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lackpool reignited their League One play-off ambitions with a 2-0 victory at Coventry.
The Seasiders had struggled to acclimatise to the atrocious pitch conditions in the first half, but Terry McPhillips' side came out firing on all cylinders after half-time to score twice in five minutes via Nathan Delfouneso and Armand Gnanduillet.
The win left the eighth-placed Tangerines six points off the play-off positions.
Coventry were guilty of not making their dominance count in the opening period, with Conor Chaplin squandering a great chance in the 24th minute as he headed wide from six yards.
Blackpool made their breakthrough just over a minute into the second half when Jordan Thompson's in-swinging free-kick was headed back across the face of goal by Curtis Tilt and converted by Delfouneso.
The visitors doubled their advantage just five minutes later when Gnanduillet latched onto a long ball before fending off the challenge of Dom Hyam to rifle the ball into the bottom corner.
Coventry searched desperately for a way back into the game but their efforts were thwarted by a resilient Blackpool side, with goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi making it three clean sheets from three appearances since deputising for the injured Mark Howard.
Home Team: Coventry / Away Team: Blackpool
Possession Home57% Away43%
Shots Home13 Away3
Shots on Target Home4 Away3
Corners Home3 Away3
Fouls Home13 Away13
Attendance: 9,786
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
Blackpool boss Terry McPhillips likened Coventry City to top of the league Luton Town in the way they “popped” the ball about, admitting that his side rode their luck against a Sky Blues side that dominated the first half possession and chances at the Ricoh Arena.
Mark Robins’s men carved out 13 attempts on goal throughout the 90 minutes compared to the visitors who managed none in the first half and just three in the second, the difference being the clinical nature of the visitors’ finishing when those few chances presented themselves.
“I thought we were excellent second half,” said McPhillips, reflecting on the 2-0 victory away from home that sees the Tangerines complete a League One double over City.
“We lost Longy (Chris Long) just before the game, he felt a bit tight and we didn’t want to rush him.
“We jigged things round a bit and Nick Anderson came in. I hold my hands up it didn’t quite work.
“We looked better after the change but you have to give Coventry credit, they’re a good side, they like to pop it around.
“Only Luton have done it like them against us but we kept a clean sheet against them as well.
“We rode our luck at times. Chris Mafoumbi played well and that’s three clean sheets now.”
The visitors were woeful in the opening 45 minutes when Mark Robins’s men failed to make their dominance count.
“They were chalk and cheese first and second halves,” said McPhillips.
“I thought we were different class second half.
“I held my hands up at half time but I asked them to play better as well. And full credit to the players today.
“It’s a tough place to come, we were neck and neck coming into the game.
“It wasn’t too different to the home game where we beat them 2-0 and cranked it up second half.
“We all played better and we were clinical. Armand (Gnanduillet) was a handful in the second half and the shape was better.
“I have said in the press that Armand was scoring in training and some like that, and he was a real handful in the second half.
“We asked him to do better and he did and his goal summed his performance up.
“He’s been great for us this season, a real handful, although he wasn’t first half and neither was the team.
“When we became competitive he was a big part of that. His hold up play was better and the centre halves had a torrid time against him.”
He added: “It was a great ball in for the first goal. Nathan (Delfouneso) nicked it, which is great for him. I’d have done the same myself.
“And it’s another clean sheet, something like 16 clean sheets now so credit to the defence.
“Even though they did get in and Chris had to make some saves, that’s what he’s there for and we’ve got another clean sheet away from home.
“It wasn’t the complete performance we had away at Portsmouth but I knew we would get better and we did, and it’s another vital three points for us.”
McPhillips had no back-up keeper on the bench for the match, explaining: “Our reserve keeper is injured and we have another out on loan at Lancaster.
“But if we’d have brought him back he’d have had to stay with us then.
“So we had a few candidates if anything happened; a spare shirt and some gloves.”
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
'Einstein’s definition of madness' Every word from Coventry City boss Mark Robins after Blackpool defeat
Mark Robins admitted it was a case of ‘groundhog day’ as his Coventry City side dominated their opponents for 45 minutes and then ended up losing the game.
In a repeat of last week’s display at Plymouth, the Sky Blues played Blackpool off the park playing what the manager described as “brilliant” football, only to be blown away by two early second half goals at the Ricoh Arena.
The defeat leaves City nine points off the play-off positions with 16 games of the season remaining.
Robins spoke to the press after the match - here's a transcript of what he had to say:
Einstein’s definition: “I question myself all the time. It’s like Einstein’s definition of madness, are we still doing the same things and expecting a different outcome.
"To a degree, possibly, but you have got to hope that at some point the confidence comes in and the practise that they are getting means it works.
“They’re limiting themselves at the moment because of the way they are finishing. Everything is really good in terms of the build up and getting to the final bit. It was a little bit pedestrian today but we had players sat in behind and it was a tough pitch to move the ball on.
“But they have tried to do it.
“Brandon Mason loses that momentum and started to panic a little bit and doing the things he did better in the first half.
"But when you get up there you have to look for those little movements and patterns that give you the chances, and then they have got to be able to score.
“But they have got to have that belief, and they are lacking a little bit of belief.
“Conor Chaplin doesn’t lack any belief. That ball has skipped up and he hasn’t got his body position in the right place but can we anticipate things better?
“Jordy Hiwula came onto things again and it was the same finish and that’s something that he’s got to change. Does he need to lift it and have a different type of finish because he’s rolling along the floor and it’s hitting the goalkeeper’s legs every time.
“So that is Einstein’s definition of madness and he has got to look at different ways of finishing. Can he drag it in to the near post, can he lift into the far post or square it someone else to tap in. But don’t have too many touches and too many passes in the box. Go and finish it.
“There was a ball that bounced up in the box in the first half and Zain got into a great position and it took a bobble off his first touch bit I still expected him to shoot. But he didn’t. He had another touch and then there was an extra pass and it went back out, so just be brave and take the chance because if you never but a ticket you never win the raffle.”
Groundhog Day “We had a great first half but it just feels like groundhog day because we are playing some really good stuff.
“I am just going to have to take it on the chin, I really have, and if it means me getting stick then I have to take it and we have got to go through it because we are almost there.
“But it’s going to take a little bit more time and a bit more work. We played brilliantly in the first half, we pinned them in and did all the things that were right and then we don’t get the goal.
“So someone has to shoulder that responsibility.
“How do you dominate a first half like that and then come away and not have a good second half?
“The trick is to score your chances and then the opposition start to panic and they have to come out and you can start picking them off. But that’s football and I have got to take it on the chin at the moment.
“It’s not nice and it’s not easy to do but it’s something as a manager I have to do and bear the brunt of it because results are the be all and end all.”
Blackpool, who didn’t have a single attempt in the first half, picked City off with two goals in the first six minutes of the restart, the first from a free-kick.
Picking the bones out of the goals, Robins said: “We conceded a really poor goal early from a set play where we have stopped.
“They managed to put a really good ball in the box but they really shouldn’t score from a set play and second phase, and then they started to panic a little bit.
“So from that perspective we have got to understand that it’s a young group and that’s not an excuse, that’s just how things are, but how they react has got to be better.
“So that’s happened today and then we start chasing the game.”
Half-time: “At half-time we were saying about being really good up until the final third and then we had to increase the tempo of the passes and the movement, and that’s where we have got to get to.
“We have got to get better at that and certainly be better at the defensive side because you can’t allow a defender to move you and pin you and let the ball bounce, so Dominic (Hyam) has allowed that to happen and he’s got to be better there.
“Generally he does a really good job but then don’t stop doing it. Everyone is allowed to make a mistake but it’s how you come back from it and keep doing the things we did in the first half.
“Even in adversity, when things haven’t gone your way and the crowd are getting a bit restless, you have to keep doing it and keep going because that’s part of how we need to move forward.”
Chaplin chance: “We had a break in play and they were slowing things down.
“They made a change in the first half because they couldn’t cope and we picked them open again and Conor got himself into a really good position.
“But he said the bounce was ridiculous and the ball reacted in a way he didn’t anticipate. It is what it is but, again, we have had enough chances to be three or four nil up at half time.
“They had three shots all game and scored two, so that’s a really poor stat from our perspective.”
He added: “What happens is that if you’re not scoring or you’re missing chances you start to question yourself and get your little man on your shoulder saying, ‘am I going to score this,’ and, ‘I hope I score,’ rather than being ruthless and doing it.
“The only thing you can do is get through it by practise, which is where the work comes in.”
Why Bright came off: “He came off not for any other reason than we had to change something. He was slowing the game down a little bit and we just needed to speed it up a little bit.
“He was really good in the first half and I think he’s was, like his name, really bright with the movement of the ball and getting into positions but he still needs to execute things quicker. But he’s a good player and you can see that.
There’s no doubt he’s a talent but when you go two goals down in a short space of time and you’re trying to get back in the game it’s a case of what you can do to do that in terms of the bodies that we have to get a decent quality ball into the penalty area for the players that you’re changing.
“That’s the difficulty at the minute, you are looking at the wide players to get crosses in because we are taller. Can we create things and move the ball methodically, not just smashing it, to create things and be in control again.
“What we have to do is stop launching the ball forward because we are not good at that. I don’t to see that and our supporters don’t want to see that.
“They want to see goalmouth action and goals.”
How Zain did: “We have had an injury to Tom Bayliss who has missed out but Zain has come in and done well. He got the supporters’ man of the match so that’s good for him but, again, it’s a collective and you win together and lose together.
“They have played really brilliantly in the first half but don’t let your heads go down when you concede in the second.
“They have to stay strong and maintain the form that they showed in the first half and make the goals come, not just hope they will come but make them come by being ruthless and hungry.”
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
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