Scorers: Clarke-Harris (6', 37', 68'), Sercombe (90'+1)
H.T: 2-0
K.O: 3.00 Saturday 02/02/2019
Attendance: 8,496
Referee: Darren Drysdale
Bristol manager: Graham Coughlan
Stadium: The Memorial Stadium
Form: DDL - DDL
Changes in the table: Blackpool drop to 10th, whereas The Pirates have a moral boosting victory, but it has failed to haul them out of the bottom 4.
Teams:
Bristol Rovers XI: Bonham, Partington, Lockyer, Craig, Holmes-Dennis, O. Clarke (Sinclair), Ogogo, Upson, Sercombe, Clarke-Harris (Jakubiak), Nichols (Reilly)
Subs not used: Smith, J. Clarke, Kelly, Matthews
Blackpool XI: Howard, Daniels, Heneghan, Tilt, Anderton (Virtue), Turton, Spearing, Thompson (Taylor), Pritchard (Dodoo), Delfouneso, Gnanduillet
Subs not used: Boney, Nottingham, Evans, Feeney
Preview: https://theblackpoolblog.wixsite.com/theblackpoolblog/home/bristol-rovers-a-preview
Match Events:
Its fair to say it was not the ideal start for Blackpool, even though Blackpool would go close early on, with a whipped Delfouneso ball being headed narrowly wide by Pritchard at the back post. Bristol would go one better though, opening the scoring, even if it was with a slice of luck. A dangerous cross had to be dealt with, but when Tilt made an attempt to do this, it only deflected the ball into the path of Clarke-Harris. He had the simple task of tapping in from close range and he did the job with minimum fuss.
Things very nearly got even worse for Blackpool. In the 8th minute Sercombe would drill a volley straight at Howard, who could just about deal with it. Blackpool were on the back foot and Bristol really were full of confidence.
Things were always going to open up for Blackpool and they did. In the 20th minute Gnanduillet headed the ball into the path of Thompson, but the best the midfielder could muster was a shot that surpassed the height of the crossbar. It was a big let off for Bristol, but Blackpool just were not clinical enough.
For all Blackpool's crosses and possession, when Bristol broke, their energy and belief could really be felt, they thought they were going to score. One man in particular was carrying the team at the top end of the pitch and that man was Clarke-Harris. He almost grabbed his second of the afternoon when he curled just beyond the far post with his left foot on 32 minutes. Despite missing this chance, it would not be long before he grabbed his and Bristol's second.
On 37 minutes the forward would be slipped through and this time would make no mistake, striking into the far corner from a tight angle. Blackpool were falling to pieces.
This second seemed to finally shock Blackpool into life. In the 39th minute Gnanduillet would have a free header from a Spearing corner, but would only head over and should have done better. Blackpool would go again though, as Thompson would try to make the most of a defensive error, but lashed his shot wide. Another long range effort would almost go through the goalkeeper, this time from Anderton, but Bonham just about recovered, sprawling to achieve this.
2nd Half:
Blackpool improved in the second half temporarily, but would instantly almost go three down. In the 47th minute Sercombe would try to find the corner from the edge of the box, but Howard would save well once more. In the 49th minute Thompson would try to half the deficit from distance, but again he would have not luck, as the shot was pushed away.
Then came the onslaught. Blackpool would revert back to their lackluster style in the first half and Bristol were in no means going to allow Blackpool to get away with it. In the 56th minute Tilt would be caught in possession and Bristol would quickly shift the ball into Nicholls who would hit the bar, a huge let off. Blackpool would not be relieved for long though.
In the 66th minute Clarke-Harris would add a third. Howard pushed a powerful close range shot away, but the striker would get his third of the afternoon, tapping in once again. Blackpool's defensive record was in tatters and going forward things were not much better.
Blackpool just seemed incompetent at both ends of the pitch, as a Taylor effort was deflected around the post in the 80th minute. Even when Dodoo was put clean through because of a rare Rovers mistake, Blackpool still could not find a way of getting past Bonham.
If the tramping still wasn't complete, Bristol would add another for good measure. Blackpool were dejected and had all but given up, so when Jakubiak found Sercombe, there was only one place where the ball was going to end up.
Blackpool's worst defeat of the season, in what is meant to be the best week of the season. 4-0 would be the final result and let's remember, against a side that started the day in the drop zone.
Player Ratings:
Howard 5 - Couldn't do much about the goals, but still conceded 4.
Daniels 5 - Has very little creativity going forward, and defensively was not good enough.
Heneghan 6 - Possibly the only Blackpool defender who was decent.
Tilt 4 - Had an absolute nightmare, stemming from his unfortunate mistake early on.
Anderton 4 - The same as Daniels. Daniels and Anderton as full backs is, in my opinion at least, playing a big part in Blackpool's drop in form.
Virtue 7 - Did well when he came on and actually played some quality passes.
Turton 5 - Was moved around a lot, but held onto the ball for too long and looked unsure after picking up an early yellow card.
Spearing 6 - He was not bad, but has not returned to how he was before the injury yet.
Thompson 4 - Had a couple of big chances but fails to hit the target in these situations. Looked short of ideas too.
Taylor 5 - Seemed more positive when he came on.
Pritchard 7 (star man) - Pritchard was far from perfect, but looked more up for the match than any other player, at least on the Blackpool team.
Dodoo 5 - Did very little when he came on.
Delfouneso 6 - Started the match well, but tailed off as time went on and the goals went in.
Gnanduillet 5 - Blackpool are crossing the ball a lot at the moment, but are not pushing enough numbers forward. He seemed isolated today.
In Addition:
Relegation? Surely not. It is a fact that if, at this moment in time, the 12 points were to be taken off Blackpool would be firmly in the bottom 4, 3 points from safety. Have the players been told this is a strong possibility? Is this why recent performances have been so poor? Only time will tell.
Defensive pride shattered. Blackpool have presented their defensive record with pride this season, but to concede 4 against a side that has a fatal flaw not scoring goals is abysmal. It is clear that if they play like that Accrington, the thrashing could be even worse and what this will do to confidence is devastating.
McPhillips needs to stick with what works. Kirby was unplayable against Charlton and yet he was not even in the squad today. Blackpool lack this creativity and flamboyance going forward and someone like him brings it. I also think Virtue is a solid option is this department too, but Blackpool need to commit more numbers forward, their tentative nature gives sides confidence and diminishes their chances of scoring.
That's two doubles in a week. Not only is that the completion of two doubles in a week, but it is against sides right down at the bottom of the division. That is a huge number of points lost and this will, no doubt, cost Blackpool this season. Their inability to aggressively and confidently take on these lower teams is their Achilles heel.
UTP