On a cold, damp afternoon, we all headed for Blackpool, to witness the start of the final push for a play-off place for the Wanderers against the improving Seasiders, led by old foe Steve Bruce, managing his umpteenth football club. As it was Blackpool, then lunch had to be fish, chips and mushy peas at the Bloomfield Chippy. Steven Schumacher had said he was aiming for six wins out of the final nine matches, a tall order indeed.
Most fans were hoping for at least four points from our two local derbies against the Seasiders and Wigan Athletic on Tuesday, both grounds where we have not done very well in recent times. A tough match was in prospect and so it proved as Blackpool started on the front foot, pressing us all over the pitch, forcing errors that led to the corner from which they scored the first goal early doors. A tough match suddenly got tougher.
We settled down and got back into the match, through an Aaron combination, Morley feeding Collins to equalise - and we went into the break looking the better team. Blackpool came out the better team in the second half and went ahead in controversial fashion as the Bolton defence stopped, appealing for offside, allowing Niall Ennis to lob Nathan Baxter. Although we pressed after that, it was to no avail as poor finishing and a couple of good saves let us down again.
The match ended in more controversy as Morley was sent off. No one could argue with the first yellow card for the pull back, but did the Blackpool players pressur.
