Blackpool fell to their first loss of the season at the hands of a competent Coventry side who outplayed Blackpool in every sense of the word. Blackpool may have deservedly taken a two goal lead, but from that point onward, only one side looked like scoring in a forgettable encounter for the Seasiders.
Blackpool made the most of an attacking start after pinning the Coventry defence in and swiftly taking the lead. Feeney was once again provider lifting into Kaikai at the back post. Whether his looped finish was intentional made little to dent the result, as Blackpool took an early lead.
Blackpool were the side playing the more attractive football early on, but Coventry nevertheless nearly quickly equalised and were only denied by the offside flag. Hiwula was the man put through and emphatically thumped home on 12 minutes, but Blackpool remained with the advantage.
On 14 minutes James Husband sent Joe Nuttall through and completely split the Coventry defence, but Nuttall could only cut in and drag wide of the near post. The gaps remained there to exploit though.
Blackpool were able to do just this when Gnaduillet raced through on goal and recover the follow up to his original effort. His pass on the swivel found Feeney who simply rolled the ball into an unmarked Kaikai. The winger was on fine form, sweeping his and Blackpool’s second into the net.
Coventry managed to quickly respond though and it was a needless goal to concede at the start of a remarkable turnaround. A long ball forward was missed by a back-peddling Edwards and fell perfectly into the path of Godden. He smashed home on the half volley, quickly putting Coventry right back in the match.
It was simply a case of closing the half out for Blackpool whilst Coventry tried to make the most of their momentum. It was Coventry that succeeded in their aim however, with Hiwula spinning away from Husband in extra time. He simply laid it off to Jobello who rifled the ball into the roof of the net and levelled the match.
Coventry went in at half time both with the momentum and the scores level.
Coventry picked up where they left off in the second half in search of a third goal. It was Blackpool that almost took the lead though, with Husband drilling wide of the target from a tight angle. He had the goalkeeper worried, but the shot never threatened the target in the 53rd minute.
In the 65th minute Coventry almost made their pressure tell with Hiwula hooking beyond Alnwick. Fortunately, Tilt was well positioned to clear, but the warning signs were there.
Coventry continued to threaten as Blackpool looked disheartened after their disappointing end to the first half. In the 70th minute Rose had a free header but couldn’t quite make the required contact and then Nathan Delfouneso picked up a knock with Grayson having used up his substitutes.
Having taken off Gnanduillet too, it was difficult to see how Blackpool were going to find a way through. Their style of play demands the hold up play and physicality of Gnanduillet, but Nuttall unfortunately could not do enough to make up for his absence.
With Blackpool looking disheartened, without Gnanduillet and down to 10 men this all culminated in the completion of the Coventry comeback. Callum O’Hare pushed the ball beyond Alnwick in injury time as Pool conceded yet another soft goal.
Blackpool slip to 6th and suddenly find themselves winless in four. After such a bright start it was disappointing to see how easily Blackpool were rolled over once things started to go wrong. Pool also looked weak defensively today for the first time this season and in the second half barely had a sight of goal.
Blackpool will have to bounce back and with Grayson at the helm, I am sure they will.