IT WAS quite an unbelievable passing manoeuvre by the Seasiders against Luton which really determined who won the points at Kenilworth Road on Saturday (Feb 27).

Martin Aldridge, stood by the area, passed the ball to Steve Bushell, who passed to Phil Thompson, who in turn passed to Clark Carlisle.

On the face of it that sounds like a solid piece of play from the Seasiders.

Unfortunately, on the pitch, Aldridge was next to Luton's area when he started the move and Carlisle was way back in Blackpool's half.

Quite why any football team should pass the ball from the opponent's penalty area back to their own is beyond me.

But that is just what the Seasiders did on 54 minutes.

It's anyone's guess why the ball end up nestling in the back of the Seasiders' net from a move instigated by Martin Aldridge around 15 yards from Luton's goal.

Luton's Stuart Douglas pounced on the chance to dispossess Carlisle and, seconds later, managed to drive the ball across Steve Banks into the top corner of the net.

It's understandable to go a goal down to a team which has at least put together some kind of attack, but it's downright bizarre when the opposition provides the build-up for them!

The eleven teams below Blackpool in the league - a number shrinking each week - will hope that the Seasiders are just as generous for the rest of the season.

Nigel Worthington tried to rally his team and get an equaliser by crowding the midfield, to little avail.

Brett Ormerod had one of the best chances of the game but was beaten by an in-form Kelvin Davies.

Junior Bent was overjoyed to hit the back of the net in the later stages, but his hopes sank with those of the away fans when they saw the referee's assistant waving his flag for offside.

Phil Clarkson went close, forcing Davies to nudge his effort onto the post and Bushell also made some powerful forward runs.

But it was all to little avail.

Usually the Seasiders struggle with providing firepower upfront, but defensive suicide was the killer blow at Kenilworth Road.

After losing in a dreadful match at home to Lincoln last week, the Seasiders should have been doing their utmost to bounce back.

Unfortunately, if the direction of play at Luton is anything to go by, the Seasiders will have to do their utmost to stop helping their opponents to score in forthcoming games!

Blackpool play host to Stoke this Saturday (March 6) and the kick-off is at noon.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.