IT ended in stalemate when the Seasiders met Notts County in front of 4,118 spectators at Bloomfield Road, writes Chris Reece.

Although both sides had chances for victory, a poor performance from a card-happy referee ruined the encounter and turned the game into a scrappy, ill-tempered draw.

Among the cards was a red one for Ritchie Wellens on 63 minutes. However despite some other questionable decisions there was no doubt about this one, as Pool manager Steve McMahon admitted after the game: "The referee was well within his rights to send him off," he said. "He'll be severely punished internally and he'll be suspended for a straight red card, which will hurt the club. It'll also hurt him in the pocket ".

Wellens had swung at an opponent right in front of referee Mike Cooper, of Walsall, and his sending off will put him on the sidelines for three games.

The first half of the match was dull to the say the least. The most notable change to the Tangerines' starting line-up was the re-introduction of Phil Barnes in goal, replacing the out of form James Pullen.

Pool had a few half chances, namely one from Martin Bullock in the opening minutes. Ormerod got away from his marker before releasing Bullock but, unfortunately for Pool, Bullock was tackled just inside the area before he could shape to shoot. Notts County offered little themselves apart from the odd corner here and there which was well dealt with anyway.

The second half was a lot more lively, all starting from the Wellens sending off just after the hour mark. From then on tempers flared, the game became very aggressive and the referee handed out plenty of cards.

Pool had several more half chances, mainly due to skilful work from Brett Ormerod and Martin Bullock, but nothing came of them. Pool also had two good penalty shouts turned down, one of which looked a blatant handball in the box, but the referee was not impressed.

County were kept mostly under wraps by a solid Blackpool defence and on the rare occasion where there was hint of danger, on-loan Ian Marshall was on hand to tidy up for the Seasiders.

The plus point for Steve McMahon was the stout job his defence had done. A month or so ago Pool's attack was excellent but the defence was suspect. Now that the defensive problem is sorted out, with two consecutive League clean sheets, Pool need to rediscover their attacking form.

Blackpool 0 Notts County 0

Attendance: 4,118