Blackpool 0 Halifax 1

By Chris Reece

ONCE again Blackpool set themselves up for a play-off position only to throw it away in a game that should have been won.

Pool missed chance after chance against struggling Halifax only to see their opponents grab all three points with a goal in virtually their only attack of the game.

The first chance came to Paul Simpson who was put through on goal on seven minutes but as he approached the goal Halifax keeper Lee Butler rushed out to close the angle and he could only find the wrong side of the post.

Before and after this John Hills showed the top form he is in with some excellent work down the left hand side.

His soon found Murphy in the box but he didn't get his head over the ball and his header didn't trouble Halifax. Then Hills himself had a chance to shoot at goal but his fierce shot was well saved.

Several chances later, Blackpool were still without reward and it seemed they were going to pay for the missed chances later on.

And sure enough Halifax did punish with their first real attack of the game. John Hills hobbled off on 25 minutes with a suspected hamstring injury. He was replaced by midfielder Steve Bushell, but this meant a huge gap and confusion on the left side. Halifax's Neil Wainwright took full advantage with a strong run down the right side, shrugging of challenges as he drove towards goal.

He then pulled back to striker Gary Jones whose shot was brilliantly stopped by Phil Barnes but the same player reacted to the rebound and this time Barnes had no chance.

A shell-shocked Blackpool failed to recover and recreate the chances prior to the goal. The absence of John Hills didn't help but a Blackpoo's newly found confidence seemed to have burst and their game suffered.

The more chances Blackpool got, the more they missed. The best came to Brian Reid. Paul Simpson whipped in a corner, which was met by a strong header from Reid. His attempt seemed to be blocked by Brett Ormerod but luckily the ball fell back to Reid who had the goal at his mercy. However somehow his stab at goal flashed wide when it looked impossible to miss. Reid has never scored for Blackpool, he still hasn't. This was the final straw for some supporters who decided Lee Collins was going to be the scapegoat. A few loose balls and miss-hits made him very unpopular and when he was brought off for Richard Wellens cheers echoed the stadium.

Substitute Wellens injected new ideas into the team with some searching passes. But Blackpool passed sidewards instead of forwards too often and no one could find that killer pass or cross for Murphy or Ormerod and later on Adam Nowland to finish.

Towards the end it looked more likely that Halifax would double their lead rather than Pool cancel it. Steve McMahon needs to give his players a lesson in finishing if his team are going to get anywhere.

Let's hope for an improvement against Cardiff at Bloomfield Road on Saturday (kick-off 1pm).