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Blackpool 0 - Preston 0
A FRIEND of mine recently took his family on a holiday to Cornwall. He had not been away for years and was most excited about his forthcoming trip.
They stayed in a cottage described in the brochure as "idyllic, and in a beautiful, sheltered location".
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In reality it turned out to be an ant-infested hovel on the edge of a cliff. It rained for five days solid and their dog died of pneumonia.
Which just goes to show that sometimes the things you look forward to most don't always live up to expectations.
That was certainly the case with this derby. The build-up had been exciting, the anticipation huge, and yet it eventually turned out to be all a tad disappointing.
Blackpool wanted to complete the double over Preston and really rub their rivals' noses in it a result that would have well and truly capped a terrific first season back in the Championship.
North End on the other hand wanted to avenge that Deepdale defeat in December, as well as taking a huge leap towards safety at their neighbours' expense.
In the event neither happened. We didn't even get a goal.
After the white hot atmosphere that had been whipped up during the 90 minutes, it spoke volumes that at the end there was an overwhelming sense of anti-climax as both sets of supporters, struggling to find a chant suitable for the moment, trooped out of the ground in slightly downbeat fashion.
"You'll never beat the Blackpool," was the parting shot the home fans opted for.
And that isn't a bad one, for how well the Seasiders have done this year not just against Preston, but another of their Lancashire enemies, Burnley.
Pool are unbeaten in four games against their neighbours, taking eight points from 12. Not bad going at all.
They will probably look back at this game and think it should have been 10 points, for in the first half they certainly created enough chances to have won any game. If one had gone in, then the floodgates may well have opened.
Deadlock
Unfortunately a combination of some good goalkeeping by Andy Lonergan and some wasteful finishing meant it was all square at the break.
Thereafter (though it's doubtful anyone in Blackpool will admit it), Preston improved greatly which resulted in a very even second 45 minutes.
Indeed from the moment the second half began, neither team looked like breaking the deadlock and, like most derbies, it was as tight as a Yorkshireman. The closer it got to full-time, the more both teams scared of making a mistake shut up shop and settled for a point.
That may have been mildly disappointing for the supporters but it helps both clubs greatly. Both have edged that little bit nearer to the 50-point mark, for when clubs reach that they are often home and dry as far as staying up is concerned. Go down with more than 50 points and you are very unlucky indeed.
By which reckoning Pool, on 48 points as it stands, need just one more win or two draws from their remaining seven games and they will be pretty much there.
While one or two supporters may still be on edge, they shouldn't worry too much.
Simon Grayson's side will stay up. They've been so consistent all season that no matter how tricky the run-in is on paper, they are highly unlikely to go from now until the end of the season without another victory.
What a pity, though, that the Seasiders couldn't beat North End in this one. It had been glorious at Deepdale, Wes Hoolahan's penalty giving Blackpool fans one of their finest afternoons in many a year, not to mention months of one-upmanship on their neighbours and work colleagues.
That's why this return encounter meant so much and it's why folk from all over the Fylde converged on Bloomfield Road for a game that had been sold out two months in advance in the expectation of seeing the Seasiders once again record victory.
Alas, it wasn't to be, but at least it gave the younger supporters a chance to see why this derby really is so special.
Delays on the M55 might have resulted in a muted atmosphere in the half hour leading up to the game but when the teams trotted onto the pitch everything changed.
The fans went ballistic and didn't let up until deep into the second half.
In a pulsating opening period the biggest mystery was how Pool didn't put the ball in the Preston net.
With Claus Jorgensen in for the injured Keith Southern and Ben Burgess replacing Andy Morrell (Paul Dickov still injured), the Seasiders poured forward.
Burgess in particular looked fired up. Earning his first start since defeat at Ipswich six games ago, he charged about and caused Preston problems. It's just a pity he couldn't finish off the chances he had.
The striker's best opportunity came when Lonergan, under pressure from Ian Evatt, spilled the ball. Unfortunately Burgess didn't realise how much time he had, hurried his effort and failed to head the ball into a gaping goal from six yards.
Jorgensen hit a beauty of a shot from 25 yards narrowly wide. Then Gary Taylor-Fletcher headed Stephen Crainey's cross wastefully over;
stumbled at the vital moment after Stephen McPhee's clever dummy; and powered in a shot which Lonergan athletically tipped round the post.
Stephen Crainey sent a free-kick past the upright and Hoolahan seemingly attempting to earn himself hate-mail from the Preston area for the next umpteen years almost curled the cheekiest of shots into the top corner from wide on the left touchline.
If that had gone in, it would have bettered his penalty at Deepdale by some distance in terms of a taking-the-mickey moment.
Preston, with Youl Mawene struggling a little at the back, looked shell-shocked and struggled to stay afloat.
A Darren Carter free-kick which stung the palms of a well-positioned Paul Rachubka was their best effort of the half.
However, the fact that Pool who lost the toss and kicked towards their fans in the first half, not the second as they prefer to do failed to score came back to haunt them.
A clever tactical reshuffle at the break saw North End's back four sit a little deeper, shielded by skipper Paul McKenna. It allowed a much improved Mawene and co extra time and space to deal with what was being thrown their way and
almost totally nullified the Seasiders' threat.
Dreams
End result was a second half the complete opposite of the first. It was rank poor, with very few highlights, and the wind which grew fiercer as the game went on didn't help.
Michael Flynn had Pool's one real shooting opportunity, but after being teed up by Hoolahan hit a weak side-footed effort straight at Lonergan.
Chris Sedgwick missed North End's sole opening, ballooning his close range shot high and wide.
And that was about it. The contest had started with tangerine balloons being released into the sky and thoughts of a thrilling afternoon ahead.
By the end, those dreams, like the balloons, had gone pop but at least we'll be able to do it all again next year.
On this evidence both sides are staying up, which is nice because that's a guaranteed four or six points for Grayson's men next term
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QPR 3 - Blackpool 2
IF, God forbid, a bomb had gone off inside Loftus Road last night, it would have made one hell of a news story.
Seated in the directors box were a group of people whose combined wealth is more than the GDP of most European countries.
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Eccleston (Formula One chief), Flavio Briatore (owner of the Renault F1 team), Ramon Calderon (president of Real Madrid) and a man mysteriously described as the King of Ghana (King of Ghana) were all there, not to mention Harry Redknapp, Sam Hamman and some Latvian billionaire by the name of Valery Belokon.
All that was missing was Prince Harry, Paul McCartney and Dale Winton and we would have had a collection of pretty much the world's most famous folk in one venue at the same time.
If Pool were aiming to put on a show for their affluent and influential guests, then for 50 minutes they blew it.
The 'King of Ghana' (and, yes, I'm thinking what you're thinking what the hell was he doing there?) along with his cohorts, must have been wondering just how the Seasiders had reached the top half of the Championship as Simon Grayson's men produced a thoroughly mediocre display to stumble to a three-goal deficit.
Capitalised
Then, as the Tangerines belatedly raised their game, the cast of VIPs suddenly saw what the men from the Fylde are capable of.
They came roaring back thanks to goals from Ben Burgess and Stephen McPhee and, in the end, were only denied the unlikeliest of points by some stubborn, at times desperate, QPR resistance.
It really was the strangest of games. Rangers went 3-0 ahead despite playing poorly. Neither side showed much quality. It was simply the case that every time Rangers forced an opening they capitalised.
Even when three-down it was quite clear that if Grayson's side played as they could, they would have a chance of getting back into it.
Belatedly they did but unfortunately you can't give any side a three-goal advantage and expect to get anything from a game.
The good news is that this defeat doesn't actually change much. Pool are still in a very decent 13th position, although that is a bit misleading.
There are a bunch of teams below them, with just six points separating a glut of clubs from mid-table to the bottom three.
In my opinion Blackpool will probably be safe with the number of points they already have (47) but the players can't afford to look at it like that. The manager certainly won't.
They need to edge past that 50 barrier as soon as possible. The problem is that the Seasiders' run-in is pretty difficult. The home games with Preston and Sheffield Wednesday look, on paper, the most winable but we thought that about Barnsley and Southampton.
In short, Pool will avoid relegation but there could be a few fingernails gnawed to the bone between now and the end of the season.
As for last night's defeat, it is certainly no disgrace.
Let's not forget that QPR as can be judged by the ridiculous cast of celebrities present at the ground are the new, richest club in British football and splashed out £5m-plus in the January transfer window.
Sweating
They also love playing Blackpool you have to go back to 1972 to find the last time the Seasiders left Loftus Road with three points.
That was also the year Paul Dickov was born. Last night he, along with Claus Jorgensen, missed out through injury replaced by Andy Morrell and Michael Flynn.
The latter gave himself a good shout of being included for the big one against PNE on Saturday, but Morrell will be sweating especially because of the impression Burgess made after coming on as a second half substitute.
On top of that Dickov will surely be fit to face North End, which means there will be strong competition for places up front.
However, after last night it's fair to say that there's competition in every department throughout the side because a great display it was not.
The home side went ahead 11 minutes in when Patrick Agyemang, the former Preston striker, fired in a right wing cross.
Akos Buzsaky stuck out a leg and somehow sent the ball looping over Paul Rachubka and in off the bar.
It was described on the BBC's website as a "sublime strike". You've got to be joking it was a complete fluke.
Pool had a good chance to level soon after but Stephen McPhee, after doing well to take out two defenders and cut into the box, slashed a right-footer wildly over when Gary Taylor-Fletcher was in acres of space to his right and screaming for a pass which surely would have resulted in a goal.
QPR, belying their cash-rich status, were poor and yet on 40 minutes they doubled their advantage.
Rowan Vine capitalised on some hesitation from Taylor-Fletcher to burst into the box and, unchallenged, fire a left-footed diagonal shot low and hard into the bottom corner.
Rachubka got a hand to the ball but couldn't keep it out. Maybe he could have done better, but where was his protection?
Provoked
On 48 minutes it was 3-0, a goal that Shaun Barker would pay good money never to have to see again. The Seasiders skipper made a bad error in conceding possession to Vine on the left.
The striker, a real handful on his day, burst into the area and squared the ball, which was eventually bundled home by Martin Rowlands.
Pool were being hammered and yet the game was fairly even. Very strange.
However, at least that third goal provoked a reaction.
Kaspars Gorkss slid a lovely pass through to Burgess and the striker showed excellent composure to bury an angled, left-footed drive into the bottom corner.
It was his seventh of the season and he scored it just six minutes after coming on as a 53rd minute sub.
Flynn was denied by keeper Lee Camp and Ian Evatt missed out on a goal against his former club when his volley cleared the bar by a whisker.
Then, seconds after Keigan Parker (remember him?) had come off the bench 71 minutes in, it was 3-2 and the fightback seemed on.
Wes Hoolahan's corner, Gorkss's majestic rise and header, and McPhee helped the ball in with his forehead from close range. McPhee's fourth goal for the Seasiders; Gorkss denied yet another goal but claiming his second assist of the night.
Suddenly everyone, maybe even the 'King of Ghana', was on the edge of their seats. Could Pool complete one of the comebacks of the season?
They certainly tried their best, pressing and probing and giving Rangers one or two heart-stopping moments.
But credit to the home side, for after almost throwing the points away they played well for the remaining 20 minutes and in truth it was they who looked the likelier to score and would have done so had Rowlands' long-range not flown the wrong side of the post.
Credit
Grayson's men had to be content with the role of gallant losers and at least, in the end, they came out of the game with great credit and deservedly so for their persistence and character if nothing else.
It was just frustrating that they gave their hosts a three-goal start before they started playing because Rangers, on this evidence, are certainly no b
etter than Blackpool.
Unfortunately a distinctly average performance for 50 minutes led to defeat.
However, all will be forgotten and forgiven should the Seasiders get a win against Preston. Roll on Saturday, it's going to be something special.
QPR: Camp, Mancienne, Connolly, Leigertwood, Delaney, Buzsaky (Lee 85), Hall, Rowlands (Rehman 90), Vine, Blackstock, Agyemang (Mahon 66).
Subs Not Used: Pickens, Balanta.
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Blackpool 2 - Southampton 2
IT says much about the quality of the first half of this contest that the main talking point was Kaspars Gorkss's choice of footwear.
He appeared to be wearing orange carpet slippers, the type which, had they been purchased for you by a relative at Christmas, you'd immediately ask for the receipt and advise them to get an eye test.
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Amazingly Gorkss was not only able to stand up in them but score yet another goal. Perhaps the opposition were dazzled. It could be a new tactic.
"I bought them last week," said Gorkss proudly at the end, which suggested he'd paid money for them. Remarkable.
I speak in jest of course, for who can question the wisdom of a defender who is top scorer and one of the best players this season.
And at least he gave us something to discuss, because don't be deceived by the four goals this wasn't a great game After the 5-3 thriller in the previous Saturday home outing against Charlton, this was tame by comparison, certainly in a first half that, as previously hinted, was as drab as anything witnessed at Blackpool all season.
The awful, blustery conditions played a part, typified by the comedy moment when Southampton's left winger Jason Euell smashed an up-and-under into the area only to watch as the ball caught in the fierce wind and flew back over his own head and out for a throw, a kind of football boomerang.
Holes
But it wasn't just the conditions. The players too have to hold their hands up. For the first time in a long while, too many of them weren't at the races, particularly before the break.
In fact it was hard to pick out anyone who played well in the opening period and it was little surprise that those in tangerine got a rare rollicking from the boss.
That interval ear-bashing ensured a much brighter second period, although after going in front the Seasiders once again contrived to throw it away. Like Barnsley in midweek, they were pegged back and a couple more points went begging.
But the very fact that we're picking holes in a draw with Southampton once again illustrates just how far Blackpool have travelled under Simon Grayson.
Offered a home draw against Saints at the start of the season, most Seasiders followers would have bitten your hand off.
It's only because Pool have done so well, played such terrific football at times this year, that Saturday's 2-2 draw felt slightly disappointing.
Let's take a reality check here. The truth is that this is another excellent point as Pool continue to punch above their weight with such great effect.
It took the Seasiders points tally to eight from 12 and they remain unbeaten at home since mid-December. That's not bad going by anyone's standards.
More importantly they remain a healthy distance from the bottom four and only require a couple more wins to secure safety. So yes, there's work still to do, but Pool are perfectly positioned and odds-on to be a Championship outfit next season.
And they deserve to be so because they have proved week after week that they can compete with the best the division has to offer.
Glorious
Not many teams have got the better of Grayson's men this season, although, in fairness, Southampton came closer than many.
For a supposedly struggling side, the visitors played well and caused problems. Having said that, had Michael Poke not brilliantly saved Claus Jorgensen's first-half drive, or had Wes Hoolahan converted a glorious chance from 10 yards late on, Pool would have won the points and wrapped up yet another home victory.
They wouldn't have deserved it though. In what was a poor quality match neither team did enough to merit victory and a draw was the correct outcome a draw by the way that was Southampton's fourth in a row since Pearson took charge last month.
Grayson made just one change from the side which drew with Barnsley (and doesn't that seem a decent result now!), bringing back Paul Dickov to replace Andy Morrell.
In truth Dickov didn't look fully over the hamstring injury which forced him to miss the previous two games. He was off the pace and made a limited contribution prior to being replaced in the 68th minute.
Still, his record still reads five goals in five starts, and this hour of action will have done him good.
Dickov wasn't on his own in being below par. No one impressed prior to half time as a big, strong Southampton side, who mastered the blustery conditions so much better than Pool, rather cruised into the lead.
Their goal came on the half hour after a combination of Ian Evatt and Gorkss felled Stern John in the area. It may have been a soft penalty but it was a penalty the striker was tripped.
Left back Gregory Vignal slotted a confident left-footed spot kick beyond the reach of Paul Rachubka.
Deficit
Jorgensen's belting shot aside which produced an even better stop Pool were oddly dysfunctional. Usually so assured on the ball and able to construct clinical, passing moves, everything was disjointed. They couldn't get going.
Hardly surprising that Grayson laid into his charges at the break and as the weather improved, the sun suddenly replacing the brooding dark clouds for 10 minutes after the restart the Seasiders were back to their best.
In that short time they turned deficit into advantage.
On 48 minutes Shaun Barker showed good determination to win a throw-in on the right. Keith Southern ran towards him screaming for a quick throw. Like a dad telling his 10-year-old to leave him alone, Barker waved him away.
Southern obeyed, wandered into the box
and promptly headed Barker's throw into the bottom corner, though Southampton's 22-year-old debutant keeper Poke may feel he should have done more to keep it out.
All square but not for long. Pool struck again on 55 minutes when Stephen Crainey's free-kick from the right was half-cleared and orange-feet Gorkss struck a scruffy volley from the edge of the area which rolled through a crowd of players and nestled in the bottom corner.
Pool were on their way, we thought. We were wrong. Within eight minutes Grayson's men had been pegged back by a scruffy equaliser.
Jason Euell headed John Vignal's corner goalward. Rachubka saved brilliantly but the loose ball fell to John, unmarked and barely two yards out. It was probably the easiest of his 15 goals this season.
Magic
Ben Burgess, Michael Flynn and eventually Morrell all came on but to no avail. Pool had one real chance the ball sitting up perfectly for Hoolahan after good work by Burgess and McPhee.
But for once the Irishman's magic boots let him down and he dragged his shot from 12 yards wide, by his standards a very bad miss.
Another point, though, against a good side. Tomorrow comes another daunting-looking test at QPR, the richest club in football. Mind you, Chelsea are second richest and look what happened to them.
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Blackpool 1 - Barnsley 1
THE headteacher at my old primary school once gave an assembly during which he told the tale of a young man who stumbled upon a purse heavy with gold.
He picked it up and was wondering what to do with it when he heard footsteps. He put the gold in his pocket.
A tearful young lady appeared and cried: "Woe is me. I have lost my father's money. Please, kind stranger, have you seen it?"
The man hesitated before answering 'no', and the damsel in distress wandered unhappily on.
Our headteacher was a boring bloke who, with hindsight, was going a bit senile he must have been given some of the jumpers he wore - and he rambled on for another 15 minutes.
But to cut his very long story short, the man walked away only to get trapped in quicksand. He would have been OK but, alas, the weight of the gold in his pocket dragged him down and he suffered an unenviable death.
A big lad called Jeff Gibbons, with a brain the size of a small garden pea, spent that assembly hitting me in the back of the head with a ruler, so I never got round to asking our headmaster why the doomed man didn't just remove the gold from his pocket so he could make himself lighter and thus stop sinking.
But I digress. The moral of the story is this it's dangerous to get too greedy.
And that is why anyone disappointed with last night's point against Barnsley should really think again.
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Look at the bigger picture. Pool are on 46 points at the start of March. They are as good as safe already.
They've lost just three times at home all season and have taken seven points from the last nine, a run which has included victories over Charlton and at Norwich.
In short it's been terrific and while it would have been nice to have seen off the Tykes, no one connected with the club should feel down for even the briefest of moments about only drawing.
It's another valuable point and another step in the right direction.
Granted the match was hardly a classic but Blackpool probably did enough to have won.
They had plenty of opportunities and were highly unlucky not to score a second goal that probably would have been enough to clinch victory.
However, credit to Barnsley. They certainly didn't look like a side with minds on Saturday's FA Cup quarter final clash with Chelsea. They were patient and disciplined, worked hard and caused the Seasiders several nervy moments with their fast counter-attacking breaks from midfield.
Architect-in-chief was Brian Howard, a classy player very confident on the ball in the centre of the park.
Kayode Odejayi isn't bad either. You might have noticed him. It's hard not to. He's 6'6, that's both height and width. Getting hit by him must be a little like running headfirst into a moving bus.
It's little wonder that Ian Evatt and Kaspars Gorkss looked a little groggy at the end. Both, though, did a sterling job though Gorkss will probably feel hard done to that Odejayi wasn't penalised for a foul on him in the build up to Barnsley's equaliser.
The Seasiders, with an unchanged line up from Norwich, started a little sluggishly, as if perhaps jetlagged from their flight to East Anglia. It was 45 minutes after all
But out the blue they took the lead. Stephen Crainey fired in a diagonal pinpoint cross from the left on 20 minutes and Gary Taylor-Fletcher half stooped, half dived to ram the ball in with his head from 10 yards.
He should have had a second on the half hour, connecting perfectly with Wes Hoolahan's deep corner. But his volley was so powerful it struck a surprised Stephen McPhee on the line before the frontman could get out of the way and the ball rebounded behind to safety.
Without playing brilliantly, Pool were largely in control and had half chances to nick a second.
But in first half stoppage time, with three-quarters of the crowd placing their interval pie order, Jamal Campbell-Ryce got the Tykes back on level terms.
After Odejayi had barged Gorkss off the ball in midfield (illegally, or so it looked), Sam Togwell broke down the right and lashed the ball across goal. Campbell-Ryce, a player who is either awful or superb but rarely in between made no mistake from 14 yards, firing a right footer past the unguarded Rachubka.
An air of disappointment at the break but all in all a general confidence that Blackpool would go on and get victory. That they didn't wasn't for a lack of trying.
Shortly after the restart Andy Morrell latched onto a flick from Stephen McPhee and struck a fierce effort which impressive keeper Luke Steele beat away. The loose ball cannoned back off defender Stephen Foster and struck the post. A major let off for the visitors.
On 57 minutes, and after excellent work from Hoolahan and Crainey, McPhee missed a glorious chance, turning excellently but firing his shot well over the bar.
A minute later Hoolahan played in Morrell but the striker in again for the injured Dickov guided his left foot wide.
It went quiet for a long while after that, the night only lit up by some brilliant interchange play between Crainey and Hoolahan on the left. Barnsley's Howard aside, those two were the best players on the pitch.
The visitors were always in it and always, to their credit, on the frontfoot. They caused Pool the odd problem and Dennis Souza could have done more than that had he not wastefully shot wide from Howard's cross into the box.
Grayson, perhaps sensing it wasn't going to be his side's night, tried to make things happen, throwing on three substitutes. But although the Seasiders huffed and puffed, and one of the replacements, Ben Burgess, came close with a couple of headers, that elusive goal never looked like arriving.
It means Pool still haven't beaten Barnsley at Bloomfield Road since 1991 and haven't won on a Tuesday since last March (which doesn't bode well for next week's visit to QPR), but then again this is a match that Blackpool of old would have probably lost.
So a point shouldn't be sneered at and the fact is that Grayson's men are creeping ever-closer to the safety mark.
If the fans are being honest, they'll probably admit that their disappointment at failing to win last night was because it would have been great to nudge closer to the play-offs.
But let's be realistic. Top six is out of the question. It's about staying up and this was another good point towards successfully completing that most important of missions.
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Norwich 1 - Blackpool 2
IF the big boys of the Championship hadn't been taking notice of Blackpool prior to the weekend and shame on them if they weren't they certainly are now.
The fact that Simon Grayson's side are in the top half of the table at the start of March is little short of a miracle.
It's a quite stunning achievement and the manager, the coaching staff and all the players deserve one giant collective pat on the back.
The performance at Norwich was outstanding, especially in a first half which ranked up there with the best the Seasiders have produced away from home all campaign.
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The second period was tougher as the Canaries fought back. But Pool proved they can battle with the best of them and in the end ground out three points which has lifted them to nos-bleed territory 12th top and seven points off the play-offs.
For the first time since September, Grayson's men are closer to the top six than the bottom three.
For a club tipped by just about every critic in the country to go down, it's a superb position and with eminently winnable home games against Barnsley and Southampton and not to mention Preston coming up, Pool could conceivably be challenging for a play-off place come the end of the month.
But steady. Let's not get too carried away. First things first and the Seasiders must get to, and then past, the 53-point mark. When that is achieved and Championship football next season is secured, only then should we get a little frivolous and dream of what might be.
In the meantime it's about the boring but necessary stuff accumulating enough points to ensure the club is safe.
This they should do with ease because they are coming bang into form at the right time.
Even without Paul Dickov, their talisman in recent weeks, Pool still shoved aside an in-form Norwich with relative ease.
Stephen McPhee was the difference, two excellent finishes and an all round performance that proved his display against Charlton the previous week was no fluke.
Crucial
His blend of power, pace and deadly finishing is a beguiling combination and he has already made such a difference up front. Massive credit to the manager for identifying McPhee's potential and taking decisive action to get him to the club.
Wes Hoolahan was equally as crucial, though. He's been slowly coming back to form after a difficult Christmas and at Carrow Road he was truly back to his best.
Norwich couldn't get near him first half and the winger played a major role in nearly everything good the Seasiders did. His contribution to both goals, especially the second, was huge.
Mind you everyone in tangerine had a good game. Ian Evatt was a massive figure as Pool held on to their lead after the break; Shaun Barker kept Darren Huckerby quiet; and Keith Southern and Claus Jorgensen did their jobs quietly but oh so effectively in the middle.
All this combined good work was the reason for victory Pool's fourth away win of the campaign and their first win at Norwich since a 1-0 success 40 years ago. Jimmy Armfield played in that 1968 contest, that's how long ago it is.
The Seasiders are making a habit of breaking old records and there's a simple reason for it the team they've got now is a cut above anything they've had in the past three decades.
It's amazing how quickly things have turned around. When I started covering the club just a few years ago, the squad contained the likes of Lee Collins, Phil Barnes, Graham Fenton, James Pullen, John O'Kane, Brian Reid and Rhys Day.
Compare it to the present day players the improvement is there for all to see.
Even the little things like goal difference is impressive. Pool's is plus two that's better than any team below them and only one fewer than leaders Bristol City.
When Grayson stated at the beginning of the campaign that he would be happy if his side finished 21st he was sensibly aiming low. In private he was hoping for better. However, even he, in his wildest dreams, couldn't have imagined it would be quite this good.
At Norwich his team were two up at half time, but it should have been double that margin.
McPhee got the ball rolling 14 minutes in although it could easily have been Andy Morrell.
Preferred to Ben Burgess as the replacement for the injured Dickov, Morrell was released by a sumptuous pass from Hoolahan. His angled shot was saved by the keeper the loose ball was clipped across by Gary Taylor-Fletcher and McPhee, lurking at the back post, powered in a header from the tightest of angles.
Rather than keep it out keeper David Marshall kindly helped it in.
Injury
Pool then had two more one-on-ones. Marshall again denied Morrell with his legs and McPhee profited from great work by Hoolahan and Taylor-Fletcher but put his shot wide.
Then a bit of good old fashioned refereeing controversy. Shaun Barker probably did bring down Huckerby in the area on 39 minutes after a very rare Norwich attack.
Ref Shoebridge waved play on. Then, 60 seconds later, the official failed to spot a home player prostrate on the ground with a head injury.
The Seasiders broke forward and Hoolahan and Morrell exchanged passes in the centre circle before the Irishman slipped a delightful ball to McPhee. In again on goal, the striker hit his shot early and deliciously, sending it crashing past Marshall and into the net. A terrific finish.
The home crowd were incensed, especially as the injured party skipper Mark Fotheringham had to be stretchered off.
It was unfortunate and, if we're being honest, harsh on Norwich. But the injured player was behind play, none of the Blackpool players breaking forward could see him and the ball was in the back of the net before anyone realised.
It certainly wasn't Blackpool's fault. It's the referee's call to stop a game for a head injury.
The Seasiders had two more glorious chances to wrap the up points at the start of the second half. McPhee ran from the halfway line but Marshall saved his effort, while Taylor-Fletcher glided beautifully past two defenders but sent his shot narrowly wide.
Then another talking point. Far be it from me to suggest that referee Mr Shoebridge was atoning for his earlier oversight, but the official awarded the softest of penalty decisions in Norwich's favour, penalising Shaun Barker for an alleged foul on substitute Matty Pattison. Contact was minimal to put it mildly.
Probed
Jamie Cureton sent Paul Rachubka the wrong way and with 27 minutes remaining, Pool suddenly weren't sitting quite so comfortably.
Still, they always looked as if they might score another and indeed did do, twice more, though McPhee and Jorgensen's strikes were both ruled out for offside.
Norwich, considerably brighter after the interval than they had been before it, pressed and probed, though without creating anything clear cut.
Their best chance of snatching a point came right at the end. Impressive substitute Ched Evans charged down the right and picked out Huckerby, but Evatt and Barker were alert and bravely blocked the shot at goal.
The TV monitors in the Press box showed Canaries chief exec Delia Smith looking mightily depressed at the final whistle. Not sure why, as she had been flogging autographed copies of her new book for 20 quid a pop prior to kick-off.
But then again maybe even that didn't mask the pain of seeing her team outplayed and beaten by a Blackpool side on the verge of something very special.
Last season was terrific. A top half finish this year would probably be even better and at this stage it looks very much on the cards.
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Blackpool 5 - Charlton 3
SOMETIMES when life seems a bit unfair if you receive a hefty gas bill, get stuck in an eight-mile tailback on the M1, or the 65-year-old bald guy with halitosis over the road starts dating an 18-year-old blonde you wonder whether it's worth carrying on.
Then a football match like this comes along and everything in the world suddenly seems OK.
There is a particularly bad horror movie from the 1950s in which a mad professor attempts to invent a potion that will make everyone deliriously happy.
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It involves test tubes full or mysterious liquids, not to mention plenty of bad camerawork, but alas the professor old, flowing white hair and a crazy face, thus not a stereotype in any way can never perfect his potion.
Next time, mate, just show them a video of this game, for it is guaranteed to leave every Blackpool fan with a smile a mile wide and one of those 'did that really happen?' looks.
Pool did to Charlton what Charlton did to them last month hammered them.
It was the Seasiders' biggest and best win of the season, the first time they have scored five since Simon Grayson's first game in charge (v Scunthorpe in November 2005) and as I'm in the midst of a quite astounding stat-filled paragraph the first time there have been eight goals in a league game at Bloomfield Road since 1993, when, if you're still awake, Blackpool defeated Hull City 6-2.
But forget the figures. This was simply a glorious, exhilarating football match, that swung from end to end and warmed the cockles of the heart.
Even the most blinkered Charlton fan would have to admit that it was a corker and that the Seasiders thoroughly deserved their victory.
It was almost comical that there was a demonstration at the end, over Karl Oyston failure to get a new stand built.
Blackpool had just given the richest club in the Championship a thumping and we had fans staying behind to chant for the chairman's head. The phrase 'only at Blackpool' springs to mind.
Anniversary
Not that I'm criticising the supporters concerned because it's easy to understand their point of view.
Saturday marked the sixth anniversary of the opening of the north and west stands. That means it's a long time since there was any new development at Bloomfield Road and a south stand really does need building.
But bear this in mind: last time Blackpool beat Charlton was in 1978, when funnily enough they also scored five times winning 5-1.
But due to unrest behind the scenes, the board sacked manager Allan Brown (around this time of year incidentally) and Pool previously in a comfortable mid-table position sank like a stone.
They were relegated and it is only now, 30 miserable years later, that the club has finally managed to climb back into the top two tiers.
The issues may have been different back then but the conclusion is the same: be careful what you wish for.
Pool are up to 14th in the Championship and building towards a potentially exciting future. Nearly every effort should be concentrated on that.
Sure the chairman has to get his finger out and join in, and there's no harm in chanting to remind him of his responsibilities but let's not get too preoccupied by it.
Colchester move into a lovely new stadium next season chances are the crowd will be watching League One football in it. I, for one, am more motivated at the moment by higher-division football than having an extra stand.
Gosh, that all got a bit heavy, didn't it? Apologies because we really should be focusing on the football.
It was a veritable feast, the best game at Bloomfield Road all season and a terrific advert for the game.
One had to feel a bit sorry for Charlton who gave it their best from beginning to end and also their manager.
Alan Pardew had spent the week urging supporters to travel to Blackpool and get behind his promotion-chasing side.
It worked. The away enclosure was a sell-out. Alas, Pardew might have preferred none of the club's supporters to have seen what for them was akin to a horror show.
Charlton a team, lest we forget, of multi-millionaires bankrolled by Premier League parachute payments of £12m were steamrollered into submission by a Seasiders team which made its intentions clear from the first whistle.
They went straight on to the front foot and strained every sinew to chase down and overcome the opposition.
It led to humiliation for the Addicks, topping the 4-2 loss at West Brom as their heaviest defeat of the season.
It also proved once again that Pool have the character and spirit to make mincemeat of anyone in this rich man's league.
Nutmegging
Paul Rachubka made a brilliant, vital, one-on-one stop from Andy Gray early on before Stephen McPhee got the ball rolling on 15 minutes.
He started the move beautifully nutmegging an opponent in midfield and finished it by rifling in a loose ball off the post from 14 yards after fine work from Wes Hoolahan.
Kaspars Gorkss made it seven for the season and propelled himself to the top of the goalscoring charts with a thunderous volley from a tight angle on 26 minutes, after Nicky Weaver had parried Paul Dickov's close-range shot.
Charlton looked stunned but suddenly clambered back from the abyss.
Two goals in the space of a minute from Darren Ambrose levelled proceedings his first a backpost finish from Grant Basey's left wing cross; his next a volley from 18 yards, which swung out of Rachubka's reach and into the top corner.
All square at the break and anyone's game. "I'll take a point now," said a worried supporter in the west stand to murmured agreement. We really should learn to trust Grayson and his team
The brilliant McPhee, preferred to Ben Burgess, had a shot athletically pushed away before Gary Taylor-Fletcher restored the Seasiders' lead just before the hour.
The winger nipped in ahead of the ponderous Greg Halford after Dickov's shot had been half-stopped by Weaver.
Delight inside the stadium turned to ecstasy three minutes later as Dickov profited from some brilliant harassment of the Charlton defence by McPhee to beat Weaver to a 50-50 and get enough on the ball to send it trundling over the line. What a signing the Scot has been.
There was yet more. On 69 minutes, Taylor-Fletcher pulled his foot back with the aim of firing goalward. He completely miskicked and the ball looped over Weaver and in off the post. It summed up the day crazy but wonderful.
Charlton kept going. Jonathan Fortune fired a close-range left-footed shot past Rachubka on 74 minutes to make it 5-3.
The goal was scored with slightly comic timing, given that the home fans were in the midst of a "Grayson, Grayson, give us a wave" chant. Not surprisingly, the manager didn't co-operate.
Had it not been for Stephen Crainey's goal-line clearance from Ambrose and an excellent Rachubka stop after Halford had tried his luck from 20 yards, it could have been a nervous finish.
On the other hand, McPhee wasn't far off making it six, bursting through and beating Weaver with his left-footed shot but unfortunately the far post as well.
Breathtaking
As it was, eight goals were all we would get, and eight we'll take.
A truly breathtaking afternoon of football and what a response after the meeting at the Valley as Pool extracted full revenge for their heaviest defeat of the season.
A total of 13 goals from two games between the sides this season. The only thing that narks is that Charlton win 7-6 on aggregate!
After Saturday, I'm sure Grayson and his team can live with that.
Safety is within touching distance.
How wonderful it would be to have that wrapped up by mid-March. In this form and with home games against Barnsley, Southampton and Preston to come soon don't bet against it.
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Ipswich 2 - Blackpool 1
AFTER a football match ends, members of the media mill around in the press room waiting for the managers to appear to give their views.
While we were doing just that on Saturday, one member of the press told the following joke.
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Doctor: "I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you and some very bad news"
Patient: "What's the bad news?"
Doctor: "You have 24 hours to live."
Patient: "And the very bad news?"
Doctor: "I should have told you yesterday."
Unfortunately he delivered the punchline at the very moment Simon Grayson entered the room, which meant the Blackpool boss was greeted by a large group of giggling journalists.
The sight of Grayson immediately halted the mirth. After all, losing managers are notoriously tetchy, not surprising given that winning games is their job and their livelihoods are constantly on the line.
Hand grenade
When Steve McMahon had lost a game, for example, he was like a hand grenade ready to go off at any given moment, in any direction and with great force. I know from personal experience.
Grayson had every right to be in such a mood, given that he had plenty to moan about.
And yet he wasn't. Instead he wore one of those 'what can you do?' looks. Why? Because he realised there's nothing one can do when the fates conspire against you to the extent they did at Ipswich.
The loss of two centre-backs half an hour into a game is not so much bad luck as scarcely believable.
Ian Evatt's ninth-minute departure with a lower back problem was followed by the torn hamstring which forced Michael Jackson to join him in the dressing room a few minutes later.
It left Blackpool with a full-back (Shaun Barker) and a central midfielder (Keith Southern) in the heart of defence.
That's a bit like needing an operation but having no surgeons available and so getting a hospital porter to do it instead.
It would have been difficult to get anything from Ipswich who have the best home record in the Championship with a first choice 11. To lose two mainstays of your team made it nigh on impossible.
Although Pool battled to the death something they deserve great credit for the match was very one-sided.
Such was the pattern of play and Ipswich's control that it had the air of a game in which one team was down to 10 men.
Grayson didn't whine too much about the cruel hand his team had been dealt.
The injuries made things terribly difficult but added that Ipswich were by far the better team and thoroughly deserved their victory. He was spot on.
The biggest shock of the day was that the home side only won by a single goal. On the balance of play they should have triumphed by at least four or five.
Pool uncharacteristically poor at keeping possession, hit the crossbar and created half a dozen good chances. Paul Rachubka made two terrific stops.
But and this is what really sums Blackpool up in the last couple of years despite their patched- up, makeshift side the Seasiders battled till the end.
And after Paul Dickov had scored late on with the help of some sharp refereeing they almost, somewhat amazingly, snatched the unlikeliest of points.
Claus Jorgensen's 92nd-minute left-footed shot appeared to be heading for the net until the leg of an Ipswich defender got in the way.
Hat it gone in, it would been an almighty miscarriage of justice for Grayson's men were definitely second best.
However, that is nothing to be ashamed about. Ipswich are a big club one look around Portman Road tells you that.
The stadium is top-notch. There are statues of Sir Alf Ramsey and Sir Bobby Robson outside, and newspaper cuttings and photographs of past glories adorn every wall.
The whole place is set up for the top-flight of English football, and on the evidence of these 90 minutes you wouldn't bet against it happening soon.
Bolstered by the January acquisitions of £2m right winger David Norris and Macedonian international Velice Sumulikoski, Ipswich are flying and this 12th home victory of the campaign cemented their play-off spot.
It was always unlikely the Seasiders would get anything from the contest, which is perhaps the reason why Grayson was so calm afterwards.
He knows that any points on the road, especially somewhere like Fortress Ipswich, are a bonus. It's at Bloomfield Road where it all matters.
There are 13 matches remaining, seven of which are at home, and the Seasiders need four wins, possibly five, to be certain of survival. In short, the odds are still very much in their favour.
Of course, the worrying thing is that they may have to reach that target without two very important members of the squad.
Club captain Jackson looked to have done his hamstring good and proper. That's normally a six-week job.
Evatt, meanwhile, has suffered a recurrence of an old injury in his lower back and could be set for a lengthy spell out too.
With Stephen Crainey's fitness in the balance, suddenly Pool are in danger of losing three of their most reliable defenders at a crucial stage of the season.
Before you fret too much, Barker and Kaspars Gorkss can play at centre-back and in Danny Coid and John Hills Pool have two very decent footballers available for the full-back roles.
However, there ain't much cover and it is clear that Grayson suddenly has work to do in the loan market.
Pool were disrupted by the early loss of Evatt and then Jackson, though they were already under pressure before the latter limped off.
Coid had cleared Jonathan Walters' close- range shot off the line; Rachubka had brilliantly pushed away a shot from the same man; and Alan Lee had rattled the bar with a thunderous half-volley from the edge of the area.
Walters and Lee were excellent up front and caused Pool countless problems. Mind you, they are big, powerful lads, so they were bound to, especially after Evatt the only Blackpool player to match them in the physique stakes had departed.
Southern, getting some brief respite from his centre-back role, had Pool's best chance just before the break, firing over after Dickov had flicked on a Wes Hoolahan cross.
No goals at the break but it was obvious that Pool were unlikely to hang on in there and cause an upset.
To have any chance they needed to stay firm and not concede for at least 20 minutes after the restart. They managed only six.
Sumulikoski thumped a beautifully-struck rising drive into the net from 12 yards after a lay-off from Lee.
Six minutes further on and it was pretty much all over.
Southern was outmuscled as he and Walters challenged for a bouncing ball, and the big frontman advanced into the area and coolly slotted past Rachubka.
Southern might have been at fault but he shouldn't be blamed. He's not a centre-back and did an otherwise excellent job. That was the only time he was caught out.
Ipswich swarmed all over Pool and had several openings, the best when substitute Alan Quinn got clean through. Rachubka made an excellent parry.
Grayson's side never looked like scoring, so it was a shock when they did two minutes from the end, courtesy of a rather bizarre goal.
Quinn challenged Jorgensen in midfield and the ball squirted off the Ipswich man into the path of Dickov.
The linesman, who hadn't seen the ball come off the Ipswich player, flagged for offside.
Dickov, being the pro he is, proceeded to round keeper Stephen Bywater and score. The referee over-ruled the linemsan and awarded the goal, much to the annoyance of Ipswich. It caused a bit of a row as well as a few late jitters from the home side, but they held on for a victory which was richly deserved.
Pool, meanwhile, were left to count the cost of a bruising encounter, not so much concerned by the result as by the injuries sustained.
Physio Phil Horner has plenty of work to do this week. So does Grayson. He needs a centre-back and he needs one fast.
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Blackpool 0 - Wolves 0
Seasiders moved a point closer to Simon Grayson's 53-point survival target with last night's goalless draw against Wolves.
As the scoreline suggests, there was nothing to split the sides, which, given the amount of cash Mick McCarthy has spent assembling his troops, is a credit to the Seasiders.
Click here to view our Pool v Wolves picture gallery
The result means Pool are still unbeaten at home in 2008 and have shuffled a little closer towards the magic 53-point mark.
Before kick-off 15 points were required from the final 15 matches. It's now 14 from 14, very attainable indeed, and chances are that the Seasiders will not need that many, especially given that four or five clubs at the bottom seem to be struggling badly.
Victory last night would have been nice but there wasn't too much disappointment when it didn't happen.
The fans who had cheered on the Tangerines so marvellously for 90 minutes and I mean marvellously left fairly content ... and so they should have.
They witnessed a good team performance with some fine individual displays.
The tireless Claus Jorgensen was immense in midfield, while Ian Evatt and Stephen Crainey had huge games in the back four.
But the pick of the lot was Wes Hoolahan. He's had a tough time recently but he kept things neat and simple, almost as if he was trying to, and getting back to the basics paid off.
On the whole he chose the right times to pass the ball and the right times to run with it. He wasn't at his very best but he was very good, always asking questions, and in my opinion, the best player on the pitch.
A display like this can only help his confidence and it is heartening, that coming into the last two and a half months of the campaign, a key figure like Hoolahan appears to be running back into prime form.
Keith Southern preferred to Michael Flynn, who was surprisingly left out of the 16 altogether did a fine job and it's testament to his hard work in training that he lasted 87 minutes.
Paul Dickov is also worthy of mention. He is exactly what you expect a real nuisance, but with no lack of skill. He has a particularly nice habit of bouncing off defenders but still somehow emerging with the ball.
There may have been no goal on the night (he now has a disappointing scoring rate of only one a match
), but he's going to be a big player in the coming weeks.
Dickov had the best effort of a lacklustre opening half, flashing a right-footed curling shot just past the post.
Cheer
Shaun Barker played a part in creating that chance not surprising given that he played almost as a right winger in the first half. When he gets forward like that it means his confidence is high and so it should be he is bang in form.
Other than that the most entertaining moment of the first period was the first indication that Paul Rachubka is a secret admirer of Bruce Grobbelaar. As Kevin Kyle came to close down a clearance, Rachubka produced a Ronaldo-like stepover to wrongfoot the striker. It drew a huge cheer from the crowd, as well as increasing a few pulse-rates.
The second half was much better viewing, with Pool taking the game to their opponents. That resulted in both midfields becoming stretched and play swung from end to end.
Gary Taylor-Fletcher, after beautifully controlling a Michael Jackson up-and-under clearance on his chest, fired a cracking drive from 20 yards. The sheer power of the shot took Wayne Hennessey by surprise but the keeper managed to get one hand to the ball and knock it onto the post.
A let-off but 60 seconds later Pool had their own great escape as Sylvain Ebanks-Blake twisted away from Jackson and thumped a shot against the woodwork.
It was a good effort from a good player it's easy to see why Wolves paid Plymouth £1.5m for
the strong and skilful frontman during last month's transfer window.
Both sides had one more real chance. Kyle rose highest at a corner and headed narrowly wide, while for the Seasiders substitute Stephen McPhee latched onto a Ben Burgess flick but dragged his shot wide from 18 yards.
Not a classic but an entertaining tussle nonetheless and against a Wolves side very strong at the back and always potential of causing problems up front (especially Andy Keogh), this was a very decent result for Pool.
It will further top up confidence levels for the trip to Fortress Portman Road on Saturday. If Ipswich had scouts watching this one, they won't need an engineer to tell them that they are in for a hard time.
POOL: Rachubka, Barker, Crainey, Jackson, Evatt, Taylor-Fletcher, Hoolahan, Southern, Jorgensen, Burgess, Dickov.
Subs: Coid, McPhee, Morrell, Green, Gerrard
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Hull 2 - Blackpool 2
IN the build-up to the 1994 World Cup Finals, which were being hosted by the US for the first time, a series of TV ads ran in the States accompanied by the voice-over 'Soccer. A sport where the players actually enjoy getting hit in the head by a ball'.
The cheek of it. As well as confirming once and for all that Americans will never understand the beautiful game, it was also slightly ironic given that their favourite pastime (aside from eating burgers and destroying other countries) involves 20 grown men, dressed in helmets and wearing shoulder pads the size of a small British town, running into each other.
To see our Hull v Pool gallery click here
The point is that anyone lucky enough to be in Hull on Saturday (and there's a sentence you don't see often) will have discovered exactly what is so good about football.
This was a cracking encounter, which swung from end to end and had just about everything, not least a lovely bit of controversy with the Seasiders camp accusing rival boss Phil Brown (once of Blackpool himself of course) of refereeing the game from the dugout.
Fuming
To sum proceedings up: Pool worked hard to get into a 2-0 lead. Then, cruising with half an hour left, they sat too deep, twice conceded and, as they desperately battled to keep out a rampant home side, had Kaspars Gorkss sent off. In the end they did very well to earn a point.
Before anyone gets too critical about throwing away a two-goal advantage, think again.
Hull are a good side. Blackpool played well and this was a fine point, one which everybody in tangerine would have gladly accepted before kick-off.
Afterwards Grayson and his players were fuming with the performance of referee Jonathan Moss who was pretty shocking and also with Phil Brown.
Grayson wouldn't admit that latter complaint in public but Ben Burgess did. They felt Brown influenced the referee and thus the game, and it has to be said that it was a minor miracle the Tigers manager wasn't banished to the stand, not least for marching onto the playing surface at one stage during the first half because he didn't agree with a decision.
All jolly fascinating, but a shame because it took the shine off what was not just a very good Pool performance but a quite wonderful Paul Dickov display.
What a signing he's turning out to be. That's four points he's earned the club in a mere 92 minutes on the pitch 13 minutes against Leicester and a further 79 here with the end product of three goals.
Finally the club possesses not just someone who can poach a goal (his first here) but a frontman who can score brilliantly too (his second).
The lob which put the Seasiders two up in this game was pure quality, a moment of magic.
I certainly can't recall a Blackpool player performing so well on his full debut.
Even taking Dickov's goals out of the equation he was just what the team needed, chasing lost causes and harassing defenders and doing exactly what Grayson expected of him: ie, being a nuisance.
What was most astonishing was his workrate, which never lapsed prior to his substitution late on. For a player who hasn't played a game in three months, that speaks volumes about Dickov's professionalism and his work ethic in training.
Stephen McPhee, left out of the squad for this one because of a gentleman's agreement with Hull, will be now fretting on his place.
The magnificent Dickov deserved to be the matchwinner, but alas Hull spoiled things somewhat.
However, as disappointing as it is to squander a two-goal advantage, I'd have taken this result all day long.
Hull were flying coming into this fixture and have some excellent players. A point will do just nicely. It keeps the gap over the bottom three at more than two victories, and also keeps that points tally ticking along. Pool are edging closer, bit by bit, to the Holy Grail of 53 points and guaranteed safety.
Wolves tomorrow is tough especially if Freddy Eastwood is in the mood but I would back Blackpool against anyone at Bloomfield Road. Three more points against Mick McCarthy's team (and boy do Pool owe them one after being robbed of victory at Molineux earlier in the season) and things really would be looking rosy.
And maybe then we could stop looking down and fretting so much. After all let's not forget that Pool are the same number of points off the top six as they are from the bottom three seven.
For the neutral, this clash with Hull was a belter.
Dickov for McPhee was Pool's only change from last weekend's win over Leicester and they started where they left off, going for goal.
Shaun Barker had an early header athletically tipped over by Bo Myhill, while at the other end Dean Windass missed a sitter from four yards.
The first 17 minutes were superb, end to end with no thought for defence.
Then a serious injury to Bryan Hughes, sustained in an accidental clash with Dickov, saw a six-minute stoppage and the game lost its rhythm.
But it was still intriguing, with the odd chance here and there. Windass, so annoying as an opponent but a great player to have in your team (a bit like Dickov in fact), broke clear in the box and blasted a pile-driver of a shot which Rachubka beat away.
Then in the last five minutes of the half Pool suddenly went berserk.
On 40 minutes they scored. Myhill made a bad decision, choosing to come to the edge of his area to collect a long punt forward. But Gary Taylor-Fletcher outjumped the keeper and flicked a header over Myhill and towards an unguarded goal.
Two defenders charged back to clear but Dickov was braver than the pair put together and forced the ball over the line from six yards. Bravery and the instincts of a goalpoacher.
Perfect. Just what Pool have been lacking.
Two minutes later and with Hull at sixes and sevens, the Seasiders tried to walk the ball into the net. Four players had opportunities to shoot before Claus Jorgensen eventually did but his effort was deflected wide.
And another chance before the half was out, Wes Hoolahan brilliantly sending Barker clear on the right. The full back delivered a pinpoint cross along the floor which found Gorkss all alone at the back post, but the defender, faced with an open net, finished like a defender, slicing his shot so badly it ended up travelling away from the net as opposed to towards it.
Gorkss was one of three Tangerine players already booked before the break. His was never a yellow card, the referee clearly evening things up because he had cautioned Nick Barmby, on for the stricken Hughes, moments earlier. Gorkss would pay the price in the 82nd minute when he was shown a second yellow this one fully deserved after his mistimed lunge chopped down Dean Marney and sent off.
By that point it was all square at 2-2. Pool had gone two up on 50 minutes and what a cracker it was.
Latching onto a ball into the box and facing away from goal, Dickov looped the ball over a defender's shoulder and then when 99.9 per cent of other players would have simply hammered a shot goalward produced the deftest of lobs over Myhill, getting the ball up and down and into the back of the net from 16 yards. Pure class.
With the home crowd restless, Phil Brown went for broke, brought on £1m man Caleb Folan and played three up front. The results were immediate.
Frazier Campbell, an exciting, young player on loan from Manchester United, turned Gorkss inside the area and crossed low. Folan, who had been on the pitch for less for one minute 49 seconds, cleverly flicked the ball past Rachubka from close range.
Hull were on fire, laid siege to the Pool goal and it was no surprise when the equaliser arrived on 71 minutes.
Dickov in just about his only sloppy moment failed to react on the halfway line to a clearance, which allowed Sam Ricketts to collect the ball and charge forward. His right wing cross clipped Stephen Crainey and looped over Rachubka. It looked as if it had already crossed the line before Dean Windass made sure. Flukey goal but as far as Hull were concerned it didn't matter. The fightback was complete.
Strangely Blackpool, rather than being shell-shocked and there for the taking, came back into it after that and Hoolahan had a wicked shot from 18 yards well parried by Myhill.
However, after Gorkss went, the final eight minutes were simply about keeping the opposition out. Credit to Pool, and particularly the back four, that they did.
So many times this season, Grayson's men have played well on their travels but departed with nothing to show for their efforts.
At least the same didn't happen here. Just.
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Bristol City 1 - Blackpool 0
IN the build-up to the 1994 World Cup Finals, which were being hosted by the US for the first time, a series of TV ads ran in the States accompanied by the voice-over 'Soccer. A sport where the players actually enjoy getting hit in the head by a ball'.
The cheek of it. As well as confirming once and for all that Americans will never understand the beautiful game, it was also slightly ironic given that their favourite pastime (aside from eating burgers and destroying other countries) involves 20 grown men, dressed in helmets and wearing shoulder pads the size of a small British town, running into each other.
To see our Bristol City v Pool gallery click here
The point is that anyone lucky enough to be in Hull on Saturday (and there's a sentence you don't see often) will have discovered exactly what is so good about football.
This was a cracking encounter, which swung from end to end and had just about everything, not least a lovely bit of controversy with the Seasiders camp accusing rival boss Phil Brown (once of Blackpool himself of course) of refereeing the game from the dugout.
Fuming
To sum proceedings up: Pool worked hard to get into a 2-0 lead. Then, cruising with half an hour left, they sat too deep, twice conceded and, as they desperately battled to keep out a rampant home side, had Kaspars Gorkss sent off. In the end they did very well to earn a point.
Before anyone gets too critical about throwing away a two-goal advantage, think again.
Hull are a good side. Blackpool played well and this was a fine point, one which everybody in tangerine would have gladly accepted before kick-off.
Afterwards Grayson and his players were fuming with the performance of referee Jonathan Moss who was pretty shocking and also with Phil Brown.
Grayson wouldn't admit that latter complaint in public but Ben Burgess did. They felt Brown influenced the referee and thus the game, and it has to be said that it was a minor miracle the Tigers manager wasn't banished to the stand, not least for marching onto the playing surface at one stage during the first half because he didn't agree with a decision.
All jolly fascinating, but a shame because it took the shine off what was not just a very good Pool performance but a quite wonderful Paul Dickov display.
What a signing he's turning out to be. That's four points he's earned the club in a mere 92 minutes on the pitch 13 minutes against Leicester and a further 79 here with the end product of three goals.
Finally the club possesses not just someone who can poach a goal (his first here) but a frontman who can score brilliantly too (his second).
The lob which put the Seasiders two up in this game was pure quality, a moment of magic.
I certainly can't recall a Blackpool player performing so well on his full debut.
Even taking Dickov's goals out of the equation he was just what the team needed, chasing lost causes and harassing defenders and doing exactly what Grayson expected of him: ie, being a nuisance.
What was most astonishing was his workrate, which never lapsed prior to his substitution late on. For a player who hasn't played a game in three months, that speaks volumes about Dickov's professionalism and his work ethic in training.
Stephen McPhee, left out of the squad for this one because of a gentleman's agreement with Hull, will be now fretting on his place.
The magnificent Dickov deserved to be the matchwinner, but alas Hull spoiled things somewhat.
However, as disappointing as it is to squander a two-goal advantage, I'd have taken this result all day long.
Hull were flying coming into this fixture and have some excellent players. A point will do just nicely. It keeps the gap over the bottom three at more than two victories, and also keeps that points tally ticking along. Pool are edging closer, bit by bit, to the Holy Grail of 53 points and guaranteed safety.
Wolves tomorrow is tough especially if Freddy Eastwood is in the mood but I would back Blackpool against anyone at Bloomfield Road. Three more points against Mick McCarthy's team (and boy do Pool owe them one after being robbed of victory at Molineux earlier in the season) and things really would be looking rosy.
And maybe then we could stop looking down and fretting so much. After all let's not forget that Pool are the same number of points off the top six as they are from the bottom three seven.
For the neutral, this clash with Hull was a belter.
Dickov for McPhee was Pool's only change from last weekend's win over Leicester and they started where they left off, going for goal.
Shaun Barker had an early header athletically tipped over by Bo Myhill, while at the other end Dean Windass missed a sitter from four yards.
The first 17 minutes were superb, end to end with no thought for defence.
Then a serious injury to Bryan Hughes, sustained in an accidental clash with Dickov, saw a six-minute stoppage and the game lost its rhythm.
But it was still intriguing, with the odd chance here and there. Windass, so annoying as an opponent but a great player to have in your team (a bit like Dickov in fact), broke clear in the box and blasted a pile-driver of a shot which Rachubka beat away.
Then in the last five minutes of the half Pool suddenly went berserk.
On 40 minutes they scored. Myhill made a bad decision, choosing to come to the edge of his area to collect a long punt forward. But Gary Taylor-Fletcher outjumped the keeper and flicked a header over Myhill and towards an unguarded goal.
Two defenders charged back to clear but Dickov was braver than the pair put together and forced the ball over the line from six yards. Bravery and the instincts of a goalpoacher.
Perfect. Just what Pool have been lacking.
Two minutes later and with Hull at sixes and sevens, the Seasiders tried to walk the ball into the net. Four players had opportunities to shoot before Claus Jorgensen eventually did but his effort was deflected wide.
And another chance before the half was out, Wes Hoolahan brilliantly sending Barker clear on the right. The full back delivered a pinpoint cross along the floor which found Gorkss all alone at the back post, but the defender, faced with an open net, finished like a defender, slicing his shot so badly it ended up travelling away from the net as opposed to towards it.
Gorkss was one of three Tangerine players already booked before the break. His was never a yellow card, the referee clearly evening things up because he had cautioned Nick Barmby, on for the stricken Hughes, moments earlier. Gorkss would pay the price in the 82nd minute when he was shown a second yellow this one fully deserved after his mistimed lunge chopped down Dean Marney and sent off.
By that point it was all square at 2-2. Pool had gone two up on 50 minutes and what a cracker it was.
Latching onto a ball into the box and facing away from goal, Dickov looped the ball over a defender's shoulder and then when 99.9 per cent of other players would have simply hammered a shot goalward produced the deftest of lobs over Myhill, getting the ball up and down and into the back of the net from 16 yards. Pure class.
With the home crowd restless, Phil Brown went for broke, brought on £1m man Caleb Folan and played three up front. The results were immediate.
Frazier Campbell, an exciting, young player on loan from Manchester United, turned Gorkss inside the area and crossed low. Folan, who had been on the pitch for less for one minute 49 seconds, cleverly flicked the ball past Rachubka from close range.
Hull were on fire, laid siege to the Pool goal and it was no surprise when the equaliser arrived on 71 minutes.
Dickov in just about his only sloppy moment failed to react on the halfway line to a clearance, which allowed Sam Ricketts to collect the ball and charge forward. His right wing cross clipped Stephen Crainey and looped over Rachubka. It looked as if it had already crossed the line before Dean Windass made sure. Flukey goal but as far as Hull were concerned it didn't matter. The fightback was complete.
Strangely Blackpool, rather than being shell-shocked and there for the taking, came back into it after that and Hoolahan had a wicked shot from 18 yards well parried by Myhill.
However, after Gorkss went, the final eight minutes were simply about keeping the opposition out. Credit to Pool, and particularly the back four, that they did.
So many times this season, Grayson's men have played well on their travels but departed with nothing to show for their efforts.
At least the same didn't happen here. Just.
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Blackpool 2 - Leicester 1
In a week when a ferry washed up on a beach in Cleveleys, it was important the Seasiders didn't flounder in a match that could prove pivotal in their campaign to stay up.
Unlike the Riverdance, they didn't.
Having once sat in a dinghy on Fairhaven Lake as a child, I consider myself fairly clued up on maritime issues and the thing that got me about the ferry was the 'revelation' that it got in trouble after being hit by a freak wave.
See the match gallery here
It was sailing across the Irish Sea in the worst weather conditions for years. What did they expect? A millpond?
Mind you, at least it has provided Blackpool with some much-needed revenue. The sight of the stricken boat has drawn more visitors than the Illuminations.
You can't move in Cleveleys for blokes in shellsuits wandering around the beach taking pictures of a boat, which means an absolutely thrilling slideshow for an unfortunate neighbour at a later date.
On the bright side, it provided the local population with plenty of chocolate digestives, packets of which were being transported on the vessel and have since washed up on the beach in huge numbers.
They are a little soggy but still edible, at least according to my Aunty Edna, who ventured out at 5am on Saturday and returned home with 127 packets.
She was at the match on Saturday, eight chocolate digestives wrapped in tin foil as a half-time snack, and witnessed Pool grab three points that could be huge in the context of the season.
It was one of those victories that felt all the sweeter because it was possibly a little ill-deserved Leicester had worked hard and their performance, certainly in the second half, merited a point.
It was particularly satisfying for Simon Grayson because it was his astute deadline day signing who secured the points.
Paul Dickov came off the bench on 77 minutes and, with less than 60 seconds remaining, was the right man in the right place to pounce on a loose ball in the penalty area and earn Pool victory.
The Leicester fans probably expected it. Dickov lists the Foxes among his former clubs, and how many times have we seen players come back to haunt their former employees? It's one of the rules of football.
It was a huge moment because Grayson's men, without a victory since the New Year's Day demolition of Burnley, were desperate for maximum points.
However, after Steve Howard had cancelled out Gary Taylor-Fletcher's terrific early goal, it appeared yet another frustrating draw was on the cards a carbon-copy of the last game at Bloomfield Road against Ipswich.
Then came Dickov's timeliest of interventions to change the mood of every single person in the ground from the away fans who trooped to the exits, to the Blackpool supporters jumping with delight, to the fourth official, who stood there desperately trying not to jump up and punch the air.
Plucked
'Why?' I hear you cry. Because he was a Blackpool fan, plucked from the stand.
When linesman Ian Siddall pulled up with a muscle strain (though you'd be forgiven for thinking it was much worse given that he hobbled from the pitch like a survivor from the Somme), an announcement went out over the Tannoy asking if there were any "level 4 or 5 referees in the ground".
The fourth official replaced the linesman, so they needed someone to stand between the rival managers in the dugout area.
Steve Townsend, a Blackpool Sunday Alliance ref who had been cheering Pool on from the North Stand, wandered over to volunteer his services.
Moments later, after swapping the tangerine Seasiders top he was wearing for a more neutral black, he found himself chatting with Grayson and Ian Holloway and getting a big cheer from the crowd when he held up the time-added-on board at the end of the first half.
Both managers saw the funny side, although Holloway wasn't laughing at the end. He was left sickened by the late defeat and who can blame him?
There's nothing worse than seeing your team lose at the death.
On the flipside, it doesn't get much better than watching your team pinch the points in the last seconds, which is why the two managers were in very contrasting moods afterwards.
Grayson looked as though he'd won tickets to see Paul McCartney; Holloway looked as if he'd won tickets to see Paul Daniels.
The winning boss could afford to be honest in his assessment It was a pretty lousy game, said Grayson, adding that his team had been fortunate to emerge victorious. He was right on both counts.
The match was anything but a classic, but then again have you tried playing football in a wind tunnel? Conditions were awful, the pitch bumpy and so players found it almost impossible to string passes together.
Even Wes Hoolahan realised it wasn't a day to run with the ball, and in the second half he sensibly kept it very simple, sticking to basic passes.
Mind you, that could also have had something to do with a rollicking he got from the manager after a flashy first-half backheel went wrong.
There wasn't much to separate the sides and Pool won because they got a lucky break at the end.
But although Leicester will feel hard done by, the Seasiders won't care a jot.
This victory lifts the clouds of doubt that were beginning to gather after a few winless weeks.
It takes the pressure off and gives the Seasiders great heart going into a month of testing fixtures.
Despite bringing in Dickov, Stuart Green and a Latvian keeper last Thursday, Grayson chose none of them in his starting 11.
Instead he went with the tried and trusted, and returned to the 4-4-2 formation which suits Blackpool so well at home. That meant Hoolahan was back, along with fit-again Taylor-Fletcher on the other flank. The latter made a devastating early impression, scoring after two and a half minutes.
Stephen Crainey was the architect, picking out Taylor-Fletcher with a superb 60-yard diagonal pass.
The winger controlled the ball magnificently and his second touch was even better, clipping the ball past a rooted Ben Alnwick with the outside of his foot a clever, quick-witted finish.
Shock
Alnwick never moved, though that could have been the shock of being beaten. It's the first goal the England Under-21 stopper has conceded since joining Leicester from Spurs four games ago.
Fourth official fun aside, little else happened until the minutes leading up to the break. Then Ben Burgess broke free but dragged his shot wide, and Shaun Barker sneaked in front of his marker at a corner but put his header over.
Credit to Holloway the Leicester boss brought on two substitutes for the second half, including the lively DJ Campbell, and switched to an adventurous 4-3-3. It worked.
The Foxes got back in it on 63 minutes, although Pool won't be happy with their defending.
Both Barker and Ian Evatt made mistakes as Pool failed to clear a cross and Howard, who scores goals wherever he goes, was on hand to sidefoot the ball in from 10 yards. It repaid some of the £1.5m Leicester paid to Derby for his services last month.
But money doesn't guarantee success ask Northern Rock.
With the game drifting to a draw, after Burgess had missed Blackpool's best chance by shoo
ting over from 30 yards with Alnwick stranded, Dickov popped up on his debut to grab the headlines and the points.
Barker made a big contribution to the goal, which atoned for his earlier error.
The skipper showed great bravery to get on the end of Paul Rachubka's free-kick into the box. The ball dropped kindly for Dickov. Redemption for Barker.
One final thought before kick-off, it had been 70 seasons since Leicester last won at Bloomfield Road in a league match. Make it 71.
POOL: Rachubka, Barker (cap), Evatt, Gorkss, Crainey, Taylor-Fletcher, Jorgensen, Flynn, Hoolahan, McPhee, Burgess. Subs: Jackson, Morrell, Fox, Welsh, Dickov
LEICESTER: Alnwick, Kisnorbo, McAuley, Clemence, Hume, Stearman, Mattock, Hayles, Oakley, Laczko, Howard. Subs: Chambers, N'Gotty, DJ Campbell, Fryatt, Bori
REF: Graham Laws (Whiteley Bay)
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Bristol City 1 - Blackpool 0
THERE is a sketch in a Marx Brothers film where a dinner party at an extremely posh mansion is about to commence.
The lady of the house gestures for a handsome young buck to sit on the chair next to her. "You sit on my left hand," she instructs, before addressing another male guest, "while you sit on my right hand."
Groucho looks at her and says: "How you going to eat?"
Left and right was the problem for Simon Grayson in this fixture because an unbalanced formation and a lack of real width in the first half was undoubtedly the Seasiders downfall.
See the match gallery here
Gary Taylor-Fletcher was injured, so no one on the right. And on the other flank, and very surprisingly, Wes Hoolahan was omitted, dropped to the bench.
It was a bold move to say the least, especially as the manager chose Andy Morrell to play on the right and told Stephen McPhee to play on the left. Neither looked wholly comfortable.
"It was designed to be a 4-5-1 when we defended," explained Grayson, " and a 4-3-3 when we attacked."
The boss opted for this unusual shape because of the heavy defeat at Charlton in which his side were ripped apart by a confident and pacy home team.
Demolished in unceremonious fashion at the Valley, Grayson was eager to avoid the same outcome here against a team bidding successfully as it turned out to go top of the Championship.
Tick
And yet the plan backfired for it was in the opening 45 minutes playing this new formation that Pool were outplayed.
Bristol City exploited the Seasiders discomfort with their new tactics, especially the fact that both Morrell and McPhee looked hugely ill at ease with the positions they were being asked to play.
The home team dominated the opening half with consummate ease and Pool, who just never got going, were fortunate not to be more than a single goal behind at the interval, a goal which keeper Paul Rachubka will not look back on with too much pleasure.
Fortunately (though unfortunately due to an injury to McPhee) there was a reshuffle at the break. Hoolahan entered the fray and suddenly the team started to tick.
The winger, a little indifferent in recent weeks, looked as if he had a point to prove and to say he ran Bristol ragged is no overstatement.
In the end Robins boss Gary Johnson resorted to bringing Cole Skuse off the subs bench with the direct order to man mark Hoolahan. Skuse was promptly booked minutes after coming on for almost chopping Wes in half with a late, diving tackle.
Admit
Andy Welsh also came off the bench, for a slightly unfortunate Jorgensen. He too held the ball up and worked it around and suddenly Pool looked a balanced and polished outfit.
But for the crossbar and Adriano Basso's fingertips stopping Stephen Crainey's free-kick and an Ian Evatt header flashing the wrong side of the post, they would have earned a point.
Afterwards Grayson admitted the first half hadn't gone to plan and if he's being honest, as he always is, then he might privately admit he might have got his team selection wrong from the off.
However, in fairness to the boss one could see his thinking. He wanted to keep it tight and felt that 4-5-1 formation would do the trick, as well as perhaps giving Hoolahan a reminder that he isn't indispensable.
In the long run, if he gets the latter right then it could prove to be a masterstroke.
Unfortunately though it led to a frustrating afternoon resultwise, and probably wasn't pleasurable viewing for Valery Belokon.
Yes, you heard right. Belokon was there!
Unless he's got a particularly good double and the Oystons are going to extreme lengths to cover up a fall-out, the club president was sitting in the directors box alongside his wife.
He doesn't half look the part. Pristine in designer suit, complete with tangerine tie and the coolest pair of sunglasses you can imagine, he wouldn't have looked out of place at the Milan Fashion Show. Or the Riga Fashion Show, if they have one.
Perhaps the sunglasses were to cover his eyes from the glare of the fireworks which erupted from the ground when the teams walked onto the pitch. Bristol City are obviously taking this Championship marlarkey way too seriously. At Blackpool it's a triumph when the clock's working.
After an even opening, the home side, having such a glorious first season back in the Championship after an absence of seven years, went ahead on 22 minutes.
Stranded
Rachubka came too far from his line to try to deal with a Lee Johnson free-kick into the area. He collided with Kaspars Gorkss, who was trying to clear, and the end result was that the ball looped to Marvin Elliott the edge of the area.
The midfielder clipped a beautifully controlled first-time volley back over the stranded Pool keeper and into the top corner.
Without ever really forcing Rachubka to make a real save, Bristol controlled proceedings for the remainder of the half. Grayson's men had just a couple of corners none particularly well delivered to show for their efforts.
Then the half-time substitution and suddenly the tide turned.
Hoolahan was at the centre of everything, demanding the ball in that trademark fashion of his and leaving even the home fans breathless with his array of twists and turns.
Several times he came so close to creating something from nothing, prodding and probing on the edge of the box like a surgeon about to complete a hitherto unheard of procedure.
Andy Welsh did the same too when he came on and the pair, both people who like to get hold of a football and do something constructive with it, converted Pool from average to something special.
Crainey's free-kick from 25 yards was tipped onto the bar on 59 minutes, while Ian Evatt looking back to his old self and Michael Flynn had shots blocked.
Evatt missed the target by a whisker with a header from a David Fox free-kick on 71 minutes and moments later Morrell teed up by Hoolahan, who had beaten three men and squared the ball had a low drive from 12 yards blocked.
Long before the end the home fans were getting twitchy and agitated and with good reason. The Seasiders, after a pretty abject first period, had bossed the second and if they'd equalised, it would have been fully merited.
Agitated
As it is Bristol City go
top and Pool are once again left to look over their shoulders in slightly agitated fashion.
So many times this season, and especially away from home, Grayson's side have matched their opponents but failed to collect any points.
This was another example. A game of two halves. Pool deserved a point but left empty-handed.
It's frustrating on one hand, but on the other hugely encouraging.
Grayson's men continue to play well, but and here's the thing especially when Hoolahan's in the starting line up.
POOL: Rachubka, Barker, Evatt, Gorkss, Crainey, Jorgensen, Flynn, Fox, Morrell, Burgess, McPhee. Subs: Gerrard, Jackson, Vernon, Hoolahan, Welsh.
BRISTOL CITY: Basso, Orr, Vasko, McCombe, McAllister, Carle, Johnson, Elliott, McIndoe, Trundle, Byfield. Subs: Fontaine, Murray, Noble, Skuse, Weale.
REF: Roger East (Wiltshire)
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Blackpool 1 - Ipswich Town 1
FOURTEEN times this season, Ipswich fans have risen on Saturday mornings to follow their team on an away journey.
Fourteen times they've returned home later the same evening and with that beautifully optimistic outlook only football fans possess, have shrugged their shoulders, cracked open a can of mild and sighed "Never mind, there's always next week."
Ipswich, you see, haven't won away from home all season, which is why it is hard to begrudge them the point they departed with from Blackpool.
See the Ipswich match gallery here
The visitors worked hard and showed excellent spirit to equalise when down to ten men.
However, it left the majority of people inside Bloomfield Road mightily frustrated because, in truth, Pool let their travel-sick visitors off the hook.
Without ever playing brilliantly despite home fans that created a quite brilliant atmosphere throughout Simon Grayson's men were in control of the contest for an hour.
Cruise
Perhaps not full control, for a lively and fast-breaking Ipswich always looked dangerous and liable to cause problems.
But nevertheless after taking the lead through Claus Jorgensen's tap in excellently created by the busy and impressive Stephen McPhee the Seasiders were on cruise control and set for victory.
Then Ipswich had a man sent off and suddenly, galvanised by the setback and what they, possibly quite rightly, considered a harsh red card, Jim Magilton's team turned the contest on its head.
They equalised through a fine header from powerful winger Jon Walters, made a couple of substitutions to shore up the defence, and from then on Blackpool never really looked breaking down the ten men in blue.
It led to a disappointing conclusion to the contest and a manager who afterwards was as frustrated as I've seen him in a long time.
Not one to blame the players if he can at all help it, Grayson went, by his standards, mildly berserk at his side's defending from set-pieces.
Walters had headed Ipswich's equaliser from a corner, following on from the two set-pieces Charlton scored against Pool last weekend.
It left Grayson quietly seething and there are bound to be some harsh words said to his team as a whole for it's not just the defence who are responsible for picking up opponents at set pieces prior to next Saturday's trip to Bristol City.
Survival
What added to Grayson's unhappiness was an overwhelming sense of 'what if?' Three points here would have lifted the Tangerines nine points clear of the drop zone and given them a terrific foundation for survival going into the last 18 games.
Instead while a seven-point gap is still healthy, given the nature of this division and the unpredictability of results on a weekly basis, it is not quite healthy enough.
And so, while a 1-1 draw against a side seventh from top in the Championship is hardly a disaster, one can understand the manager's frustration.
Ipswich are a decent outfit but you could sense their limitations and a lack of confidence away from home and a Seasiders victory was there for the taking.
It was also doubly annoying to concede moments after the opposition has been reduced to ten men. While football managers might have a point when they waffle on about how hard it is to score against 10 players, conceding to a team shorter on numbers is inexcusable.
Pool did and paid the price, although let's give some credit to Ipswich.
They showed terrific spirit and in the final half hour apart from a flurry of Blackpool corners at the end probably looked the more likely to nick a second goal and claim victory.
Skill
In truth Pool hadn't played that well from the start. Grayson had made two changes, and after last weekend's hammering at Charlton fairly predictable ones. Ian Evatt replaced Michael Jackson, and Stephen McPhee made his full debut at the expense of Scott Vernon.
McPhee did well throughout the afternoon (aside from one result-turning miss, which we'll come to later) and showed what he was made of 39 seconds into the contest when he beat a defender and fired in a shot.
He looks like a tireless worker, he has skill and pace, and what is most impressive is that for a smallish frontman he possesses great strength.
He was marked by Jason De Vos, a centre back so enormous he looks like three men welded together. It's quite possible that Roald Dahl based his book the Big Friendly Giant on him. And yet McPhee held off this man mountain on several occasions.
In short, he looks a very good buy and could be just what Blackpool have been missing.
He also linked well with Ben Burgess, the man who, in a lacklustre opening half hour, had Pool's best chance.
Picked out by Gary Taylor-Fletcher, the striker should have done better than plant his 27th minute header straight at Neil Alexander.
It wasn't great stuff although proceedings were enlivened by a number of dodgy decisions from a flag-happy linesman and an excellent WWF-style shoulder slam by Paul Rachubka, which floored Ipswich striker Pablo Counago in no-nonsense fashion.
Then the breakthrough arrived.
Burgess's 39th minute touch sent McPhee clear of the centre backs. The striker headed for goal and cleverly recovered from a heavy final touch just beating the on-rushing Alexander to the ball and squaring it to the unmarked Jorgensen. Standing all on his own in the six-yard box, the Dane couldn't miss.
Ipswich appealed in vain for offside, the irony being that for the first and most crucial time all match, the linesman had kept his flag down.
Dangerous winger Danny Haynes missed a good chance on the stroke of half time failing to find a way through a crowd of players with a free volley from a half-cleared corner but after the break Pool looked very much at ease.
Shaun Barker headed wide and Taylor-Fletcher did brilliantly to win the ball and burst into the box, though he couldn't beat Alexander with his lunging, left-footed shot.
It was all fairly comfortable, summed up by the crowd's rendition of "Oyston, where's the stand?" and "We've only got two stands".
Personally I don't know what the crowd's problem is. The chairman said he'd start building the south west corner on September 23, 2006. He's only 485 days out; give the bloke a break
Glorious
The fans and everyone else were shaken from their good spirits by a crazy three minutes.
Castro Sito got his marching orders in the 62nd minute for what looked like a two-footed challenge on Wes Hoolahan.
Referees have been told to clamp down on two-footed tackles but Sito won the ball cleanly and his feet didn't appear to be off the ground. Grayson remarked afterwards that soon no tackles would be permitted in football and I'm on his side. It was harsh.
Less than 60 seconds later Pool had a glorious opportunity to make the points safe. Burgess chipped the ball into the centre and McPhee, steaming in to the six yard box, seemed odds on to head the ball into the net. He put it wide a bad miss.
Costly too, for on 65 minutes Gary Roberts swung in a corner and Walters, a winger built like an old-fashioned style centre forward, headed the ball in off the underside of the bar. Great header, but poor marking again.
Despite having an extra man, the Seasiders just couldn't make it count. They had one real chance to nick victory but just when Kaspars Gorkss's header looked destined for the top corner, Alexander clawed the ball behind a terrific one-handed stop.
Disappointment all round at the end, though not for the 1,495 visiting fans. They haven't seen their team win away since last March, but this must have felt like a victory. Which is why, for Pool, and particularly Grayson, it felt like a defeat.
POOL: Rachubka, Barker, Evatt, Gorkss, Crainey, Taylor-Fletcher, Flynn, Jorgensen, Hoolahan, Burgess, McPhee. Subs: Jackson, Morrell, Vernon, Fox, Welsh.
IPSWICH: Alexander, Sito, Bruce, De Vos, Wright, Haynes, Roberts, Garvan, Walters, Counago, Legwinski. Subs: Supple, Alan lee, Tommy Lee, Naylor, Rhodes
REF: Mike Pike (Barrow)
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Charlton 4 - Blackpool 1
THIS is the time of year when many people finally get round to glancing at the various books bestowed on them at Christmas.
I am no exception and on Saturday morning found myself leafing through the pages of a trivia book, staring in wonder at the description of how a wombat kills pursuing predators.
The Australian animal runs at a speed of up to 30mph before coming to a sudden halt unlike a car, no stopping distance is required.
Whatever is behind it can't react in time, slams into the wombat's unusually tough backside and more often than not keels over and pops its clogs.
See the match gallery here
On the rare occasions the attacker survives, it has a hell of a headache the next morning.
I mention this because I imagine the look of surprise on a predator's face at the exact moment it smashes into a speeding wombat's bottom is similar to that which adorned Simon Grayson's 10 minutes into this contest.
The manager couldn't have looked more shocked as Charlton a team he really fancied his side could beat were two goals up and rampant.
Grayson's expression stayed the same right through until the end, by which point the home side had cantered to a victory that could, and in all honesty should, have been even more convincing.
Mind you, it's little wonder the boss was so stunned. He's not used to seeing his side get beaten so heavily. This was the first time a team he has managed has conceded four goals in a league game.
In fact, not since being hammered 4-1 at Rotherham in August 2005 have Blackpool been similarly walloped. Colin Hendry was in charge then, three months before Grayson took over.
On Saturday, the fact is that Charlton were simply too good for the Seasiders and it led to a very disappointing 90 minutes.
For the first time all season, Grayson's men were outplayed and second best. They never really had any degree of control over the proceedings and, but for the brief period of hope given to them by Ben Burgess' quite wonderful right-foot volley, they didn't ever look likely to come away with any points.
But then again, should we really have expected different?
Misleading
Charlton's starting 11 cost a total of £9.4m. Blackpool's cost £295,000. One shops in Harrods, the other in the Pound Store.
And although the Seasiders were the form team going into the contest (they were unbeaten in four league games, while Charlton had not won in six), statistics can be misleading.
The fact is that Alan Pardew has a very good team at the Valley. They were a Premier League side eight months ago and their squad is packed with quality players. Charlton were expected to beat Blackpool and they duly did.
And yet we still can't help but be surprised by the ease of the Addicks victory. Why is that? The answer is because Blackpool have, in many ways, become a victim of their own success.
Such has been the style and form of Grayson's side over the last 18 months that you kind of expect them to brush teams aside, or at least to put up a damn good show.
They had done that at places like Watford, Wolves and West Brom, often making their far wealthier and more experienced hosts look inferior.
But at Charlton they caught a very good side on a very good day.
Pardew reckoned it was the best his team has played all season.
In contrast, Grayson thought it was probably the worst his players had performed
which explains the result in a nutshell.
Pool, so magnificent all season, had an off day, particularly at the back.
The manager brought back the four players missing at Barnsley the previous weekend.
In theory they should have been rested and refreshed. What a load of rubbish that theory turned out to be, for not even the presence of Shaun Barker, Kaspars Gorkss, Claus Jorgensen and Wes Hoolahan in the starting 11 could save the Seasiders.
Barker and Gorkss were part of a back four that had a real tough afternoon.
They were torn apart by the brilliance of Luke Varney, who occupied the region between Blackpool's midfield and the back four and caused problems from first minute to last.
Mind you, it was goalkeeper Paul Rachubka who has to hold his hands up for getting Charlton off to a flier.
He failed to prevent a fifth-minute Darren Ambrose corner sailing over his head, which allowed right-back Madjid Bougherra to nod in unmarked from approximately two yards out.
Rachubka claimed he was impeded but he's an honest lad and won't need telling that he should have done much better.
Five minutes later, and with Pool still shell-shocked, it was two.
Varney cut inside Gorkss with ease, and although he didn't catch his shot from 14 yards perfectly, it was so well-placed that it rolled past Rachubka and into the bottom corner.
On 12 minutes, and with play swinging from end-to-end, Pool hit back. The ball looped to Burgess 20 yards from goal and he struck an instinctive first-time volley right-footed, which dipped perfectly over Nicky Weaver.
It was the striker's sixth goal of the campaign and probably as good a strike as he has ever hit. It was also, strangely enough, his first goal away from home this season.
But Varney was still running free and pulling the strings, causing Jackson and an out-of-sorts Gorkss real problems.
On 24 minutes it cost the Seasiders dear. The former Crewe man cut inside Barker with almost arrogant ease on the right of the penalty area and pulled the ball back.
It eventually fell to Charlton's £2m Chinese international Zheng Zhi, who pounced left-footed and beat Rachubka from 12 yards.
Leaping
It was still 3-1 at half-time but Pool needed to score the next goal to have any chance. They didn't.
Instead Charlton ended the match as a contest on 54 minutes. Zheng Zhi again scored it, but Bougherra did the hard work leaping superbly to head an Ambrose corner against the post. Zheng netted the rebound.
Two goals conceded from set-pieces very sloppy indeed and it would be no surprise to see Ian Evatt back in the line-up against Ipswich on Saturday.
Grayson made changes. Stephen McPhee came on to make his debut (and did well, looking lively and displaying a nice touch which bodes well), while David Fox and later Andy Morrell also entered the fray.
And credit to the men in Tangerine for sticking to their task to the end, though with increasing futility.
Indeed, Pool came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, a powerful shot by an out-of-sorts Hoolahan testing Weaver and Morrell almost sneaking clear.
But the home side had the better opportunities and should have extended their lead. Substitute Jerome Thomas
was the worst offender, shooting over from eight yards with the goal at his mercy after more great work from Varney.
It was a blessed relief when the referee ended the match. This was a bad day at the office for Blackpool and a chastening experience for all involved.
It might do them good, though. The Seasiders have a great team spirit and individuals in the squad with a terrific attitude. They don't like losing and detest being outplayed.
So watch out Ipswich for Pool will be determined to put things right and knowing Grayson and co, they probably will.
POOL: Rachubka, Barker, Jackson, Gorkss, Crainey, Taylor-Fletcher, Jorgensen, Flynn, Hoolahan, Vernon, Burgess SUBS: Evatt, McPhee, Welsh, Morrell, Fox
CHARLTON: Weaver, Moutaouakil, Zheng, McCarthy, Holland, Ambrose, Varney, Sam, Bougherra, Youga, McLeod SUBS: Randolph, Thomas, Iwelumo, Semedo, Dickson
REF: J Singh
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Blackpool 3 Burnley 0
THE reward for the Blackpool players for demolishing Burnley in this sweetest of Lancashire derby victories was a slap-up meal at the Grand Hotel in St Annes.
Given the nature of this win, first-class air travel to Heathrow followed by a chauffeur-driven limo to the Ivy would have been justified.
I made a joke about the Seasiders mounting a promotion challenge following the win at Colchester. Maybe I shouldn't have. It's obviously given the players ideas above their station!
They appear to have held a team meeting sometime before Christmas where they clearly said 'forget this relegation malarkey, it's over-rated. Let's go for the top six instead'.
Click here to see our match picture gallery
At least that's how it seems for how else can one explain a quite astonishing 10-point haul over the Christmas and New Year period?
In my six years as Blackpool reporter I've rarely seen the team win a throw-in over the festive spell, let alone three games.
More than halfway through the season they are six points off the top six and higher in the table than Southampton, Sheffield United, Norwich and Leicester, to name but a few. Who would have thought it?
Mind you I think they had this win over Burnley in the bag before kick-off. After all, the sight of Clarets keeper Gabor Kiraly in just about the worst pair of jogging bottoms ever seen in society in general, never mind just on a football pitch could only have encouraged the Seasiders troops.
The offending item was long, grey and flabby, a bit like Kiraly had rummaged desperately through the Christmas sales bargain bin at JD Sports and come across one remaining pair extra large, not quite his size, but nonetheless a bargain at £3.99.
They reminded me of a pair my dad started sporting shortly after he retired and only left the house to buy a pint of milk and a Daily Mirror from the local store.
He had a bad day (Kiraly, not my dad), blamed by his manager for Kaspars Gorkss's opener and being beaten by a cruel deflection for Claus Jorgensen's third. In between that he had no chance with a Ben Burgess close-range header.
Those were the goals that won this pulsating match for Pool and once again emphasised how determined Simon Grayson's Seasiders are to beat the drop.
To see off Burnley with such disdain suggests they will, for it is no mean feat.
Since Owen Coyle replaced Steve Cotterill as boss two months ago he hasn't witnessed his side lose away from home. Against Pool they were hammered the Clarets' first defeat on the road since October 6 at Cardiff.
And it was a completely deserved success. The Seasiders dominated for the opening half hour, and for the whole of the second half.
Once again Grayson had a good day with his selections.
He decided to stick with Scott Vernon up front but bring back Burgess in place of Andy Morrell. Morrell the man who scored at the death to pinch a point at Turf Moor in the reverse fixture in September was gutted, and understandably so. But Burgess, who had suffered his own great disappointment when he was left out of the previous match at Colchester, was in the mood to make a point and by scoring that crucial second goal, certainly did so.
Solid
Competition among the strikers is just what is required and with the manager aiming to add two more during the next month, it will be interesting to see what combination he is playing come the end of the season.
Other than that switch up front, the team remained the same as at Colchester and just as they did at Layer Road, Pool turned in a thorough and professional performance.
Aside from the flair and movement going forward, the side was solid and resolute in defence.
Kaspars Gorkss and Michael Jackson snuffed out the threat of 13-goal Andy Gray and the tricky Robbie Blake to the extent that Blake was substituted 10 minutes after half-time. His replacement Adi Akinbiyi had a similar lack of success.
Star man for me though was Michael Flynn. He didn't get on the scoresheet for once, but his display had just about everything else. He was a rock both in attack and defence and got through an astonishing amount of work.
Keith Southern's injury was a hammerblow. But Flynn's form in the last month has been so impressive that Southern has not been missed quite as much as we thought he might. When Southern (who watched the match from the stand with his leg still in a protective cast) returns, hopefully at the start of next month, it will mark another selection problem for the manager, though one he'll be delighted to have.
The game kicked-off after a minute's applause for Motherwell skipper Phil O'Donnell a nice gesture, but did it have to be applause? In this age of the mobile phone has it really come to pass that people can't be trusted to keep their gobs shut for 60 whole seconds?
No matter, the death of O'Donnell was a timely reminder of the insignificance of football compared to life itself. Stephen Crainey, Pool's Scottish international, will, in particular, have been moved.
Crainey and the rest of his team-mates seemed inspired and made all the running, pressure which led to the 23rd minute opener.
Wes Hoolahan sent a precise near-post corner onto the head of Gorkss, who glanced his effort just about beyond Kiraly.
Kiraly did do well to stop Jorgensen's deflected drive moments later, keeping the ball out with one hand.
Crucial
But Paul Rachubka produced an even better save before the break. On one of the few occasions he was tested by a disappointing Burnley side, the Seasiders' keeper who spent a loan spell at Turf Moor when Stan Ternent was boss leapt to his left to push Blake's fierce free-kick around the post. With the score just 1-0, a crucial save at a crucial time
The second half began quietly but roared on by the biggest crowd of the season (9,599 just beating the turn-out for the home game with Sheffield United), Pool took complete control on 58 minutes.
Hoolahan slid the ball to an overlapping Jorgensen and his cross from the left was brutally powered into the net by Burgess, muscling defender Kyle Lafferty out of the way.
Five minutes later it was game over. Burgess flicked on, Burnley only half-cleared and Jorgensen, steaming in, slammed a beautifully st
ruck volley past Kiraly. The ball took a deflection but even if it hadn't, such was the venom with which it was struck, there was probably little Kiraly could have done. The keeper stood motionless as the ball flew past him, jogging bottoms flapping morosely in the wind.
The visiting fans streamed out, waved happily on their way by a joyous home contingent, and although Pool eased their feet off the accelerator (as well as making three substitutions, possibly to allow as many people as possible to pick up their New Year's Day win bonus) there were still opportunities for Hoolahan (twice) and Bartosz Slusarski to increase the tally.
To their credit Burnley remained interested and mounted a few late attacks but to no avail.
This was very much Blackpool's day and how they enjoyed it.
If this is a taste of what 2008 has in store then bring it on it could be a mighty fine year.
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Blackpool 2 Colchester 0
FRETTING about relegation? Forget that. Blackpool are going for the play-offs.
OK, so maybe not. I'm at my gran's sheltered accommodation as I write and on a third glass of sherry which could well have gone to my head.
However, it is a fact that after a scintillating festive period which has yielded two victories and a draw (previously unheard of at Bloomfield Road), Simon Grayson's Seasiders are now somewhat astonishingly only eight points off a top six place.
Of course, I jest and promotion is an absolute non-starter (though I'll gladly stand corrected come May), but the important thing is that at least the cloud of relegation trouble has lifted for the time being.
Colchester, on the other hand, should be worried. Very worried. They are extremely poor, a team with no confidence, destined for a very difficult next four months.
There is a sign as you enter Layer Road which reads: "No ball games allowed in this area".
Shadow
It refers, rather bizarrely, to the concourse underneath the stand (I mean when was the last time you saw a five-a-side match going on by the pie stall?) But Colchester fans could be forgiven for wanting the ban to extend to the pitch.
Teddy Sheringham sums up their fortunes. He looks every inch a man who will turn 42 in April.
He's a shadow of his former self a sentiment which extends to the whole U's side, which isn't a patch on last season's outfit which took the Championship by storm and finished a lofty 10th.
Not that Pool care too much. All they are concerned about is Scott Vernon's double, which secured three points that are huge for so many different reasons.
Putting aside the clubs that will spend and spend big in January (QPR, Norwich and Leicester), there are three teams that Blackpool need, as much as they can, to build a gap over.
They are Scunthorpe, Preston and Colchester (perhaps Sheffield Wednesday too, though they have two games in hand and will probably escape).
The aforementioned trio, however, all look vulnerable and set to face a tricky 2008. None of them picked up a single point on Saturday:
Blackpool's three takes them at least a win clear of all of them and at this stage of the season, with more than half the campaign gone, that's a nice bit of breathing space to have.
Especially encouraging is the distance between Pool and Colchester. Just seven days ago, the Seasiders were two points off bottom place. Now it's eight points that's a whole lot better and lifts some of the pressure that was, though they'd never admit it, perhaps just starting to build on the players' shoulders.
What has been encouraging about the festive period is how professional Blackpool have been.
First the clinical demolition of Coventry; next the gutsy, determined 10-man draw at Sheffield United; at Layer Road a calm and assured performance which was simply too good for poor but still, given half a chance, capable opposition.
Rested
Club captain Michael Jackson stepped in to replace the suspended Ian Evatt and did a fine job, while Vernon surprisingly replaced Ben Burgess up front.
Burgess was rested after his exhausting shift against four Blades defenders on Boxing Day. He was rested against his will, though, and given what Vernon went on to achieve Burgess will now be sweating on his place for the visit of Burnley tomorrow.
The smart money might be on a Vernon-Burgess combination, with Andy Morrell dropping to the bench not for anything Morrell has done wrong for he too was excellent at Colchester, but just to give him a rest as Grayson rotates his pack like a young Benitez (minus evil moustache).
This was a match always lively and, for the first 25 minutes, very even.
Claus Jorgensen had a 20-yarder tipped around the post by Dean Gerkin, while at the opposite end Paul Rachubka kept out two free-kicks by dead ball specialist Mark Yeates.
They were very different stops. The first Rachubka fumbled and was bailed out by his post; the second a magnificent fingertip stop from a 25-yard free-kick. Yeates, remember, scored twice at Bloomfield Road to deny Pool a point in September. No such luck this time.
Pool's opener arrived on 26 minutes. Gary Taylor-Fletcher, now doing an excellent job for the team, burst down the right and laid the ball cleverly into the path of Vernon.
The striker, who last started a game in October, pirouetted like a ballet dancer (though I won't say that to his face) and smashed a rising left-foot drive past Gerkin from 10 yards.
Michael Flynn missed a golden opportunity to double the advantage three minutes later, Gerkin tipping the midfielder's close-range shot onto the post.
But on 36 minutes Pool did net again and it was simplicity itself, originating from a long Rachubka punt.
Defender Adam Virgo misjudged a header, Morrell latched onto the loose ball and whipped in a right-footed cross which Vernon just about bundled into an unguarded net at the back post. "For a second I thought I'd missed it,"admitted the relieved striker. The ball went in off the post.
A great moment for Vernon who has, in the eyes of some, had to wait too long for a chance this season.
But regardless of that argument every credit to Grayson for his selection. What a tactical masterstroke by the boss (or maybe just plain luck, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt ...) to bring back Vernon for this game when nearly everyone else expected the in-form Burgess to continue.
Slumped
Vernon had a point to prove not just because he has been out in the cold for so long but because he spent a successful loan spell at Colchester 18 months ago. He was fired up and determined to prove a point, and boy did he do just that.
Colchester heads had dropped an inch after the Pool's opener. After the second they slumped by about a foot and for the remainder of the game, as much
as the home side huffed and puffed particularly at the start of the second half they rarely threatened.
Pool passed the ball quite beautifully and gave the 500 or so Blackpool supporters who had made the lengthiest of journeys a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon's entertainment.
Flynn again came close to scoring, Morrell did too and both he and Vernon had efforts ruled out for offside.
Taylor-Fletcher had the best chance of all to add a third which wouldn't have flattered Pool but after a magnificent run off the left flank and into the area, he sliced his close range shot horribly wide.
Vernon departed to a standing ovation in stoppage time. By then Pool were home and dry; in truth they had been since the 25th minute and their opening goal.
It was a performance which smacked of confidence and of a team who think they can stay up. On this evidence they certainly should do.
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Blackpool 1 Sheffield Utd 1
TO me Christmas is associated with Jesus Christ, caring for those less fortunate than ourselves and asking loved ones if they've kept receipts so you can take back the gifts they bought you as soon as possible and exchange them for something else.
It's also a time to watch films, one of my personal favourites being Superman.
I am one of the few people I know who sat through the final harrowing scene of Gone With The Wind without shedding so much as a tear, but wept buckets when Superman gave up his powers and got battered in a burger bar by that big lumberjack bloke.
It seemed so cruel. After all, he was in love and would not any sane man throw away his Kryptonite, hang up the red undies and go for lunch with Lois Lane instead? But I digress.
The point is that the theme tune from this particular Hollywood epic was played as the teams emerged from the tunnel at Bramall Lane.
It prompted Ben Burgess, always one to see the lighter side of life, to run on to the pitch doing a superhero pose and pretend he was flying.
It was an amusing moment but how appropriate it turned out to be, for not only did Burgess turn in a superhuman performance but nearly all his team-mates did too.
I've seen Blackpool pick up many good points during my time as a reporter but the one collected yesterday might just be the most impressive of the lot.
A man down after seven minutes Ian Evatt harshly red-carded for pulling back Billy Sharp in the area the Seasiders battled and grafted throughout.
Despite their numerical disadvantage they deservedly claimed a point courtesy of a fine Paul Rachubka penalty save, a second-half Claus Jorgensen strike and some quite wonderful defending.
Sure Sheffield United missed chances a point Bryan Robson was keen to emphasise afterwards but even without their full compliment of players Pool were always in the game and made the home side look distinctly ordinary at times.
There are certain questions that, if I was a Blades fan, I'd be asking. Why, for instance, did Robson choose to play the 90 minutes with a back four who had only Burgess to mark? Surely a defender could have been sacrificed in order to push on for a second goal?
But rather than dwelling on the home team, we should be talking up Blackpool and what they achieved.
Simon Grayson's unfashionable little side (last three words copyrighted by the majority of the British media) displayed once again why they are doing themselves proud in the Championship.
Miraculous
It's hard enough to get a point at inconsistent but potentially brilliant Sheffield United with 11 men. To do it with 10 was nothing short of miraculous and the manager can once again be mighty proud of his side.
He should be proud of himself too. The replacement of Andy Morrell with Michael Jackson shortly after Evatt was sent off might have been pure commonsense (though a clearly miffed Morrell might argue otherwise), but the second-half adjustment which saw Gary Taylor-Fletcher pushed narrower and slightly further forward to give Burgess some much-needed support was a masterstroke.
It was a subtle change and the result was two-fold: it avoided taking an unnecessary gamble which might have seen Pool concede a second goal and would have killed the game as a contest, and it also gave the Seasiders the attacking threat that was required if they were to get back on level terms.
And it was Taylor-Fletcher who from that advanced, central position pounced on a defensive error in the 69th minute to win the ball before being fouled.
From the resultant free-kick, 20 yards out and dead central, Claus Jorgensen's fierce, low strike hit the back of the net albeit after taking a slight deflection.
Pool had to withstand a great deal of late pressure but hung on and the celebrations spoke volumes about just what a big point this could be come May.
Survival campaigns can either perish or succeed on moments like this. This will have given the entire camp renewed belief that they can stay up.
After all, going unbeaten against a team of Sheffield United's wealth and big-name talent in two matches this season isn't bad going.
Grayson had stuck with the side which hammered Colchester last time out, though his plans were destroyed with Evatt's early dismissal.
As Sharp strained to get onto Chris Armstrong's through ball, Evatt did appear to tangle with the striker. A penalty? Possibly. A sending off? Surely not.
Referee Stuart Attwell (in his first year as a Football League referee and in his first ever Championship game) ruined the game as a spectacle before it had chance to get going. Or so we thought.
Redemption
As it turned out it was the first big talking point in a post-Christmas cracker.
James Beattie stepped up to take the spot-kick but Rachubka leapt to his left to stop the ball. Great save and personal redemption for Rachubka, who had allowed Beattie's late long-range effort to slip underneath him at Bloomfield Road in September in the reverse fixture.
That incident made the score 2-2 and cost Pool the three points. Here Rachubka gained Pool a point.
Despite their extra man, United didn't pile on the pressure or cause the Seasiders too many problems, though they did sneak ahead on 25 minutes when Sharp so good at drifting wide clipped a right-wing cross onto the head of Beattie, who nodded past Rachubka from close range.
Two minutes later, superhero Burgess now playing as the lone striker in a 4-4-1 latched on to a loose, bouncing ball and smashed a terrific 25-yard angled volley which beat Paddy Kenny all ends up but cracked against the crossbar.
It wasn't to be Blackpool's day we thought. But after the break and with Beattie off with a knee problem after an accidental collision with Rachubka Grayson's men finally started to enjoy a bit of luck.
Former Pool loan man Armstrong missed two great chances and another half-decent opening, and Keith Gillespie saw his goalbound shot inadvertently blocked by team-mate Rob Hulse.
Then the glorious moment. Taylor-Fletcher was felled by Blades captain Lucketti, lunging to win back the ball he had lost it in the first place.
Jorgensen, who told Stephen Crainey he was taking the free-kick, put his head down, swung his right foot and celebrated his first goal of the season.
As Bramall Lane seethed and turned on Robson, the Blades pushed forward but it wasn't until the final few minutes with Pool's 10 men finally beginning to feel the effects of an afternoon's worth of non-stop running that they began to create chances.
The closest they came was when Hulse missed a close-range header, Gillespie got behind Crainey but sliced wide and Jon Stead tested Rachubka with a powerful drive.
Pool held on and weren't only cheered off the pitch by 1,500 visiting fans but also by a good number of home supporters.
They deserved it. This was a heroic performance and a hard-fought point so richly deserved.
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Blackpool 4 Coventry City 0
SPENDING five hours peeling carrots and preparing sprouts, watching re-runs of Last of the Summer Wine and listening to the mother-in-law harp on about the bus timetables in Fleetwood suddenly doesn't seem so arduous after all.
Blackpool have won. All is good with the world again.
And they didn't just win. They tonked Coventry.
Granted Iain Dowie's team were always up against it from the moment striker Kevin Kyle elbowed Shaun Barker to earn himself a straight red card. It was perhaps harsh, but raise your arms when you jump and make contact and you're always running the risk of getting your marching orders.
Even so, to win 4-0, after losing the last two home games, was a joy to behold.
Blackpool's supporters left the ground with a spring in their step.
Indeed one bloke, who I've seen smile only once in six years and that was when his friend fell over and cut his face departed grinning like a Cheshire cat.
And so he should because here's a stat for you: This was Blackpool's biggest win in the second flight since January 14, 1978!
Back then the last time Pool graced the top two tiers Allan Brown's side demolished Charlton 5-1.
The odd thing was that Brown got sacked a couple of weeks later after a dispute with the board. We trust the same won't be happening with Grayson, not after he signed the new contract anyway.
If it does Mr Oyston better lock himself in a bombproof bunker. Getting flak about the lack of a south stand would be nothing compared to the outbreak of fury should Grayson go anytime soon.
A four-goal victory in the Championship is something special. It's the largest margin of victory Grayson has overseen his side to as a manager.
The last time Pool won by four in any division was a 4-0 win over Torquay in December, 2004, under Colin Hendry.
Keigan Parker got a hat-trick that day. On Saturday the Scot couldn't even make the bench.
According to the rumours he's on his way out in January and the theory is that a deal has already been done and that's why he's not playing to avoid an injury.
Maybe it's true, maybe not, but it was certainly a little odd that he didn't even make the bench.
It's a shame that a player who scored such a tremendous goal at Wembley and played a big part in the Seasiders' promotion has fallen so much out of favour. But on the other side of the coin he has failed to score all season and that's what strikers are paid to do.
But now's not the time to talk about Parker. Now is the time to reflect on and savour the best day of Blackpool's season so far.
Though they were helped greatly by Coventry's one-man disadvantage, Blackpool were excellent in the way they dispatched Iain Dowie's side.
Even prior to Kyle's 32nd minute red card, Grayson's side were in the ascendancy and led through Wes Hoolahan's penalty.
With an extra man they assumed control for the remainder of the half, briefly wobbled at the beginning of the second, but then pressed their foot down towards the end and ultimately cruised to three points.
And what precious points they are.
Defeat here and it would have been a horrid Christmas.
With Sheffield United and Colchester (both away) and Burnley on New Year's Day to come, this game against Coventry was the easiest looking fixture and thus the one from which they just had to take the points.
If they hadn't it would have been nothing short of a disaster.
Thankfully the 11 lads in tangerine responded and have at least given themselves a fighting chance of heading into 2008 outside of the relegation zone.
If they can do that, and if Grayson can then add a couple of quality players in the January sales, then there is reason once again to feel hopeful.
The fact remains that there is very little wrong with this team that a proven, quality goalscorer would not solve.
Scott Vernon might argue that he's just that, and he's right. He's probably the best finisher at the club.
He came on after 84 minutes and scored 240 seconds minutes later, dispossessing David McNamee and sidefooting the ball past keeper Dimi Konstantopolous.
The warmth with which his late strike was greeted suggested the fans think he has been treated harshly by being left on the bench.
They have a point and perhaps Vernon has given Grayson some food for thought.
Pool were home and dry by then anyway.
Wes Hoolahan had got the ball rolling on 27 minutes, converting from the spot after Kaspars Gorkss had been unceremoniously felled by McNamee, who had what might be termed as a nightmare.
No Deepdale chip from Wes this time, but same result. He drilled the ball into the bottom corner. Pool one up and on their way.
Five minutes later Kyle got his marching orders for a stray elbow and Coventry briefly threatened to self-implode as McNamee (yes, him again) and Michael Doyle were cautioned for nasty challenges borne out of pure frustration.
Emphatic
Credit to Coventry where it's due though and for a good 15 minutes after half-time, they gave it a real go, pushing Pool back and causing the odd moment of panic in the home box.
On 65 minutes, though, the game as a contest ended. Ian Evatt's chip over the top sent Michael Flynn clear and the midfielder finished in emphatic fashion his third goal in five games.
Goal number three arrived on 72 minutes. David Fox's corner was powerfully met by Kaspars Gorkss and the ball flew into the
net via the faintest of touches off a defender. It was definitely Gorkss's goal, the ball was going in regardless of who it did or didn't hit.
Coventry were the very definition of a beaten team in the last few moments and after Vernon's fourth, Burgess came close to increasing the total, shooting into the side-netting instead of the goal.
It wasn't to be but what a lovely early Christmas present, and much better than those socks three for a tenner at Marks and Sparks that you just know you're going to get from your aunty tomorrow.
BLACKPOOL: Rachubka, Barker, Evatt, Gorkss, Crainey, Taylor-Fletcher, Jorgensen, Flynn, Hoolahan, Morrell, Burgess. Subs: Jackson, Vernon, Fox, Welsh, Slusarski
COVENTRY: Konstantopoulos, Ward, Doyle, Kyle, Mifsud, McNamee, Tabb, Best, Hughes, Borrowdale, Turner. Subs: S Hughes, Adebola, Osbourne, Gray, Marshall
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Blackpool 2 Stoke 3
LIKE trains after the lightest scattering of snow, Blackpool have been late starters this season.
Prior to the weekend, the Seasiders hadn't scored in the opening half hour of a league match all season.
Considering we're a week away from Christmas, that's some going.
In fact and this paragraph is sponsored by Carol Vorderman Pool had gone 21 league games, which means 630 minutes, which means 10 and a half hours of football without a goal in the first half hour.
The irony is that Simon Grayson's men finally put right that nasty little statistic on Saturday, and yet still ended up coming out of an absorbing clash with Stoke with absolutely nothing.
To see our Pool v Stoke picture gallery click here
This third defeat in four home matches makes Saturday's encounter with Coventry a contest they really need to win.
And yet it's hard to be critical after watching 90 minutes which were as good as any we've seen all season.
Both Blackpool and Stoke deserve great credit for playing football in the right manner and for attacking at all times.
It was a terrific contest to watch. It swung one way then the other and produced five good goals. The only surprise was that there weren't more.
It was the footballing equivalent of Ricky Hatton v Floyd Mayweather. Pool were like the Mancunian, always on the front foot and bustling forward. But Stoke, even when on the ropes, always had an answer and in truth probably deserved the points.
Considering they were the away team, they played very well. They possess a big, strong side perfect for this division and have a real chance of promotion.
Pool, meanwhile, face a long, hard winter battling at the opposite end of the division.
But no matter how tough things get in the next month of two, let's not forget that it was always going to be a tough season.
Teams which win promotion from League One very rarely go on to prosper immediately in the Championship.
Bristol City are proving to be the exception but don't forget that they draw big crowds, have four millionaires on their board and are prepared to throw money around on a bevy of new players.
'So why don't Blackpool?', I hear you say. Well, say what you want about Oyston, but the Pool chairman has never lied about his intentions. Slow, careful progression has always been his mantra.
Would the Seasiders have spent £1m on Lee Trundle? Never in two months of Sundays.
Is that Oyston's fault? Well, not really. He has never veered from his stated aim of prudence.
And while he can definitely and deservedly be criticised for not getting the south stand started, the board can't be blamed too much for not splashing out huge sums of money. That was never on the agenda.
However, given the manner in which Simon Grayson's side continue to slide to plucky but narrow defeats, it is clear that some team-strengthening is required.
Irrespective of how many cheap East Europeans arrive in January (and there will be a couple), the manager must be given at least a small pot of money to bring in those extra three or four players who can add the sparkle and freshness necessary to produce much-needed positive results.
A quality striker remains the priority, but as that's the 27th time I've written that in recent weeks I don't really think it needs saying again.
The goals on Saturday came from midfielder, Michael Flynn, and right-back Shaun Barker.
Though Ben Burgess continues to perform admirably, and there's not too much wrong with Andy Morrell's all-round game, Pool need someone who is going to get on the scoresheet every other week.
At the moment they haven't got that, and it is the difference between losing and drawing, drawing and winning. Another point went down the drain against Stoke, though it wasn't for the want of trying.
In fact, against a well-established Championship side who possess some excellent players, Grayson's men turned in a fine performance.
Wes Hoolahan returned, fit again after back trouble, and Pole Bartosz Slusarski was plunged straight back in after shaking off the ankle injury which has kept him out of the last three games.
Ian Evatt was selected for the first time since undergoing surgery on ankle and knee ligament damage.
Grayson has been banging on for months about horses for courses this was the perfect example of what he's been talking about.
Evatt was picked directly to combat the power and physical strength of the Stoke side; Slusarski too.
Initially it worked a treat. Pool were magnificent for the opening 20 minutes and bossed their shellshocked opponents. It probably helped that they were kicking towards the North Stand and the massed home support.
They normally play the other way first half, and don't seem to get inspired by kicking towards a muddy car park. Strange that
As it was, they could have scored after 12 seconds. A Barker cross reached Burgess at the back post but his right-foot shot was deflected just wide.
On 14 minutes, Flynn made the breakthrough. Stephen Crainey's free-kick was half-cleared and the midfielder, revelling in the security of being a first-team regular, lashed the ball into the net with his left foot. From 20 yards it was beautifully executed.
But cheered on by almost 2,000 fans, Stoke began to show their strength and class (for they possess both in abundance), and gradually pinned the home side back.
Ricardo Fuller, the fleet-footed former Preston man, was a major threat and gave Evatt and the rest of the Seasiders back four a tough afternoon.
He drifted out to the wings, often taking on three or four defenders at any given time and usually beating all of them. He's Hoolahan with muscles.
Defenders Ryan Shawcross and Andy Wilkinson had both come close before Fuller eventually found a way through.
Liam Lawrence, who played well on the right, floated in a 38th-minute free-kick which Paul Rachubka didn't deal with.
The ball was smashed into an empty net by a gleeful Fuller, somewhat surprisingly his first goal in 10 games.
Four minutes later, Stoke were ahead. Lawrence's corner from the left was met too easily by defender Leon Cort, who planted a header past Rachubka from point-blank range.
Quite how Burgess didn't equalise on 58 minutes is a mystery. After a one-two with Hoolahan, the frontman shot so hard that keeper Steve Simonsen must have almost broken his hand keeping the ball out.
But it was a crucial save as within three minutes Stoke had extended their lead. Fuller showed his great pace to burst clear of the Seasiders defence and coolly slotted the ball underneath Rachubka.
It gave the visitors a stranglehold on the contest and, like seasoned pro's, they retreated into their own half, content to soak up pressure and play the game out.
Mind you, it almost backfired. Unlike some sides, Pool need no invitation to take the match to their opponents and for the final half hour they swarmed all over the Stoke goal.
Three minutes from the end, substitute Andy Welsh delivered a corner on to the head of Barker and the full-back skipper in the absence of Michael Jackson headed in.
It set up a thrilling finale, with the Seasiders pressing desperately during the five minutes of added time and Stoke hanging on like mountaineers without a safety rope.
Alas, when Michael Flynn hit a late shot wide it was game over.
The home fans were left to stream away from the ground, many muttering about the strangest of decisions from referee Phil Joslin, who failed to administer a second yellow card to Shawcross for scything down Morrell.
But, crucially, they weren't muttering about the game.
It was cracking entertainment and Pool did well. Play like this and Grayson's men should stay up but it's going to be tight.
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Blackpool 0 Cardiff 1
AT the end of this an enraged spectator spluttered: "Cardiff! All they've done all night is have one whack at goal".
Given that Paul Rachubka was called upon to make three terrific saves, that's a little harsh on the visitors.
However, you could see his point.
Though they weren't superb, Blackpool played pretty well, generally controlled the game and certainly deserved a draw at the very least.
Gary Taylor-Fletcher hit the crossbar, Ben Burgess missed a glorious chance, Andy Welsh forced the opposition keeper to make three good saves and Shaun Barker headed narrowly over, to name a few chances.
The frustration at not getting something from the match was borne out of the manner in which the Seasiders generally controlled play.
See the match gallery here
They bossed proceedings in possession and put the opposition under pressure throughout. The only thing that was missing was a goal.
It is something which has been missing all season and the one certainty in the January transfer window is that Simon Grayson will want to sign a striker or two.
Noise
The one certainty in the Press box is that it has never included a radio commentator with such a loud voice.
The gentleman in question worked for a Welsh radio station and sounded a little like Jonathan Pearce shouting into a megaphone.
One can imagine listeners at home having their radios turned to the lowest possible volume level and yet still getting complaints from surrounding neighbours about noise.
It wouldn't have mattered whether people in Wales had their radios on or not his commentary was probably audible in Cardiff anyway.
Maybe, however, he was just trying to keep his vocal chords, along with the rest of his body, warm.
It was the coldest night on record since January 21, 1978 (that's a completely made up statistic, but heck, it could well have been) and left 20-odd journalists and 7,000 spectators adding "thermal vest" to their Christmas gift wishlist.
As for the match, it would be easy to suggest that Pool lost because their best player wasn't available, Wes Hoolahan sidelined by a dodgy back.
True, the winger's unpredictability and his skill were certainly missed, along with the fact that he is such a good outlet.
His team-mates know they can give him the ball in any situation, no matter how many defenders he has around him, and he will usually retain possession and more often than not create something into the bargain.
But one man does not make a team.
And Andy Welsh, who came in to make his second league start of the season, had a pretty good match, particularly in the first half when he tested Cardiff keeper Kaspar Schmeichel on several occasions.
However, without Wes there was certainly a lack of spark and with Andy Morrell's back confining him to the subs bench and Gary Taylor-Fletcher hampered by a hamstring problem, perhaps it was no surprise that Pool were never quite able to make the breakthrough.
Then again maybe it was just their beards weighing them down, who knows...
Cardiff won the points thanks to a splendid goal, scored by Steve Thompson early in the first half.
The build up was slightly fortunate, the ball breaking to Thompson after Taylor-Fletcher had made an excellent crunching tackle on full-back Kevin McNaughton.
But there was not the merest whiff of luck about the striker's finish as from 22 yards he smashed a rising, curling drive into the top corner which gave Rachubka, at full stretch, no chance.
The incredible thing is that Thompson, who partnered the more flamboyant Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink up front, is on the transfer list at Ninian Park. Simon Grayson take note.
Pool had a glorious opportunity to get back in it on 28 minutes when the ball broke kindly for Ben Burgess in the penalty area. He reached it before Schmeichel but hit his left-foot shot high and wide of the upright.
Burgess should have done better with that chance, although it was just about the only mistake he made all night.
His hold-up play was intelligent and his lay-offs impeccable. He also won countless headers it's just a shame there was rarely anyone sharp enough to get on the end of them.
Rachubka made a terrific stop from Hasselbaink just before the break, stopping the 35-year-old's rocket of a shot with his legs.
Disappointment at half-time but the Seasiders must have thought they had every chance of equalising against a resilient but limited Cardiff side.
It wasn't to be, but not for the lack of trying.
Stephen Crainey's screamer from 25 yards was beaten away by Schmeichel, Barker headed Welsh's cross over when he might have scored, and then on 76 minutes Pool came even closer when Taylor-Fletcher slammed a volley against the bar.
It followed a lovely exchange of passes between Barker and Welsh on the right. The latter's cross was half-cleared and Taylor-Fletcher struck the loose ball as sweet as a tea with 12 sugars.
It seemed destined for the back of the net until the crossbar intervened, and Parker's follow up was blocked.
Parker started in place of Morrell and played almost the full 90 minutes.
Drive
He still looks like a man who needs a goal to get his confidence up and once or twice delayed too long in getting his shots away. But at least he kept running and didn't shy away from accepting the ball.
With Taylor-Fletcher's near miss went Pool's hopes. Indeed Cardiff, who had spent almost the entire second half trying to keep the home side out, came closest to scoring towards the end.
Rachubka kept out Stephen McPhail's drive and Stephen Crainey brilliantly cleared Joe Ledley's shot off the line, via the post.
The applause and encouraging chants of the home fans at the final whistle said it all really. It wasn't a bad display and perhaps, just like Pool were slightly fortunate to win at Preston, Cardiff were lucky to come away with three points from Bloomfield Road.
That, of course, is the beauty of football, though last night it didn't seem so beautiful.
Two big games, at home to Stoke and Coventry, are now key fixtures. If Pool want a merry Christmas, they need to win at least one of them.
POOL
Rachubka, Barker, Jackson, Gorkss, Crainey, Taylor-Fletcher, Flynn, Jorgensen, Welsh, Parker, Burgess.
SUBS - Evatt, Forbes, Morrell, Vernon, Fox
CARDIFF
Schmeichel, McNaughton, Gunter, Johnson, Loovens, McPhail, Parry, Whittingham, Ledley, Hasselbaink, Thompson.
SUBS - Oakes, Fowler, Rae, McLean, Purse
ATT: 7214
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PNE 0 Blackpool 1
WE came, we saw, we conquered.
There have been many 1-0 victories in the history of Blackpool Football Club. Rarely, though, can one have been greeted with as much delight as this.
Simon Grayson punched the air like a lunatic.
Paul Rachubka threw his goalkeeping gloves into the crowd (though he might regret that at 20 quid a pop there's no way the club will pay for another pair. Rumour has it he was spotted nipping into JJB Sports on his way to training today...)
See the PNE v Pool match gallery
The match as it happened
But Rachubka splendid all afternoon in horrible, wet conditions wasn't the only way to get consumed by the euphoria.
Ben Burgess raised arms aloft, Ian Evatt ran towards the Blackpool fans and screamed in happiness, Claus Jorgensen was ecstatic.
Wes Hoolahan, penalty-taker extraordinaire, just stood on the pitch beaming. No wonder. He need never buy another drink in Blackpool again.
The day could only have been improved upon had Karl Oyston run into the centre circle after the final whistle, grabbed the PA man's microphone and bellowed: "Look, I feel bad about what's happened lately. I'm going to start the south stand without delay!"
Fuss
But let's not venture into the realms of fantasy.
Let's just dwell on a memorable day in the town's footballing history the moment Blackpool finally announced to their great local rivals that they are no longer their inferiors.
Pool are back in football's higher echelons and determined to stay there.
It's just occurred to me at this point that anyone reading this who is not of a football-loving nature will think we're absolutely mad. "It's only a game of footie," they might quite rightly point out. "What's all the fuss about?"
Well let me explain. Preston North End are to Blackpool what a policeman is to a burglar.
They don't like each other. Never have. And both want to outdo the one another.
For the last eight years North End fans have been able to look down on their Tangerine counterparts with the disdainful sneer of a rich aristocrat telling his peasant servant to get a move on dishing up the caviar.
While Preston's footballing stock has risen over the past decade, Pool fans have had so little to cheer about they may as well have moved to Hartlepool, nipped out on a canoe and turned up few years later claiming memory loss.
They wouldn't have missed anything apart from dozens of dismal League Two and League One games at half-empty stadiums and a couple of wins in a competition sponsored by a transit van.
But then, in November 2005, this guy called Simon Grayson took over as manager and since that moment but club has been on an upward trajectory so astonishing it is sometimes hard to take in.
Young and old alike are witnessing the best football played by the club in more than 30 years. It's not the golden period of the 50s, but then again a period so glorious is unlikely to happen again.
Times have changed and so has football.
Glowing
But what Blackpool are doing is progressing. They are playing at their best since the days of Tony Green, Glyn James and Mickey Walsh and bringing some pride back to the Fylde coast.
Credit has to go to the board too. Karl Oyston, whatever anyone might say, has overseen all this and deserves credit for getting the ambitious and crucially enthusiastic Valery Belokon in on the act.
Those two, along with a manager doing a brilliant job, have transformed the club's fortunes.
But although it's easy to do so in the glowing aftermath of a 1-0 win in the backyard of your fiercest rivals, let's not go too overboard.
One victory does not make a season. If Pool go down, then all this will have been in vain. It will be back to square one, and potentially back to 30 more years of depressing and dismal lower league football.
And that's why it's important for Oyston to back his talented manager in the transfer window in January and get some quality players in, to add to the quality that is already in the squad.
Norwich and QPR, teams below Pool, are certain to spend, and spend big, so they will improve after the New Year.
If the Seasiders want to stay up and surely they do then spend some cash. Not a million, maybe not even half a million.
But at least give Grayson a decent amount of dosh to get some of his targets in, starting, perhaps, with the £250,000-rated Andy Bishop at Bury.
And, of course, if Oyston were to get that blasted south stand up and running that would add the feelgood factor that is often necessary to get through a season.
When a side is battling at the bottom every little bit of good news helps. A new stand, coupled with new players, would surely prove once and for all that the chairman and the board do have lofty ambitions for the club. The ball is in their court.
Anyway ramble over and back to Deepdale where for a moment prior to kick-off, with the weather filthy and the atmosphere muted at best, I, for one, was beginning to wonder what all this fuss about the North End-Blackpool derby was about.
Then, as the teams emerged from the tunnel, the PA announcer screamed: "Welcome Blackpool and the pride of Lancashire Preston North End!" and that was all it took.
Safety
The blue touchpaper had been lit and it burned bright for the next 90 minutes.
When Seasiders fans travel in large numbers it remains a splendid sight and the 2,800 Tangerine-clad fans again did their club proud.
They chanted and sang throughout and were rewarded with a scoreline which enabled them to smile, even during the 20 minutes they spent in the freezing rain locked inside the ground "for your own safety", as the voice over the tannoy ominously put it.
Wes Hoolahan's penalty was the reason they and thousands of others throughout the town were in raptures.
The Irishman stepped up in the 67th minute after Ben Burgess, rapidly becoming a cult-hero among supporters, was chopped down by Youl Mawene as he ran into the area.
By rights, Hoolahan should have been nervous. He had missed his previous penalty at Norwich and now had to take one against the club's biggest rivals in front of the massed Blackpool fans.
Nervous? You must be joking. He converted in the cheekiest, cockiest of styles, dinking the ball into the middle of the net with Lonergan sprawling and fingering thin air.
It was typical, classic Hoolahan, a player on his own when it comes to providing magic moments that few others would dare even attempt.
Preston raged about a penalty they thought they should have had. Neil Mellor was hacked down by Kaspars Gorkss on the edge of the area. He fell in the area but Mark Clattenburg, who was excellently positioned, awarded a free-kick outside the box.
Alan Irvine thought the decision was dreadful. Me? Great refereeing
A few minutes later the impressive Paul McKenna, on his 400th appearance for North End, smacked a 25-yard free-kick against the bar.
It was a cracking effort, the closest by far that the home side had come to scoring all day. But when Stephen Crainey thumped the ball clear, North End's chance of salvagi
ng a draw, and their pride, had gone.
In a match that wasn't a classic but given the conditions it was never going to be the Seasiders had their chances too.
Michael Flynn, preferred to David Fox, got clean through on goal early on but was denied by Andy Lonergan. The keeper also saved one-handed from Burgess at point-blank range.
Deserved
Pool battled throughout and worked like Trojans to get in front and then to defend it.
It was a typical derby, tackles flying in and both sides displaying 110 per cent commitment, as well as attempting to play the game in the right manner.
For that all the players on show deserve credit.
Preston may feel they deserve a draw (they had 13 shots on goal compared to Pool's four), but in football you rarely get what you deserve.
Blackpool went to Deepdale and emerged triumphant, and, blimey, didn't it feel good.
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Scunthorpe 1 Blackpool 1
FIRST of all, a big thank you to the genius who came up with the diversion on the M180 outside Scunthorpe's ground.
The motorway had been coned off due to roadworks the Highways Agency showing great commonsense to shut an entire motorway just as 4,500 people are leaving a football stadium and heading home.
However, showing a touching trust in these people, we followed their yellow diversion signs and half an hour later ended up back at the ground.
"Those aren't the floodlights, are they?" said my travelling companion, before adding a hopeful: "They can't be."
They were and what's more, assuming we'd made a mistake and missed a sign, we proceeded to do exactly the same again, which meant that 30 minutes later we again rolled up at Glanford Park, now sans floodlights, sans anyone in fact apart perhaps from a couple of workmen who were laughing their heads off and saying: "Look, Geoff, here he comes again".
At 11.30pm, and with far too many expletives being uttered for a good Catholic boy like myself, we finally stumbled onto the M62 and the road home.
At least, though, the spirits of ourselves and any other Blackpool fans lost in Lincolnshire had been brightened by a second late Blackpool goal in the space of three days as Simon Grayson's side grabbed a point, despite not playing well.
A thriller for the TV cameras it was not, as neither Scunthorpe nor Blackpool gave a great illustration of what they can do.
It wasn't a game lit up by silky, free-flowing football. It was a hard, physical battle that Scunthorpe looked likely to edge for a long, long while.
The turning point was a red card to their hitherto impressive right-back Kelly Youga, a man with a haircut so wild it looked as though he had been in a wind tunnel for an hour.
Perhaps Stephen Crainey had whispered something about his barnet because that can be the only reason Youga felt the need to suddenly clatter two-footed into the Seasiders left-back by the touchline.
To say it was a senseless challenge is putting it mildly, and although Scunthorpe may think the decision was a little harsh, it was a stupid tackle and referee Andy D'Urso was justified in pulling out a red card.
What made it more ironic is that this was Youga's first game back after suspension.
Not that Pool cared. It gave them a one-man advantage which they made the most of.
They left it late again, though; the equaliser conjured by two substitutes: Keigan Parker weaving his magic on the left flank before picking out Michael Flynn running into the penalty area. The midfielder kept his head. He could have blasted it into the 242 Blackpool fans behind the goal.
Instead he sidefooted the ball neatly into the bottom corner, beyond the dive of Joe Murphy.
Just as Ben Burgess' late winner against QPR on Saturday had sparked wild celebrations, so did this one.
Flynn was mobbed by his team-mates and, like Burgess' strike, his goal gleaned a very important result for Blackpool.
Points make prizes and one point away from home against a side who are very good on their own patch will do just nicely.
And it is refreshing to report that the Seasiders got this result despite not playing too well.
So often in the past they have been superb (Wolves and West Brom spring readily to mind) and come away with absolutely nothing.
Scrappy
At Scunthorpe it was scrappy and disjointed, but they managed to grab a share of the spoils.
It stopped a nasty run of five straight away defeats and, more importantly, gave them four points from the last two games.
That's a good return, eases them four points clear of the relegation zone (until tonight at least) and puts them in very good spirits going into Saturday's derby at Deepdale, which should be an absolute cracker.
No-one really stood out for Pool on the night. Wes Hoolahan tried a different pair of boots in each half but neither really worked for him.
The conditions, plus some close and robust marking, meant it wasn't quite his night.
That said, he should have won a penalty when he was clearly upended by Matt Sparrow early in the second half.
Mind you, Scunthorpe had a decent penalty shout of their own moments later, when Crainey appeared to make contact with Jack Cork as he charged into the area.
Kaspars Gorkss was probably the Seasiders' best performer, again playing with assurance and confidence at the back. He wins almost every high ball that comes his way.
Best man, though, according to the TV folk, was Michael Flynn, quite an accolade given that the Welshman was on the pitch for less than half an hour.
"Yeah, that was a bit embarrassing," admitted Flynn, before adding: "But I wasn't exactly going to refuse it and give it back!"
Maybe man of the match was pushing it but there's no doubt that Flynn deserved his moment in the sun.
He has endured a hugely frustrating time since arriving at Blackpool but he has never sulked or been downhearted. He's a hugely likeable character and one can only hope this is the moment his Seasiders career takes off.
His direct and attacking style was made for this game, and after replacing David Fox there is no doubt he made a difference.
Parker can rightly claim the same after his brilliant assist for Flynn's strike.
But whether either man keeps his place for the big derby is a question only Grayson can answer, though the boss clearly has some big decisions to make.
He made three changes last night, bringing in Andy Morrell and Fox to replace the injured Bartosz Slusarski and Keith Southern. Gary Taylor-Fletcher also returned at the expense of Andy Welsh.
Morrell hit an angled drive narrowly wide just three minutes in but it was Scunthorpe who settled better.
The Iron took the lead on 19 minutes, when centre-back Andy Butler thumped a shot goalward.
Paul Rachubka made a fine block, but the loose ball looped behind him and the keeper couldn't quite keep it out despite his best efforts to claw the ball away.
The linesman claimed the ball had crossed the line. TV cameras, which weren't level with the goal-line, suggested it was a close call but it seemed a goal...just.
If Pool felt a sense of injustice it didn't exactly show. Their response wasn't immediate. Indeed, until the straight red shown to Youga for his senseless challenge, they seemed unlikely to get back on level terms.
Credit to them after the dismissal, though. Ordered by Grayson to spread the ball wide, stretch the opposition and get crosses in, they did just that.
Eventually Flynn struck and rescued a point, and in stoppage time Parker had a free-kick deflected wide and Flynn almost won it with a curling long-range eff
ort that flew narrowly over the bar.
Scunthorpe raced forward at the death in a bid to restore their lead and it made for an exciting last few minutes, unlike the 80-odd which had preceded them.
But this is another big point in the Seasiders' efforts to maintain their Championship status.
At the full-time whistle, Grayson and his players would have been feeling a whole lot happier than they did last week until, that is, they followed the diversion signs for the motorway.
SCUNTHORPE: Murphy, Williams, Crosby, Sparrow, Goodwin, Hayes, Paterson, Cork, Youga, Butler, Hurst.
Subs: Forte, Logan, Ameobi, Morris, Lillis
BLACKPOOL: Rachubka, Barker, Jackson, Gorkss, Crainey, Taylor-Fletcher, Fox, Jorgensen, Hoolahan, Morrell, Burgess
Subs: Flynn, Evatt, Parker, Vernon, Coid
REF: Andy D'Urso
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QPR 0 Blackpool 1
SIMON Grayson went to see the Kaiser Chiefs on Saturday evening.
See the match gallery here
To explain to the more mature reader, they are a five-piece rock band from Leeds who sound a little like Cliff Richard might if he'd been born on a council estate and drank a lot of Stella.
One of their songs is called Everything is Average Nowadays, and had QPR won this game, then that's exactly what the Blackpool fans might have been thinking.
As it was a thrilling second half, during which the Seasiders laid siege to the Rangers goal, ended in terrific fashion when Ben Burgess powered a stoppage time header into the bottom corner.
"That freed the bird," said the big striker afterwards, causing several members of the media to stare at him puzzlingly.
By that, of course, he meant the famous Burgess goal celebration. He calls it a bird; to be more accurate it's a 6ft 2in, unshaven bloke running around while flapping his arms in the air in slightly manic fashion. If it's a bird it's an injured seagull with unkempt facial hair.
Not that Burgess cares. He got the winner, which could be a huge, huge goal in terms of the season, and that's all that matters.
It left QPR absolutely gutted, for obvious reasons. To lose so late in the day 56 seconds into stoppage time to be exact is galling.
Their dugout was particularly glum, and what a dugout it was.
As well as the subs and manager Luigi De Canio, there was a coach (Iuri Bartoli), a physical therapist (Mark Zambarda) and a translator (Ruben Reggiani).
Reunion
How football has changed from the days when Stanley Matthews walked into the ground at quarter to three with his boots in a brown paper bag slung over his shoulder.
In the directors box sat new QPR owner Flavio Briatore (multi-millionaire chief of the Renault Formula 1 team) and a few of his Italian-looking cohorts.
It was like a reunion of the Godfather cast, and given the nature of Pool's win, Seasiders chairman Karl Oyston might be in danger of waking up today and finding a horse's head on his pillow.
Both teams desperately needed the points to give themselves a boost in their bids to climb away from the foot of the table.
QPR initially did well and in the first half adapted better to the appalling windy conditions and caused Pool some problems with their fluid 4-3-3 formation.
But after the break it was a different story as the Seasiders ran the contest from 45th to 94th minute.
They had at least half a dozen good chances to score (19 attempts on goal in total, compared to QPR's six) before Burgess eventually did, and thoroughly merited the three points.
"It was never a must-win game", claimed Grayson afterwards when he was once again asked the question. That might be what he says in public but you can bet your bottom dollar that he was just as desperate as everyone else at Bloomfield Road to secure the three points.
Put simply, they are huge. For make no mistake about it Pool had been struggling.
One win in the previous 13 is a stat that says it all. And what was more worrying was that the confidence Grayson's team had been playing with ever since winning promotion in such spectacular fashion, had been starting to erode somewhat in recent games summed up by last Tuesday's rather tame and disappointing defeat to Norwich.
It seemed as though this game might go the same way again in the first 45 minutes, but the Seasiders emerged a different side after the break.
Several players deserve credit:
Burgess for a good, physical performance capped with the goal.
David Fox for a terrific display in the middle, earning an opportunity after Keith Southern was injured 12 minutes in and responding with a fine, determined performance.
Kaspar Gorkss is beginning to look like a Premiership performer at the back and don't forget the man alongside him Michael Jackson recalled and putting in a true captain's performance. He shows leadership in abundance.
Then there is Wes.
Note the lack of a second name. It's always the case when people reach a certain level of fame. Elvis, Diana, Lulu, Karl (Oyston, obviously).
Among Blackpool followers Wes is all that's required there's no need for the Hoolahan bit.
He is the hero of most on the terraces and on Saturday he proved why.
Against Norwich he had been first down the tunnel at the end, head bowed after missing a penalty and hearing booing when he was announced sponsors' man of the match. Whether those jeers were directed at Wes or the sponsors is irrelevant. It's the player's confidence which suffered.
And also QPR, because there was no doubt they felt the backlash.
Wes was determination and purpose personified, playing with more discipline than of late, often choosing the simple option instead of attempting to beat that extra man something he had been guilty of doing a little too often of late.
The result was a fine display by the winger summed up by a superb quick free-kick in the 74th minute which put Andy Morrell through. It was a moment of brilliant quick thinking by Wes and it's just a pity Morrell couldn't apply the finishing touch. How he needs a goal.
Grayson had made three changes to the starting line up with Jackson, Burgess and Andy Welsh replacing the injured Danny Coid, the slightly injured Gary Taylor-Fletcher and the totally fit but just unlucky Morrell.
It meant a front two of Burgess and the Pole Bartosz Slusarski, which was an intriguing choice. After deciding to drop Morrell, the manager could have easily brought Keigan Parker in. He didn't, choosing Burgess above him.
Brave, indeed, but clever too, for the switch worked. It gave the Seasiders more power up front and both strikers did well.
Mind you first half chances were few and far between. Burgess had a tame effort saved by Lee Camp from six yards when he might have done better and he blasted a 20-yarder over.
QPR had much more of the play and created and squandered some good chances, none better than Rowan Vine's shot wide of the goal when in acres of space with just 43 seconds of play elapsed.
Perhaps Pool were still coming to terms with the early loss of Keith Southern to a long-standing ankle injury.
Victory
But whatever excuse, they had been second best possessionwise and needed to improve. This they did, in spades.
After Slusarski had also fallen foul to injury (Morrell coming on, and doing well), the Seasiders were irresistible and continued to improve when Taylor-Fletcher replaced Andy Welsh on the hour.
All three subs used by the 60-minute it showed how much Grayson wanted victory.
The manager's attacking instincts paid off, though for a long while it didn't seem as if they would.
Poor finishing, coupled with some brave defending and a handful of good stops by keeper Camp, meant the QPR goal took a long while to be breached, four seconds shy of 91 minutes to be exact.
That was the moment when Stephen Crainey pumped the ball forward, centre back Damion Stewart miscued a defensive header and the ball looped into the path of Burgess. As the entire ground held its breath, the striker
carefully guided his header into the bottom corner with Camp motionless.
Cue wild celebrations on the pitch (the 'bird' at the centre of it) and in the stands everybody knew how important it was.
For the record it was the first victory over QPR since October 1972.
Tonight Blackpool can record their first victory over Scunthorpe since, erm, November, then Grayson and everyone else at the club will be in the best of spirits heading into a certain unimportant, minor contest next weekend.
POOL: Rachubka, Barker, Jackson (Cap), Gorkss, Crainey, Welsh, Southern, Jorgensen, Hoolahan, Slusarski, Burgess. Subs: Evatt, Parker, Fox, Morrell, Taylor-Fletcher
QPR: Camp, Chris Barker, Stewart, Bolder, Buzsaky, Rowlands, Malcolm, Vine, Sahar, Leigertwood, Sinclair. Subs: Nardiello, Ainsworth, Bailey, Mygaard, Goodchild.
REF: Clive Oliver
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Norwich 3 Blackpool 1
A LOT has happened since February.
Gordon Brown got the job he wanted for a decade and then discovered it wasn't quite what it's cracked up to be.
The Spice Girls decided it wasn't much kop being solo and number 38 in the charts, so they got back together and got to number one.
Blue Peter went from being a harmless kids TV show giving tips on how to build tortoise shelters from used bog rolls, to being a web of phone-in deceit.
And the south stand at Bloomfield Road, which had been a complete mess and was being used as a car park, is now
Oh, that one doesn't work does it?
South sand jibes aside, the fact is that one thing had remained unchanged since February.
For nine months Blackpool had been unbeatable at Bloomfield Road.
But that proud home record, carefully cultivated and thoroughly deserved, was blown apart by Norwich and no one can have too many complaints about it.
Last night wasn't pretty to watch. Apart from a 25-minute spell at the start of the second half, the Seasiders weren't at the top of their game and Norwich bottom of the table and previously without an away victory all season fully merited their win.
It was a thoroughly disappointing evening, a little like turning up to the theatre expecting an intellectual and thought-provoking show then discovering you've booked tickets for "Cilla Black's Greatest Hits".
But no matter how depressing it was to see the Seasiders slump to a seventh defeat of the season, a loss that has anchored them uncomfortably close to the bottom of the Championship, do not forget that there were bound to be times like this.
Simon Grayson told you so himself. "There will be ups and downs," he said two days before the campaign started. "We're playing at a higher level so we are bound to have bad runs. The important thing is that we all stick together."
By that he doesn't mean smearing Andy Morrell and Shaun Barker with pritt-stick, or at least I'm assuming not.
More likely he means the players, the management staff, those in the boardroom and - most importantly of all - everyone in the stands must remain united.
The fans play a massive part. They always do at any struggling club and that's why it was heartening to hear the North Stand, as many other trailed out of the ground in the aftermath of Norwich's third goal, launch into a sustained refrain of 'Simon Grayson's Tangerine Army'.
Backing like that is vital in a relegation scrap, for that is now what this campaign is.
I still believe Pool will stay up. I have said from the start that I expect them to do what Barnsley did last season, struggle badly at times but always keep their head above the water and finish two or three places above the drop zone.
That confidence is borne from the team spirit at the club (the vast majority of the lads not only get on well but are very professional off the park) and the quality of certain players.
It's also my understanding that Grayson will be given the money to go out and buy new players in January. It's clear one of those will be a striker and that could make all the difference.
One of the best players at the club remains Wes Hoolahan and although he didn't have his greatest game last night, the booing that greeted his sponsor's man of the match award announced over the tannoy was unjustified.
The fans weren't booing the player, of course. They were jeering the people who had selected it and it's obvious why. As well as not having his best night performance wise, Hoolahan had also missed a vital penalty.
But the winger probably thought he was being targeted and it is the first time I have ever seen his confidence dented. In the final few minutes he didn't really want the ball.
That's a crying shame because even though he does overdo it at times and misplaces the odd pass, he's still a potential matchwinner and a cracking, old-fashioned player, the type which football is all the better for having.
His run and shot which hit the post at the end of the first half was majestic. No one else on the pitch could do that, a fact no one should forget.
Hoolahan is, in many respects, a victim of his own talent. People have seen what he has done in the past and expect it every game.
It's not possible. Yes, he needs to get back to basics and give the ball a little more often and a little quicker. But he's still probably the best player on the Seasiders team and, in all likelihood, with his tricks and assists, will be the difference between the club staying up or going down.
The man who should have won the man of the match prize was Keith Southern. After the half time interval the midfielder was immense, seemingly picking up every loose ball and the catalyst for most offensive moves.
There were other good performances too, notably Danny Coid, who has grown in stature over the past few weeks and is playing with a confidence and assurance we've not seen for a while.
In fact no one had a stinker and that's because Pool didn't actually play badly. It was a little lacklustre, not quite the usual high tempo pace we've come to expect in home games, but they didn't get outplayed.
In many respects the difference was defending corners.
Norwich's first two goals came from rank poor marking from flag kicks. And what is more annoying is that both goals were conceded moments after brilliant bits of defensive work.
On the half hour Danny Coid and Paul Rachubka made two terrific blocks to keep out Matthew Pattison. But from the resultant corner, Dion Dublin sneaked in unmarked at the near post to sidefoot home.
Pool dragged themselves back into proceedings in fluky manner, Gary Taylor-Fletcher's half-hit shot deflecting off Bartosz Slusarski and somehow travelling through keeper David Marshall. It was lucky and not really deserved up to that point the Seasiders had been poor.
Within two minutes they had almost turned the game on its head, as Hoolahan went from hugging the touchline on the right, past four players and into the centre of the penalty area before hitting the base of the post with his shot.
Geed up by what were probably some harsh words at half time, Grayson's side started the second period in much better fashion. Inspired by Southern, they poured forward and Claus Jorgensen (twice) and Hoolahan came close.
Then, after a misplaced pass by substitute Keigan Parker, Darren Huckerby ran 40 yards into the box and was about to score when Kaspars Gorkss produced a terrific tackle.
But once again Pool undid their good work by conceding from the corner that followed: Pattison's inswinging cross met by centre back Martin Taylor, who lost his marker Jorgensen and stooped low to head powerfully past Rachubka.
Pool didn't give up. Coid placed a perfect pass toward Andy Welsh (on for the unlucky Gary Taylor-Fletcher, who had played well) and the winger was either - depending on your point of view - hacked down or fairly tackled.
Referee Martin Haywood was in the former camp. He gave the penalty and up stepped Hoolahan, who had never before missed a spot kick for Pool in open play.
But Marshall wasn't fooled by the stop-start run up, diving to his right to parry. Hoolahan seemed set to convert the rebound but hesitated fatally. Andy Morrell tried to force the loose ball in but Norwich scrambed it away for a corner.
Moments after Morrell's looping stoppage time header from a Welsh corner had hit the top of the bar, salt was well and truly rubbed in the wound. Huckerby
broke for Norwich and squared to Dublin, who clamly side-footed the ball into the corner of the net from 12 yards.
That was especially frustrating for the Pool fans who felt Dublin should have been dismissed for a crude first half lunge on keeper Rachubka.
For what it's worth, I didn't. Granted it wasn't a great challenge, but in my book a red would have been too harsh and the yellow card issued by the referee was spot on.
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Southampton 1 Blackpool 0
ON arriving in Southampton I asked a young waitress in a cafι to name something the town is famous for.
"Well," she pondered and I could tell she was concentrating hard because she actually stopped chewing her gum for a moment "this is where the Titanic set sail from".
As claims to fame go, it's a little like Hyde being proud of Harold Shipman.
The waitress happily resumed chewing and walked away to begin an impressively in-depth discussion about the previous night's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here with a teenage workmate called Gaz, both touchingly oblivious to the elderly couple who had been waiting 10 minutes to place an order for toasted teacakes.
Simon Grayson has reason other than the Titanic to remember Southampton. His reason is Iain Williamson.
The referee made a horrific decision, failing to play a basic advantage during a Blackpool attack and therefore chalking off a perfectly legitimate goal.
It happened in the 79th minute, when the official ruled that Danny Coid was fouled as he delivered the cross from which Gary Taylor-Fletcher powered a header into the net.
Had the goal stood, it would have made it 1-1 and, with Pool dominant at that point, the Tangerines could well have gone on and snatched their first away win since the opening day at Leicester.
Ifs and buts ... but try telling Simon Grayson that. Rarely have I seen the normally placid Yorkshireman as furious as he was at the end of this encounter.
Shocking
He marched up to the referee at full-time looking a little like I suspect Ricky Hatton might when the first round bell sounds against Floyd Mayweather.
From an outsider's point of view it might sound a little flimsy and desperate to argue that one decision by the referee cost Blackpool the game.
But this is football, an industry like no other where managers can live and die by big decisions and teams can stay up or go down.
So you can understand Grayson's point of view.
And the bottom line is that he is right. It was a shocking call from Williamson. Players are encouraged to stay on their feet and not dive.
Coid did just that, beautifully cutting between two defenders and whipping in a cross from which Taylor-Fletcher found the net.
Williamson saw one of the defenders attempt to foul Coid. He blew after the cross had been delivered; crucially failing to wait to see what resulted from the cross a terrible error of judgment.
What made it even worse was that the ref admitted another reason he blew when he did was that he thought the cross was going out of play.
Talk about digging a hole for yourself and it's little wonder that Grayson went berserk.
At least the referee later admitted (or some bloke claiming to be his spokesman did) that he had made a mistake.
Although that admission doesn't do Grayson and Blackpool any good in fact it probably makes it worse at least the official held his hands up. It was an error and everybody makes them.
It's just a crying shame for Blackpool, and a huge frustration, that they were the ones to suffer from it.
But that's it. Let's not crucify the ref. It's gone and the decision can't be changed.
It is just a shame there was so much controversy because it clouded the fact that Southampton and Blackpool fought out a pretty good, evenly-contested game.
In the first ever meeting between the sides at the Saints' impressive St Mary's Stadium, both teams attacked and created chances.
There's no doubt that on the balance of play and chances created Blackpool deserved a point, especially as they had to take the pitch without Keigan Parker and Wes Hoolahan.
The latter's chest infection meant he didn't make an appearance until the hour mark. When he did come on he showed just what a ridiculously good player he is, taking opposition players on by the half dozen and giving Blackpool the upper hand for the remainder of the game.
As a colleague remarked: "If Hoolahan turned up for a game missing a leg I'd still play him."
As it was Andy Welsh got the goahead to make his first league start and Polish striker Bartosz Slusarski replaced Parker and completed his first full game in English football.
Just as interesting was Grayson's decision to field the same back four, continuing with Shaun Barker at centre half and so leaving out skipper Michael Jackson and Stephen Crainey.
It didn't last long, though, with on-loan Tony McMahon limping out of proceedings after 11 minutes Crainey came on and Coid switched to right-back.
Welsh had a chance to give the Seasiders a dream start when, with two minutes 40 seconds on the clock, he burst clear of sluggish centre-backs Christian Dailly and Andrew Davies. But his final touch was just a fraction too heavy, forcing him to round keeper Kelvin Davis, by which time he was at too wide an angle to convert.
Andy Morrell was presented with a glorious chance on 32 minutes, latching onto a dreadfully loose pass from full-back Phil Ifil, but with just Davis to beat he fired his shot against the post.
Pool were playing well, Southampton struggling. So of course that's when the home team score.
On 34 minutes all it took was a beautifully angled pass from Bradley Wright-Phillips on the edge of the area to free strike partner Stern John and the Jamaican international made no mistake from eight yards, sliding a right-footed shot across Paul Rachubka and into the bottom corner.
John should have increased Saints' lead six minutes after the break but his close range half-volley thundered against the crossbar.
Then on 53 minutes Williamson awarded a fortuitous penalty to the home side after Shaun Barker and Kaspars Gorkss had checked Jason Euell's run into the box. It didn't seem a foul.
Justice was done, though, when Rachubka leapt to his right to parry Euell's spot kick.
Worrying
It was a lifeline Pool were determined to make the most of. Taylor-Fletcher forced Davis into a sharp stop, Fox struck a lovely volley half a yard wide and Morrell missed something of a sitter when he smashed over in bags of space, probably not realising the amount of time he had.
Of course the disallowed goal was the worst moment of the lot, but we've more than covered that one.
The bare facts of the matter are that this was Pool's sixth successive away defeat and that is a worrying stat.
Grayson's men simply aren't picking up enough points on their travels and it seems a long, long time since that opening day victory at Leicester. Back then it was all smiles, that success making it 11 wins on the trot.
Now it's a different story with the Seasiders failing to win 11 of their last 12 league matches.
It leaves Blackpool in a worrying position at the wrong end of the table and makes tomorrow's encounter with bottom of the pile Norwich a game of huge significance.
You, and Simon Grayson, will be pleased to know referee Williamson isn't on duty.
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Scunthorpe 0 Blackpool 1
MY granddad was an adventurous type who spent the early part of the 1900s exploring far away climes like Canada, South America and Australia.
But every time he returned to the family home, he'd say to his wife: "Eee, get kettle on love it's grand to be home."
Granted, my grandmother got a bit sick of his gallivanting and divorced him in the summer of '33, shortly after he nipped off to Alaska leaving her to look after four kids in a damp terraced house in Greater Manchester, with an outside toilet and bread and dripping for supper.
But the sentiment remains there's nowt quite like home, a fact with which Simon Grayson may well empathise.
The last four games have all been away and all ended in defeat, a dismal run which resulted in the club dropping into the relegation zone and which saw the first appearance of the season of my favourite species of football fan the eternal pessimist.
"Not looking good this," has been the phrase of choice for more than a few over recent days. "Mark my words, we'll be back in League One this time next year."
To be fair to these supporters, they were right to be worried.
Ten league games without a win, a barren period stretching back to September 3, didn't breed confidence about the team's ability to stay in the Championship.
Slick
But even the most 'glass half-empty' supporters must be feeling a little better today.
On Saturday against Scunthorpe, Pool recorded the win they have craved and it's no coincidence that it arrived at Bloomfield Road.
On their own patch, Grayson's men transform before our very eyes into the side we know they can be a high tempo, slick, passing outfit which can create chances and cause panic in the most competent of defences.
The Seasiders are unbeaten at Bloomfield since February and although victory against The Iron was achieved by a narrow margin, there is not a single soul who could argue that Grayson's men didn't deserve to win.
There was only one team in it during a hugely one-sided first period and the Tangerines continued where they left off after the break, piling on the pressure until the moment the ever-improving Kaspars Gorkss headed the winner.
After that, in the final 19 minutes, Pool sat back a little and allowed Scunthorpe into it and it's true that there were a couple of nervy moments. But that's understandable. You'd get a bit nervy too if you hadn't won for nine weeks.
Spirit
Grayson's side deservedly held on, comfortably so in the end, and don't underestimate how important this success is and what it will do for team spirit.
With no football for a fortnight, it was imperative that Grayson's side emerged triumphant and the three points are huge, a massive shot in the arm confidence-wise.
Regardless of his goal, Gorkss was a big influence throughout, while Claus Jorgensen restored to the midfield for the first time in the league all season drove forward and added a more direct, attacking impetus which has perhaps been missing in the last few games.
Wes Hoolahan provided some lovely touches and even though he loses the ball more often than he did in League One, he's still a beautiful player to watch and the key man in the side.
He makes things happen and, more often than not, when he plays well so do Pool.
Credit to the manager again. His decision to bring on Andy Welsh in the 68th minute, even if it did mean the withdrawal of the excellent Gary Taylor-Fletcher, proved the correct move.
The winner came from a Welsh corner his deliveries, whether from set pieces or open play, are the definition of pinpoint.
Vital
Stephen Crainey for Hoolahan towards the end was also a clever swap. Scunthorpe were beginning to work a tiring Hoolahan out and Crainey's arrival shored up the left flank at a vital time especially as the visitors right-back, Shay Logan, had a fine match and was beginning to push forward with dangerous results just a little too often.
Speaking of Scunthorpe they must hate Blackpool. Two defeats last season, the only blip in the Iron's otherwise magnificent title-winning season, and now this loss. Simon Grayson obviously has the measure of his Yorkshire opponents.
One thing even Grayson can't control, though, is the referee and the one on Saturday was a belter. I write with heavy sarcasm.
Official Andy Hall was, for the large part, shocking. There's a lot I could mention but the moment that best summed it up for me was this: Blackpool were awarded a free-kick.
Hoolahan waited while the opposition time-wasted for 45 seconds before giving the ball back to Blackpool. On receiving the ball Hoolahan quickly took the free-kick only for referee Hall to blow his whistle and demand it be retaken from a spot which, at a generous estimate, was 25 centimetres away.
Fussy
Forget blatant time-wasting, just make sure the free-kick is on the same blade of grass the offence is committed.
Aren't we meant to encourage quick-thinking, flair players? Hall, please remember the reason we go to watch a game of football is to enjoy it not to watch some fussy, pompous bloke with a whistle squeeze it dry of any pleasure.
I digress. Which is wrong because there's much else to discuss.
Jorgensen for Fox wasn't the only change. Tony McMahon, hurriedly signed from Middlesbrough, came in at right-back.
He started slowly, to be expected from someone used to the more serene pace of reserve team football, but improved the longer the game went on. I've seen him play in the Premiership he's a quality player and a real coup of a signing.
That allowed Shaun Barker to move inside, to cover for suspended skipper Michael Jackson, and with Danny Coid in fine form at left-back, the back four though not severely tested had a calm, solid look to it.
Blocked
Keigan Parker missed a one-on-one opportunity early on (how he needs a goal) and Andy Morrell will be disappointed he didn't do better with a curling shot past the upright when in bags of space.
A big talking point on 26 minutes when Parker superbly slipped by Kelly Youga and crossed to Jorgensen, who bundled the ball home.
The ref gave it, his assistant overruled him, citing handball.
Regardless of whether the linesman got it right or wrong, why wasn't a penalty given for Youga's late sliding tackle on Parker moments after the Scot had delivered his cross? We'll never know.
Scunthorpe had just one effort in the opening half a shot from the edge of the area by right-back Logan which sailed over.
It said it all.
More of the same after the break as Pool charged onto the front foot.
Hoolahan danced
past three defenders in the area but had his shot blocked; Jorgensen's effort was deflected the wrong side of the post; and Parker had a half-volley saved.
Scunthorpe boss Nigel Adkins took both his strikers off, went with one up front and packed the midfield. Negative but you couldn't blame him. It was one-way traffic.
It didn't work though as Pool finally made the breakthrough on 71 minutes. Andy Welsh's corner, Jorgensen's bouncing header palmed away by Murphy Gorkss on hand to stoop and ram in the loose ball with his head.
Pool had worked tirelessly for a goal and it was fully deserved.
The visitors almost snatched an equaliser at the end but sub Marcus Williams missed something of a sitter from six yards.
He should have scored but for once the gods were smiling on Grayson and his team.
Relief all round at the final whistle. Thank goodness for Fortress Bloomfield.
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Barnsley 2 Blackpool 1
WHEN your luck's out
If God has been of the opinion that Simon Grayson enjoyed too much success at the end of last season and it's about time he levelled it out, then here's a message for you God: you can stop now you've well and truly evened things up.
After the perfect 10 at the end of last season, when the Seasiders smashed an all-time club record for consecutive victories, this defeat at Oakwell made it the polar opposite 10 league games without a win.
See the match gallery here
Grayson better watch out. After all Chris Hutchings was fired by Wigan for failing to win in nine matches.
Of course there's no way that fate will befall Grayson, not least because he's a fine young manager and his Blackpool side are continuing to play incredibly well.
It's just that they've had, and are continuing to have, absolutely zero luck.
At Oakwell two controversial refereeing decisions put paid to their hopes of earning a much-needed three points and climbing out of the relegation zone.
They even had Michael Jackson sent off (that wasn't one of the controversial decisions there was no doubt the captain had to go) and yet still managed to outplay opponents who, for the last 15 minutes, were hanging on by the very tips of their fingers.
The 90 minutes seemed to sum up the last two months good football, good chances, but no luck and no win.
This fourth consecutive defeat something which hasn't happened for more than three years puts Pool in a nasty position, third bottom.
And yet it's very difficult to be critical. As Tony Parkes and how good it was see him back remarked afterwards, anyone who has seen Blackpool play this season knows they aren't a team that deserve to be in the relegation area.
Here are the facts. They are playing well (and none better last night than the magnificent Hoolahan). They are matching teams. They aren't being carved open.
They just aren't getting the breaks.
But, of course, it can't all be put down to just sheer bad luck. There is one vital ingredient missing goals.
Quality
What this Blackpool team is short of is a centre forward who can score almost every week, a player who will hit the back of the net upwards of 20 times a season.
It has cost them dearly in recent weeks and it is continuing to do so.
That's not to say the current quartet of strikers aren't up to it.
Last night Andy Morrell was lively and he remains a quality frontman, while we all know Keigan Parker is a good player. He was impressive throughout at Oakwell and denied a splendid long range goal only by a sprawling fingertip save from Heinz Muller.
Scott Vernon has proved he is capable of scoring goals and Ben Burgess, when fit, can be a quality player and gives the side something different.
But Grayson needs another option, he needs the sort of players who does very little outside the 18 yard box, but in it is deadly.
Of course there is a slight hitch here. Actually getting your hands on this kind of striker is one of two things (a) very difficult, or, (b) very costly.
Grayson is trying to unearth a gem but he's struggling to do it on loan and we can only hope that the manager is given the funds to splash out a big fee in January to sign such a marksman. He should be.
It could be the difference between the club staying up or returning to whence it came.
That said there is certainly no crisis or emergency. Blackpool are not a team on a life support machine or in urgent need of resuscitation.
They've just taken a couple of heavy blows and need to find their feet again.
The key thing is that they are still playing well and when that little bit of luck they need finally comes their way, they will start picking up points. And I'll repeat what I've said many times already this year they won't go down.
Anyway, maybe it just wasn't meant to be at Barnsley. After all Blackpool never win there.
You have to go back to 1935 for the Seasiders' last league victory at Oakwell and yet, despite that dismal statistic, the Tykes home has always remained my favourite football ground to go to.
Until last night that is not so much due to events on the pitch but because of a tea lady who runs Eva Braun close in the charm stakes.
Blood
If you'll forgive me from veering away from the match for a moment, in the press room prior to kick-off I politely asked this kindly looking lady if I might have some tea.
After a sigh and a roll of the eyes, presumably because I'd had the temerity to ask her, the tea lady, for a cup of tea, she said: "It'll have to be a tackie".
"What's a tackie?" I asked, intrigued.
She looked at me with the same expression I'd imagine Saddam Hussein to have worn before ordering the extermination of 5,000 Kurds, and spat: "Are you thick?"
That was the highpoint of our relationship.
I got on as well with her as I imagine Simon Grayson might do on a night out with last night's referee and his assistants.
Remember those two decisions I mentioned? Well here they are and it's no exaggeration to say that they decided the outcome of the contest.
First Shaun Barker's rush of blood to the head, the bizarre moment when the defender uncharacteristically clattered into Barnsley midfielder Sam Togwell and gave away a penalty. It was a stupid offence certainly, but it was outside the area. The TV replays proved it.
Secondly the moment when Wes Hoolahan went down in the box after a challenge from keeperMuller. The referee gave a corner (in which case why didn't he book Hoolahan for diving?) but again the replays suggested that it could well have been a spot kick.
Sixty seconds later Barnsley scored to make it 2-0. It could, probably should, have been 1-1.
Needless to say Grayson was fuming and at the end stomped from the pitch looking almost as scary as the tea lady. He refused to do the after-match press conference because he was concerned he'd say something he'd regret very un-Grayson like but probably a wise decision.
With Danny Coid in at left back for hamstring victim Stephen Crainey and Andy Morrell restored up front alongside Parker, Pool had started well and Gary Taylor-Fletcher's bouncing header through a crowd of players forced Muller to make a good reflex stop.
Then in the 20th minute came Barker's moment of madness, which might have been more obstruction than anything else but the sheer force of the challenge gave the ref no option but to award a penalty.
Terrific
And as for it being outside? In all fairness to the ref who got absolutely no help from his linesman it must have looked inside the area and you can forgive him for pointing to the spot.
Brian Howard, Barnsley's captain and lively midfield playmaker, converted beautifully into the corner, past Paul Rachubka's dive.
Kaspars Gorkss missed a glorious headed chance to pull Pool level before half time and then six minutes after the break Jackson picked up a second yellow for his second clumsy challenge of the game.
Pool were down to 10 men and had it all to do.
But even then, despite John Hills replacing Morrell as Grayson shuffled his depleted pack, they piled forward and Parker struck a terrific drive from 25 yards which forced Muller to use every inch of his 6ft 6in frame to tip the ball onto the roof of the net.
Then came the Hoolahan penalty claim. Refused and Barnsley raced down the other end of the pitch and scored. Howard was the creator, placing an swinging free kick onto the head of Hungarian striker Istvan Ferenczi who powered the ball past Rachubka, albeit with a big deflection off Taylor-Fletcher.
Still the Seasiders weren't done. A Fox cross, Muller made a hash of it and Keith Southern immense on the night passed the ball into the net on the volley with his left foot.
Despite being a man down, Pool pressed continually as a panicking Barnsley were content to hoof the ball away.
As well as scrambles aplenty, Parker shot tamely from a great position, Vernon's glancing header was saved and Coid's rasping drive blocked.
Huge disappointment at the end, another defeat and Pool's first on TV under Grayson, the manager having won the six previous Sky encounters in which he had been involved.
The next TV encounter involving Pool is at Scunthorpe. That's in December. Before that they face the same team on Saturday at Bloomfield Road, and, cameras or not, how the Seasiders and Simon Grayson need three points.
Blackpool
Rachubka, Barker, Jackson, Gorkss, Coid, Hoolahan, Taylor-Fletcher, Southern, Fox, Parker, Morrell.
Subs: Vernon, Hills, Jorgensen, Welsh, Flynn
Barnsley
Muller, Foster, Souza, Nyatanga, Kozluk, Campbell-Ryce, Howard, Togwell, Devaney, Ferenczi, Macken.
Subs: Reid, Mostto, Odejayi, McCann, Ricketts
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Sheffield Wednesday 2 Blackpool 1
EVERYBODY has off days don't they?
Remember when Neville Chamberlain walked off that plane, waved a bit of white paper about and told the people of Britain to chill because that German guy with the dodgy moustache was really a great bloke after all?
Given that within 18 months that same guy was ordering his airforce to dump a shedload of bombs on the country and was generally trying to blow every English person to smithereens, that probably wasn't one of Chamberlain's finest moments.
Granted the start of the Second World War isn't often compared to a 2-1 Blackpool defeat but you get the gist.
People have days when things don't go their way. This was the afternoon when Blackpool had theirs.
Individually and collectively the Seasiders had a bit of a stinker.
It came as a shock to the system mainly because we have become so used to good, attractive football.
As Pool followers we've been served caviar for ages. This was the day when we got a Spam sandwich instead.
Paul Rachubka did himself proud, pulling off a couple of fine, fine saves. Wes Hoolahan, too, played well, scoring a cracker.
Several others had half decent matches but to be honest there weren't too many great performances.
And in a division where you need nearly all of your players to put in an eight out of ten shift (apologies for drifting into manager-speak there), it all added up to a highly disappointing defeat and the worst display by the Tangerines since winning promotion to the Championship. It was, as the manager pointed out, the worst since Rotherham.
Bearing in mind that game was back in March, I think we can excuse the team for this off day, a mere seven months later.
It was a shame it came at Hillsborough, though, for this was a match that many people had earmarked as a huge opportunity for Blackpool to record a victory. The Owls had lost nine out of their opening 12 league matches, had only won once at home and had a manager in Brian Laws who was coming under increasing pressure from a vocal and frustrated crowd.
Pool, meanwhile, were coming into the game off the back of one of their best performances in recent memory, a brilliant slick passing display at West Brom when they had been beaten only by an unstoppable strike.
But for the men in Tangerine, it was a case of from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Whereas the performance at the Hawthorns had been a joy to witness, a bit like sitting through an Oscar-winning epic, watching the Sheffield Wednesday game was akin to switching on the box and finding a rerun of an old Last of the Summer Wine a comedy that was first aired in 1922 (ish) and has been a permanent fixture on British TV ever since, despite the fact that it breaks the golden rule of all comedies, ie. it's not funny.
For Blackpool fans, neither was what they witnessed at Hillsborough. It was a strange afternoon with the Seasiders never quite at it right from the off.
David Fox's display summed it up. Fox is a player I rate ever so highly. He is a hugely talented footballer who is one of the tidiest performers you could hope to see.
But on Saturday he put in a most uncharacteristic 62 minutes, misplacing passes and generally not looking himself, before being subbed.
It probably won't happen again all season but there's no doubt that he and several team-mates had a bad day at the office.
It resulted in a game that was one-sided and deservedly won by the home team, despite the fact that the Owls are clearly low on confidence and, despite this three points, are likely to be in for a long and hard season.
Pool virtually handed them victory.
They struggled to keep hold of the ball and squandered possession with an alarming regularity, though the loss of the ever-reliable Keith Southern with an ankle injury early doors didn't help.
Defending from set pieces was unusually hesitant and sloppy too. Maybe it was the absence of skipper Michael Jackson but Pool looked like conceding from most corners, letting the ball drop in the danger zone far too often and not marking tightly enough.
Richard Hinds, for instance, was given a free header when he nodded in Wednesday's winner from a flag kick on 71 minutes.
Hoolahan was the one Pool man who looked like he could make things happen as his goal illustrated but the Irishman aside there was little to get too excited about.
However, it is just one game. Simon Grayson's men have played 13 times in the league this season and this was the first occasion in which they have played poorly. That isn't too bad really, and I've no doubts that they will get back to their usual high standards in the next league outing at Barnsley's Oakwell on Bonfire Night.
The match they've got before that, at Premiership Spurs in the Carling Cup, will probably help. It's a chance to forget about the everyday grind of the Championship and have some fun. It might also spoil the party of that fella from Seville, who will surely expect Blackpool to roll over and give him the easiest of starts to his Tottenham career. The Seasiders could have a shock in store for Juande Ramos.
As for Saturday's action, we'll try for your sakes to keep it brief.
Matt Jackson replaced Michael in the centre of defence and after an opera singer (well, some lass who got dumped off the X-Factor) had almost shattered every window in the stadium with an extraordinarily loud version of Nessun Dorma, we were off.
Wednesday dominated the first half but quite bizarrely found themselves going in at the break one down.
After Marcus Tudgay had seen his shot brilliantly cleared off the line by Shaun Barker and Paul Rachubka had pulled off a world class save to prevent a Kaspars Gorkss own goal, Pool took the lead out of the blue on 37 minutes.
Keigan Parker, who was busy all afternoon, played a part in it, but it was Hoolahan who provided the decisive moment, taking the ball off the Scot, jinking across the penalty area and burying a low reverse shot in off the post.
Keeper Lee Grant had no chance.
So after playing badly the Seasiders went in 1-0 to the good and everyone expected them to find their game in the second half and go on to win comfortably.
It didn't happen. The Owls came out in determined fashion and, as in the opening 45 minutes, put the pressure on.
On 65 minutes came their reward.
Jermaine Johnson ran 30 yards towards the right corner flag but tracked by Claus Jorgensen (on for Fox) and Stephen Crainey, really shouldn't have been allowed to get his cross in. But he was, it was a belter and Marcus Tudgay gave it the finish it deserved, powering in a header at the back post.
Six minutes later and Wednesday were in front. Michael Flynn, Southern's early replacement, got in a mix-up with Jackson and Deon Burton strode clear. Paul Rachubka got his team-mates out of jail, turning a powerful shot around the post.
But from the corner, centre back Hinds rose unchallenged to put the home side in the ascendancy.
Pool tried to get back into it but, aside from a long-range shot from Hoolahan (who else?) which whistled past the post, it was all a little half-hearted and a goal never really appeared on the cards.
The scoreline was the right one. Sheffield Wednesday deserved the win, Pool deserved nothing.
It's a little demoralising, especially as it makes it nine league outings without victory, but let's not forget this was the first bad performance in a long, long while.
Let's just hope normal service is resumed soon.
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West Brom 2 - Blackpool 1
I'VE always disliked the Midlands since I was a young boy.
Maybe it was the Jasper Carrott song about a moped; possibly it was Slade and Noddy Holder's ridiculous accent; more likely it was the caravanning holiday in Solihull my dad booked in 1980.
See our West Brom v Pool gallery
Pool were down to the bare bones before kick-off. With Gorkss now suspended on Saturday having seen red for the first time in English football, the roll-call of players is looking worryingly thin.
In fact, it might be worth fans bringing their boots on Saturday because unless Grayson's luck changes in the transfer market, one or two may just get a game.
Pool in Cup date wrangle with Spurs
He'd seen it advertised in our local paper and showing a touching lack of geographical expertise, thought it was in Devon.
When he found out its real location it was too late to cancel and thus we spent seven days inhaling such large quantities of exhaust fumes that for several years afterwards I spoke with an unusually deep and husky voice which, being four at the time, wasn't ideal.
But if I hold the Midlands in low regard, Simon Grayson must detest it.
Crisp
Blackpool have been beaten three times this season and each has occured in this region.
Wolves, 1-2. Coventry, 1-3. Now add West Brom 1-2 to the list.
And the reason it's so annoying is because Blackpool played so well at the Hawthorns.
True, they played brilliantly at Molineux before going down to Wolves, or more accurately Freddy Eastwood. But at the home of the Baggies they were even better, playing as well as I've seen a Blackpool side play on its travels.
The passing was short and crisp and for long periods in the second half, in fact most of the second half, they dominated.
Danny Coid, hauled in from out of the blue to replace Gary Taylor-Fletcher, had a blinder; Wes Hoolahan pulled the strings behind the front two; and Scott Vernon finally buried a year of frustration by smashing a fine goal.
And yet Pool lost. If there's any justice in the world, as Lamar might put it, they shouldn't have. But they did, and how it hurt.
Put simply, the difference was two absolute quality strikes.
Confused
Highly rated Manchester City youngster Ishmael Miller, on loan at West Brom, scored the first on the turn. The winner, 20 minutes from time, was as close to the definition of the term 'unstoppable' as you're ever likely to get.
James Morrison, not to be confused with the pop singer of the same name (or maybe it is the same one to find out, have a butchers on Wikipedia. Most 18-year-olds are already on there; it's a handy way to pass your A-levels without revising), blasted an rising angled drive into the top corner.
Morrison's shot didn't quite break the net but it did break the hearts of 2,000 travelling fans.
It spoke volumes, though, that almost every single one of those supporters stayed on their feet for a good three minutes after the final whistle to applaud their team.
They knew that the better side had lost and that Simon Grayson's men deserved so much more than to return home empty-handed.
I suppose you could look at the other way. Blackpool dominated for long periods and had chances and yet they didn't take them and lost. And at Championship level you just can't afford to do that, from which viewpoint means that Pool made a mess of it.
What's the use of playing well, some might say, if you end up losing? After all points make prizes, not some pretty passing and the odd near miss.
But that would be to miss the point entirely.
West Brom, for starters, spent £12m in the summer. Grayson spent £70,000, and that was on Taylor-Fletcher, who didn't even make the starting 11.
So Pool will always be punching above their weight but the fact that they are punching so well shows how good a job Grayson and his players are doing.
Anyone who is criticising the team is being very harsh. There are only a dozen games gone and the way that the team is playing suggests they will definitely stay up. So although there's been no win for almost two months, don't be too down.
Strain
Grayson knows what he's doing and a win is surely around the corner. The team are playing too well not to start winning.
As for last night, Coid's appearance was the only change from the side which drew with Crystal Palace.
He came in as a wingback, with Shan Barker pushed sideways to join Michael Jackson (later Matt Jackson after the skipper was forced off with a stomach strain at half-time) and Kaspars Gorkss as a central three.
Stephen Crainey played left wingback and recovered from a slow start against talented winger Morrison to go on to have his usual excellent game.
Mind you, the whole Seasiders 11 had a slowish start as West Brom bossed the opening quarter.
It was understandable, though. Firstly Pool had a new formation to get used to, and second it was West Brom just entering the backyard of a team with that name and reputation does funny things to the most fearless of footballers. A packed Hawthorns is a long way from League One.
So it was no surprise when the Baggies took the lead on 22 minutes, Miller showing his power and skill by turning Shaun Barker and firing in an excellent shot from the edge of the box which went in off the post.
At that point it looked bleak, especially when someone casually mentioned that West Brom had only lost five games at home in the past 30 months. They hadn't been defeated at all on their own turf this campaign.
But back came Pool. Keigan Parker thought he'd scored, firing in a goalbound volley from the edge of the area which was heading for the top corner
until it hit the unfortunately positioned Scott Vernon.
The striker made up for it in the 31st minute. Crainey sent Parker dashing down the left channel. He cut inside and laid the ball to Vernon who nutmegged centre back Martin Albrechtsen and lunged ahead of another defender to fire a shot in from 12 yards. Dean Kiely got a hand to the ball but couldn't stop it sneaking in the corner.
Tireless
And that transformed the visitors. From looking a little daunted and nervous, like a scally summoned to the headmaster, they visibly grew in confidence. They had discovered West Brom were only human and thus beatable.
Granted before the half was out Paul Rachubka had to pull off a fine stop from Morrison and Chris Brunt's angled drive was deflected onto the crossbar, but Pool were the better team and particularly so in the second half.
Vernon was denied at the back post; Parker hit the bar; the tireless Keith Southern almost broke Kiely's fingers with a 20-yard thunderbolt; Shaun Barker headed just wide; and there were many other half chances as well as countless number of good, sharp, short passing moves.
Only one team was going to win and it wasn't West Brom then West Brom scored.
It came on 78 minutes when the ball fortunately broke to Morrison on the left of the area. There was nothing lucky about the first time finish though a
quite magnificent right-footer into the top corner. It was a great goal.
But how cruel on Pool. Still they tried to find a way back but, a few Parker shots aside, a goal didn't really look like coming. West Brom's breakthrough, against the run of play, had been a hammerblow from which the Tangerines couldn't recover.
It meant heartbreak at the end but how well the team had played. Maintain these standards and their luck will turn, of that there is not a doubt.
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Crystal Palace 1 - Blackpool 1
NEIL Warnock and Simon Jordan are going to bring a lot of happiness to the Championship this season.
Hear from goal scorer David Fox
See the match gallery
It's good to have Warnock back. His histrionics on the touchline are as much a part of modern-day football as Lucozade energy drinks, the failure of England to win football matches, and Sky HD TV (which allows you to pay an outrageously large monthly fee to have a slightly clearer view of Wayne Rooney's facial hair).
Jordan meanwhile creates a lovely orange glow in the directors' box, sporting a tan which David Dickinson, Dale Winton and Judith Chalmers combined couldn't match.
Capped off with a pair of sunglasses (vital on an October afternoon the glare from that grey cloud was horrendous), it's a surefire bet that the Palace duo should make things very entertaining.
Their team should do OK too, for if the Eagles display here was anything to go by, Warnock has a decent side on his hands.
The visitors were the better side for the best part of 70 minutes, physically stronger and quicker on the attack, and after going ahead through Tom Soares's close range drive, they looked as though they were heading for a comfortable victory.
Then, out of the blue, David Fox pounced on Stephen Crainey's half-blocked free kick, flashed an angled drive into the bottom corner, and suddenly Pool were transformed.
For the final 20 minutes there was only side in it and only the Lord above (or not even him, depending on your religious standpoint) knows how the ball stayed out of the Palace net when first Scott Vernon and then Andy Welsh had golden chances.
As it was the Seasiders had to settle for a sixth draw in seven games, and given that Paul Rachubka made a terrific reflex stop in stoppage time, that was definitely a fair outcome.
Simon Grayson's side didn't quite do enough to merit victory and as the manager notes, the failure to win since September 3 is becoming a nagging concern.
Let's get one thing straight though it certainly isn't a crisis. The main thing is that Blackpool are continuing to play well and are not losing games, and that's the main thing.
Money
Six defeats in the last seven would be the time to press the panic button. Six draws simply shows that Grayson's men are holding their own in the higher division, but perhaps haven't quite got that extra bit of class needed to break down better teams.
They need a couple of new faces to do that and regardless of whether or not the manager has some joy in the loan market soon and surely he will there will be some money made available in January to enable Grayson to get at least two players in.
There's not really much wrong with the team as it is though, just a little tinkering here and there required.
And considering the boss only had 16 players to choose from on Saturday then a 1-1 draw with a side not long out of the Premiership is no mean feat.
Again it must be reported that it was a shame not more people saw the game. The crowd was good 9,037 and the only empty seats were in the Palace section.
Some home fans were again unable to get tickets and if chairman Karl Oyston wanted a reminder about the supporters' views, he needed look no further than the banner erected on an advertising board across the street from the ground: "Build the South Stand" was the blunt and popular message. Hear, hear!
At least the fans who couldn't get in didn't have a totally wasted journey, as outside the ticket office there was a mobile van adorned with posters urging people to have a urine test to check if they had chlamydia. Every cloud
Back inside the stadium, the team selection contained a few surprises. Unlike the last time he returned from international duty, Kaspars Gorkss was named in the starting line-up, relegating on-loan Matt Jackson to the bench.
Up front Scott Vernon and Keigan Parker started a league match together for the first time since February and a draw at Nottingham Forest. It's fair to say that wouldn't have been the manager's first choice partnership but with Andy Morrell's back playing up and Ben Burgess undergoing an ankle operation, he didn't have much say in the matter.
The pair started slowly, as you'd expect, but got better as the match went on and in the end Vernon came close to being the hero and would have been had Palace keeper Julian Speroni (sporting a quite wonderful David Seamanesque ponytail) not brilliantly kept out his 81st minute close range effort.
Palace boss Neil Warnock sprang a surprise too by naming Clinton Morrison and Paul Dickov, who had both been hoping for starts, among his substitutes.
That meant the experienced Dougie Freedman partnered the man mountain that is James Scowcroft in attack.
And for the first 45 minutes, those two, plus nine other Palace players, were in control.
By and large the visitors dominated proceedings and Scowcroft had two good chances to score but twice put headers over the bar when well positioned.
A Vernon left-footer and some nice Wes Hoolahan trickery aide, Pool didn't look like scoring.
The second half was different and a better contest altogether. A game that had been fairly dull and lacklustre previously, was, by the final whistle, an excellent spectacle.
Volley
Keith Southern, who played well, almost scored with a 20-yarder which flew just past the upright.
But it was Palace who grabbed the lead on 59 minutes when Danny Butterfield's excellent cross was nodded down by Scowcroft and right midfielder Tom Soares was on hand to sidefoot a volley past an unprotected Paul Rachubka.
A good goal but frustrating for Grayson. Gary Taylor-Fletcher, who had switched sides with Hoolahan and would have been tracking right back Butterfield's run, was down injured with an ankle problem.
Moments later Taylor-Fletcher hobbled off, replaced by Andy Welsh.
Credit to the oncoming player because once again he showed his worth, delivering some good, early crosses, and he was on the pitch when Pool equalised.
Stephen Crainey's free-kick from 22 yards hit the top of the wall and bounced into Fox's path. The midfielder finished with aplomb, taking one touch before burying the ball low into the far corner. It was a little fortuitous in the making but converted masterfully.
Pool were rampant after that. Before that 68th minute goal they had looked uncertain and strangely lacking in confidence. Now, with the game all square, they sensed victory and went all out to get it.
Parker's rising drive hit the side netting, Hoolahan's long-ranger flew inches wide and in the 80th minute the best chance of all went begging.
Hoolahan sent a teasing ball into the box Vernon was denied by Speroni and just as Welsh seemed certain to convert the follow up, defender Mark
Hudson threw his body in the way.
Warnock had been remarkably restrained until this point. Now he began doing his own unique version of the New Zealand Maori haka, but with just a little more passion.
He did a particularly spectacularly dance when Soares, the scoring hero, was dismissed after tangling with Welsh. Ref Graham Laws had already awarded a free-kick to Soares in the 88th minute incident.
But then the midfielder half stamped, half trod on Welsh and the official produced a red card. Warnock how can we put this? didn't look best pleased.
However, the much maligned but secretly admired football manager almost had the last laugh. Palace substitute Matt Lawrence found himself free in the area in the dying seconds but Paul Rachubka managed to pull off a fine reflex stop.
A draw was fair, though Pool will probably be the happier of the two sides with that outcome.
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Plymouth 0 - Blackpool 0
IN a round-about sort of way if manager Simon Grayson is to be believed the Seasiders have involuntarily taken a leaf out of Arsenal's book.
Critics of the Gunners last season at least said they tried too hard to score the 'perfect' goal.
And it was an accusation that Grayson laid at the door of his players in the aftermath of this 0-0 draw.
One goal any goal, scrappy, scruffy or magical would have won this match, and on balance of play that should have been Blackpool, who have earned the reputation of draw specialists of the Championship with six so far, who scored it.
Did Pool deserve all three points? Leave your comments below
Whether that is going to be costly in the final analysis, only time will tell.
But if this had been a boxing match over 10 rounds, Blackpool would have won five, Plymouth three with two even.
Therefore, Blackpool's hand would have been hoisted at the finish, but in football it doesn't work out like that, and the Seasiders paid for not having that extra cutting edge that would have made all the difference to the outcome and provided the ultimate, conclusive knockout blow to punch the Pilgrims' lights out.
Grayson wanted his side to take more of a gamble around the area, and it was a fair point to make as the Plymouth keeper, Luke McCormick did not look entirely trustworthy.
He flapped out of his area when David Fox had a glorious chance and there were other occasions when he appeared vulnerable, but Blackpool did not test him out sufficiently.
That said, there can be no complaints about the solidity of the Blackpool back four, with the Jackson Two (not Five yet) and Stephen Crainey in excellent form, ensuring that they remain unbeaten in the Championship at home.
Paul Rachubka was tested in the air in the opening seconds, first from a right-wing centre from Akos Buzsaky and then from a left-wing corner.
Pinpoint
Blackpool immediately counter-attacked, first Andy Morrell scuffing his shot off-balance from close range and then Wes Hoolahan blasting over after being picked out by a pinpoint cross from Keigan Parker down the right.
Sylvain Ebanks-Blake and Nick Chadwick both tested but failed to stretch Rachubka with speculative efforts.
Fox then succeeded in finding Shaun Barker, who stole unmarked into the Plymouth box but scooped the ball over the top, for by far the best chance of the match so far if his effort had been on target he would certainly have scored.
Hoolahan showed typical trickery to race away from his marker, finding Parker with a superb, long-range pass the Scot crossed to Fox in prime position, the midfielder forcing a scrambling save from McCormick.
It was an end-to-end contest with both sides showing plenty of enterprise, though without the cutting edge to prompt the breakthrough.
The Seasiders almost profited from a long punt out of defence by Matt Jackson, which fell in a good position for Parker, who got away from his marker and tried a curling shot however, McCormick could watch it sail harmlessly wide.
Plymouth were dangerous on the counter and Hamosi forced a splendid save from Rachubka.
It was a further sign, as half-time approached that Plymouth posed a threat that was not to be taken lightly.
On 40 minutes, Fox spurned a gilt-edged opening after the ultra-cool Matt Jackson had broken down a Plymouth attack with some controlled, level-headed defending.
Hoolahan poked the ball deftly forward into path of Fox as Plymouth waited in vain for the offside flag.
It didn't come, and it was all on for Fox. McCormick rushed headlong from goal, but Fox lost his cool and ballooned the ball over to the top when he should have done far better with the keeper occupying no-man's-land.
It was the signal for a sustained bout of pressure by Blackpool as they started to get on top again, underlined by a penalty claim when Morrell went down under challenge from Krisztian Timar in the box.
Grayson, watching from the technical area, thought it was a penalty at the time, but on checking with Morrell later, the striker admitted he had merely stumbled.
Hoolahan started the second half with typical dash and bravado, drawing from his box of tricks and then attempting a speculative shot that ran way wide across the goal.
Gary Taylor-Fletcher figured prominently in two attacks near the hour mark his long ball found Parker in the clear, but Paul Connolly nipped in to intervene to thwart the threat.
Within seconds Taylor-Fletcher could only muster a tame shot that fell easily into McCormick's grateful hands.
As both managers started to ring the changes, Blackpool looked for all the world as though they had gone ahead on 70 minutes.
Barker got round the back of the stranded Plymouth defence, putting over a searching, inviting cross.
Southern came flying in at the far post, but didn't seem to quite hit it with his head full-on nonetheless, it seemed goalbound, but thudded against the woodwork.
Parker tried a long-ranger, but to no avail as it never threatened the target.
By now it was nearly all Blackpool, though Plymouth still launched the odd counter.
Jorgensen released Parker, but that glorious strike at Wembley must have been again on his mind, as he mis-hit not the first time in the contest such an ambitious effort had failed to come off.
The home fans were forced to live on their nerves a bit at the end with Rachubka diving full length to his left to fend off a shot by substitute Barry Hayles.
Luck
The Seasiders' own substitute Andy Welsh was only on a matter of seconds before he was booked.
He nearly made a far more meaningful contribution with a clever cross, but it went behind those waiting in the box as Blackpool's frustration intensified.
In stoppage-time, Hoolahan got clear again, but McCormick rode his luck somewhat by saving Parker's snap-shot with his feet.
It was that kind of day for Blackpool, but no one can grumble in the slightest at the start Blackpool have made this season.
And even a task-master like Grayson would settle for how they have consolidated and competed so far in their return to the Championship.
Worry about whether those draws should have been wins if and when the time comes.
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Coventry 3 - Blackpool 1
AT precisely 8.17pm, it was as if the script had already been written.
One flick of Andy Morrell's head and the gods were shining, the Coventry old boy's hopes of a dream return to his former stamping ground were, it seemed, assured. Injury crisis
what injury crisis?
But alas, little over an hour later, the gods had packed up and gone home.
Kaspars Gorkss was heading down the tunnel utterly disconsolate, Coventry boss Iain Dowie actually had a smile on his face, while Simon Grayson was probably wondering where he had left his boots. Because at this rate, he may need them.
Click here to see the picture gallery from last night's match
Pool were down to the bare bones before kick-off. With Gorkss now suspended on Saturday having seen red for the first time in English football, the roll-call of players is looking worryingly thin.
In fact, it might be worth fans bringing their boots on Saturday because unless Grayson's luck changes in the transfer market, one or two may just get a game.
Pool in Cup date wrangle with Spurs
"A brick wall," was Grayson's assessment on Saturday when asked what response he was getting from other clubs when he tried to bring in emergency loans.
"We'll keep wiping the custard pies off our faces and we'll go again," said the gaffer, with a wry smile on his face, when asked the same question last night.
Upbeat as ever, even Larry knows the situation is getting beyond a joke now.
It didn't seem to matter last night for 43 glorious minutes when the great Seasiders Championship Bandwagon seemed to be ready to upset the odds yet again and seize another sizeable scalp in the form of Dowie's Coventry.
But as the Sky Blues deservedly ran away in the second half to inflict Pool's first defeat in 20 league games, the empty tanks of Grayson's gallant side were sadly obvious to all.
The boss, just like he has day and night since last week, will be back on the phone today desperate to bring one or two new faces to freshen up his shattered squad.
Let's hope he can because at this level, the frailties will be punished.
Pool have more than been a match for the so-called big boys of this division so far. But Coventry had that extra pace, energy and a matchwinning substitute that Blackpool have simply run out of.
The perfect script seemed to have been penned on 32 minutes when Morrell nodded home from David Fox's free-kick.
But then the ink began to fade, man of the moment Michael Mifsud produced a rewrite, and referee Mick Thorpe who dished out more cards than a Las Vegas croupier finally scrawled all over it in a big red pen.
Coventry simply had too much power and fully merited their win.
But before the doom-mongers start tapping away predicting relegation is nigh and the bubble has burst, it's worth pondering a few facts.
This was the first time Blackpool had lost by a two-goal deficit for eight months a 3-1 home defeat to Brentford back in February a quite staggering record.
Coventry had two ex-Premiership strikers on the bench, one who changed the game, while in Michael Mifsud, they possess a man who probably thinks he can walk on water right now after giving Fergie a redder nose than usual with his two goals at Old Trafford last week.
So let's not panic. A win on Saturday against highly beatable Plymouth will send Pool into the international break comfortably in mid-table and give Phil Horner some valuable time to patch up the troops again.
Patched-up they may already have been, but Grayson stuck with the same formula that worked so well at Watford four days earlier.
Only Scott Vernon of the walking wounded was fit to figure, disposing Rhys Evans from the bench to give Pool some more attacking options.
It meant Andy Morrell was ploughing a lone furrow up front on his own, with a bank of five in midfield to push forward when possible.
And just like at Watford it worked, Pool arguably playing better in the first 45 last night than they did at Vicarage Road.
If the magnificent travelling army from the seaside needed any idea of Coventry's tactics, they only had 30 seconds to wait.
Stephen Hughes clattered dangerman Wes Hoolahan and left him eating grass. Had another 15 minutes been on the clock, Hughes would have surely been in the book.
Hoolahan will have to get used to it because already the Championship clubs are waking up to his talents, and answering them with rough-house tactics.
Paul Rachubka saved comfortably from Robbie Simpson and Hughes within the first five minutes as Coventry made all the early running, who were almost given a leg up by Shaun Barker who very nearly headed past his own keeper from an early corner.
Gorkss' eventful game could have included a goal had he got a more telling touch on a delicious Gary Taylor-Fletcher cross on 11 minutes.
It wasn't the prettiest game to watch, passes going astray, niggly fouls and a ref who seemingly thought the fans had come to watch him.
But on 32 minutes, Pool weren't complaining when he blew for a foul 35 yards from goal.
David Fox swung in the cross from the left and Morrell got in front of his marker to flick a deft header into the far corner.
What happened next was quite remarkable. The home fans, who had been singing Morrell's name prior to the goal, rose to applaud their former player. You can't imagine Wayne Rooney getting that reception if he scored back at Goodison Park, can you?
Later, when Morrell was subbed and acclaimed by 15,000 fans on their feet, one local said: "Even Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams didn't get that reception when they played here!"
In these days of spoilt brats with too much money and idiot fans sending death threats to players because they have the audacity to move clubs and better themselves, it was quite a sight to behold.
Coventry, meanwhile, were rocked. Iain Dowie waved his arms, ranted and raved and shouted at the ref.
Pool were heading towards half-time in the lead until they gift-wrapped Dowie's side an equaliser.
The lively Mifsud, known in these parts as the 'mosquito', flew past Danny Coid on the byline, tempting a clumsy foul.
Skipper Michael Doyle did the rest, sending Rachubka the wrong way from the resultant spot-kick.
Blackpool improved after the interval, Southern looping a header over the bar and Morrell narrowly failing to play in Hoolahan from a promising breakaway.
The passing was crisper and with Michael Flynn and David Fox excellent in midfield, Pool looked solid. But it was only fleeting and as the clock ticked by, the limbs became heavy.
Then on came Adebola, and, Grayson and Morrell both acknowledged, he simply changed the game.
Within 12 minutes of his arrival, he had made his mark.
Mifsud latched on to Adebola's clever reverse pass to speed in on goal and slip his shot calmly under the onrushing Rachubka.
The tank was running low and this time, Grayson's men couldn't reply. On came Vernon and Welsh but the visitors were restricted to long range efforts, David Fox zipping one daisycutter wide.
With nine minutes left, Adebola sealed Pool's fate.
He wriggled away from Gorkss but appeared to be tripped and he went down barely a blade of grass from the penalty box. Gorkss was off and the game was up. No way back this time.
Simpson rubbed salt into the wounds with a header on 86 which the assistant referee adjudged to have crossed the line.
So the unbeaten run is over. But as Grayson said, it's time to start a new one, beginning on Saturday.
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