled it back.
The competition is important to a lot of people at this club and I think the taste of glory Wrexham have had in it recently as well meant they put their strongest team out as well and went for it. The stats on the night showed we won because we scored one more goal than them but I think if you analyse it and you break it down, then we were better than that. I've never intentionally killed a black cat in my life but after the first 45 minutes I just couldn't believe that we were only one ahead. I just hope the people that came can see what we are trying to do. We are trying to get a winning formula and a winning run and if it happens in the LDV then great." [Source: Blackpool FC]

Blackpool

Starting XI:

25 Les Pogloacomi
12 Danny Coid 29'
02 Mark McGregor
06 Peter Clarke
30 Chris Armstrong
17 Simon Wiles
04 Keith Southern
08 John Doolan
16 Jamie Burns 41'
14 Matthew Blinkhorn
26 Timmy Wright 65'

Subs:

01 Lee Jones (GK)
05 Tony Butler
10 Scott Vernon 65'
11 Rory Prendergast 41'
20 Simon Grayson 29'

Stats:

Shots on Goal: 18
Shots on Target: 10
Shots off Target: 8
Possession: %
Fouls Conceded: 18
Corners: 6
Yellow Cards: 3
Red Cards: 0

Wrexham

Starting XI:

01 Michael Ingham
06 Dennis Lawrence 90'
04 Dave Bayliss 73'
07 Andy Holt
20 Simon Spender 62'
08 Danny Williams
17 Mark Jones
10 Darren Ferguson
03 Alex Smith
09 Jon Walters
12 Dean Bennett

Subs:

11 Lee McEvilly 62'
13 Michael Jones (GK)
14 Robbie Foy 73'
19 Levi Mackin 90'
25 Mike Williams

Stats:

Shots on Goal: 19
Shots on Target: 8
Shots off Target: 11
Possession: %
Fouls Conceded: 10
Corners: 8
Yellow Cards: 1
Red Cards: 0

Match Notes

Venue Bloomfield Road
Attendance 3,239
Half Time Blackpool 1 Wrexham 0
Half Time Blackpool 2 Wrexham 2
Referee C Oliver (Northumberland)

Other Match Reports

A View from the Tower: Blackpool 4 Wrexham 3

BBC: Blackpool 4-3 Wrexham (aet)

Blackpool FC: Pool Edge Past Wrexham In LDV

TEAMtalk: Wrexham crash out

Wrexham AFC: Blackpool 4 Wrexham 3 (AET)

Wrexham Mad: Blackpool 4 Wrexham 3

Next Game

Bristol Rover (a), Coca Cola League 2

Saturday 22 October 2005, Kick Off @ 15:00