Blackpool 0 Stockport County 3 ( Football League 1 ) Saturday 17 August 2024

 

 

 

 

 

Sixty-six million years ago a huge asteroid  slammed into our planet wiping  out great swathes of life -obliterating the dinosaurs!

 

If the shock  and awe for Blackpool FC at their Bloomfield Road home today was somewhat less than the aforementioned historical trauma  for the dinosaurs, the Lancastrian side`s equilibrium was massively disrupted as County came…saw…and conquered their hosts 3-0 in a veritable blitz of  late goals slammed home with style by DC`s boys!

Louie Barry opened the scoring with just over 20 minutes left- it was a real belter. The second from Jayden Fevrier was no less brilliant as he leathered the ball home from a neat Bate pass. Then there was the third and how this was received by the County faithful- as the ball fell at Tanto`s feet and he powered it home.

Job done….and very well indeed as it happens as County soared to the top of the League 1 table as a glorious consequence !

………………………………………………….

 

It was all set up perfectly too as County`s massive body of support  were at their very best – thunderously loud and irresistibly supportive of their team as the match got underway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The early minutes were filled with irritations though as first off Evans went right through Collar`s back , and then Carey did something similar to Woots putting him down  - neither free kick profited County at all.

I was still seething about our hosts indiscipline when they contrived to get the ball down and play a bit , but when Carey found Joseph with a neat pass ,any chance the Pool number 9 had disappeared when the referee Simon Mather (who I thought had a decent game) spotted a sly push on Horsfall.

County`s best chance in the first 5 or 6 minutes surfaced via a break by Diamond . Both Barry and Wootton had notional chances from this as the ball rolled goalward deep in home territory , but it stayed 0-0  when Dan Grimshaw the Pool keeper imposed himself on the situation.

Both sides had a wee go next- Bate doing well for County to repel orange shirted boarders from a corner -Barry centimetres away from putting Collar`s pass home shortly after.

Blackpool kept trying  but they were not making waves of a sufficient size to disturb the studied calm of the blues back line- Addai doing well to make a catch under severe ( and not necessarily legal) pressure from Carey . Treatment followed for the County keeper, but he eventually continued much to our relief.

At this point I would have liked not to be writing about Blackpool`s iffy tactics but hey…I look up and see some `off the ball` by Kyle Joseph  on Camps- this was getting beyond irritating!

Blackpool came under pressure from the free kick but Barry`s shot took a deflection taking it out for a corner, which we promptly wasted.

We reached 20 minutes with Wootton bullying his way magnificently into the box-  it looked good ,but Woots` pass failed to locate Collar and Pool were saved.

Pennington then carted Collar ushering in another County free kick,  but we made nothing of it instead allowing our hosts to hit us on the break- forcing Pye to rescue the situation after Diamond had miss read a decent pass from Mingi.

Blackpool  enjoyed  a fair bit of possession after this – Horsfall doing well in the face of insistent home attacks and some wild frontier type play from Joseph- Mr Mather missed this this time which was fortunate perhaps for the Pool forward.

Addai went long on 32 minutes- Barry onto it but blocked before he could get his shot in.

This was the start of a period of County pressure , their best effort seeing a Barry effort come back out off a post with the home back line filleted- they survived though…..just!

Cue a small pantomime as Blackpool break clear the ball reaching Fletcher who with Pye for company went down in the box, clearly wanting a penalty- he was disappointed as the ref waved his appeals away.

Back came County, Wootton heading Collar`s cross over the bar after good work from Diamond.

We were deep into added time now  and County kept plugging away looking for that first goal- Barry blocked in the act of shooting as Collar sent a beautifully cushioned headed pass his way to end a first half that might have gone either way.

………………………………………..

 

The second half opened with Blackpool attacking and Lee Evans missing the target by a bit with his shot.

County replied quickly, but Touray was inches from getting to  a neat through ball by Bate.

Blackpool went back on the attack from this, and Ash Fletcher had the ball in the County net, 3 minutes into the half, but he was clearly offside and disappointed again!

We needed County to be putting more pressure on their opponents , but the first 5 minutes of the half had seen us having to defend.

Tanto`s name was being sung loudly at this point, but I could not help thinking that we could also do with Fevrier on the park soonish as well.

But things looked about to be on the up-turn as Camps stole possession impudently. He was away, but then ,despite having Louie Barry nicely placed to his left as he reached the edge of the box, he chose to shoot himself and the ball cleared the bar- the chance was gone!

Blackpool tried to respond but Finnigan`s shot went well wide.

It was disappointing to see `off the ball` stuff -Evans on Wootton next- the ref saw this and acknowledged the offence but then let play flow which is fair enough I suppose- what disappointed was that he then booked Collar for not very much- I can only think `verbals`.

No matter, County started to play a bit now and Touray did well to make ground down the left before slipping a pass Barry`s way. Louie was wide left and then he wasn`t as he drifted further and further inside tempting the apparently transfixed defenders to venture forth and maybe lunge at him. None of that happened – but it mattered not as Barry turned smartly to send a peach of a shot low and hard into the Blackpool  net to give County the lead.

The East Stand erupted in a cacophony of joy from County supporters- it was celebration time and how they did just that!

Within 3 minutes of that glorious moment Louie was substituted – Jayden Fevrier coming on in his place.

Fevrier is a busy player and got involved defensively as well as looking to his usual attacking duties, but he looked to have been unfairly penalised when making a good defensive claim and the free kick offered up real chances for Neil Critchley`s side. Carey`s shot came out off a blue shirted defender from the kick however, so no damage was done.

It only took one minute for County to surge back onto the attack through Diamond whose cross picked out Collar who then found Wootton who was crowded out by weight of orange shirted bodies in the box.

Then, with Tyler Onyango on for Diamond ,County set about pressurising Blackpool – Fevrier getting upended for his pains as he sped clear.

Nothing came from the free kick except another not long after as Matt Pennington became the 2^nd Blackpool player to be booked in the last 2 minutes having hauled Woots to the ground unceremoniously on 83 minutes.

Just a minute later and County doubled their advantage- not at first as Collar could not put a difficult chance away. Fevrier had been involved in the build up to that action and he was back with a vengeance straight off , taking a neat Bate pass then changing direction nicely before firing an unstoppable shot home.

Wow…2-0 ,and I only just maintained MY equilibrium as the younger supporters around me who had supported their team so well again today, almost swept me aside lost in celebration of another brilliant goal !

DC rang a couple of changes next replacing Mingi and Collar with Tanto and Bailey with 3 minutes of normal time left to play- Tanto`s arrival greeted by a thunderous welcome from County fans  .

Meanwhile Fletcher`s afternoon for Pool continued on a downward trajectory luck-wise, his shot soaring up and over the bar from CJ Hamilton’s cross on 90 minutes.

But it was County who were asking the meaningful questions and a neat move involving Wootton and Bailey  saw the latter weave neatly into the box before crashing down under pressure .Bailey fancied a penalty….I would have obliged him…Mr Mather , perhaps correctly, did not -it stayed 2-0.

But not for long  , County were busy, and when the inevitable happened and the home side`s harassed defence spilled possession Tanto was on it in a flash , responding to the adulation of the County crowd by imperiously lashing a wonderful strike home on the turn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have I said `Wow?`, well I say it again …Wow….that was simply excellent- the icing on a very eatable cake!

In what remained of the game there was work for Pye ,Onyango and others to do as the Blackpool corpse twitched , but County would not be denied or have their lead reduced at all, seeing the final moments of the game out in style.

Make no mistake this was a fine win and reflects massively well on both  County`s players and staff- Dave Challinor deserves full credit for overseeing this statement of intent from his team.

There`s nearly a whole season to go of course, so we cool the excitement a tad maybe with that in mind, but this is one heck of a start!

 

Blackpool line up:-

Grimshaw, Pennington, Baggott, Husband, Apter (CJ Hamilton 71'), Evans, Finnigan (Embleton 62'), Carey, Coulson (Ashworth 85'), Joseph (Rhodes 71'), Fletcher (Ballard 72')

Subs not used: O'Donnell, Casey .

 

Stockport County line up:-

Addai; Mingi (Olaofe, 87), Horsfall, Pye; Diamond (Onyango, 81), Camps, Bate (Capt.), Touray; Collar (Bailey, 87), Wootton, Barry (Fevrier, 69).

Subs not used: Hinchliffe, Metcalfe, Gardner.

Attendance: 12567 ( 3911)

hedgegrower

 

Additional Gallery from hedgegrower`s phone camera.....