BY the end of this no-score bore draw against Bournemouth on Saturday (Sept 18), Blackpool's boo-boys were back on song to let their side know how disappointing their performance was.

But both sides finished the match with some good news - the Seasiders kept their first clean sheet for 13 games and Bournemouth scored their first away point of their campaign.

Nigel Worthington gave 17-year-old Darren Connell his first start of the season, which was an intriguing decision to say the least.

While Connell may have proved himself behind the scenes, he struggled, as any youngster making his debut would, against Bournemouth.

To be fair to him, the service from midfield was practically non-existent and the the fact that there wasn't a single offside call in the match is testament to the fact that neither team looked that desperate to score.

But with Martin Aldridge and the oft-sidelined Adam Nowland on the bench, the decision to go with Connell was a strange one.

Especially when, after just two minutes on the pitch, Aldridge went closer than anyone to breaking the deadlock.

He ran in from the right wing and blasted his shot in, forcing Mark Ovendale to turn the ball over his crossbar.

Blackpool obviously missed Phil Clarkson in midfield.

Jim Whitley, on-loan from Manchester City, seemed to want too much time with the ball and never found the pace of the match.

As for Pool's man of the match, it was the player who is still on week-to-week contracts.

Marvin Bryan excelled in shackling Bournemouth danger man Mark Stein and forced him out of the game.

Playing in a central defence role, Bryan was quick to tackle back and provided several telling balls forward - more than the midfield could muster.

John Murphy again caused chaos up front, but Brett Ormerod was sadly missed, pulling out of the game just hours before kick-off with flu.

As for Bournemouth's chances, they managed just two shots in the whole game, the best of which was a half-hearted shot from Stein, along the floor and straight into the arms of Tony Caig.

The game was tedious and dull to watch, which will win the Seasiders no points with fans - but the fact that they kept a clean sheet and took a point is excellent, rot-stopping news.

On Saturday (Sept 25) the Seasiders play hosts to Wycombe Wanderers at Bloomfield Road.

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