| 'Everyone loves a last-minute winner' 09:26 - Mar 1 with 91 views | BringBackTheRedRoom |
Matt Scrafton's verdict on Blackpool's dramatic victory against Ipswich, Joe Nuttall's late strike and David Dunn's caretaker spell
Everyone loves a last-minute winner. You wait all season for one at Bloomfield Road and then, all of a sudden, you get two in the space of a week.
For the second time in just five days, Blackpool left it late to snatch three points resulting in jubilant scenes.
Just as we saw in the last-gasp win against Bolton Wanderers in midweek, the game’s lasting memory was witnessing players and supporters embracing one another by the front of the raucous North Stand.
David Dunn has managed to put a smile back on the faces of the Blackpool fans, who were beginning to become disillusioned by the Simon Grayson regime.
As the caretaker boss has been at pains to point out, he could, and perhaps should be sitting with 12 points to his name now from his four games in charge.
But back-to-back wins, Blackpool’s first in the league since November, will have to do for now, as the men in tangerine battled their way to a dramatic 2-1 win — a favourite scoreline of theirs given seven of their last 12 games have ended that way.
Blackpool’s overall record now reads 11 wins, 11 draws and 11 defeats, a perfect way to sum up just how consistently inconsistent they’ve been this season.
They’ve almost scored and conceded the same, too, with 43 in the goals scored column and 41 against.
Joe Nuttall was the unlikely hero on this occasion, the striker winning it thanks to his 92nd-minute header.
It was just the striker’s second league goal of the campaign, his only other strike coming in the reverse fixture at Portman Road in November.
It’s fair to say it’s been an underwhelming campaign for the 23-year-old, who has only managed four goals in all competitions from his 31 games.
Has the striker been given enough opportunities? Probably not, but the club will have been expecting more from their big money summer signing.
Nuttall’s had it hard, often being made the scapegoat for some of Blackpool’s ills this season — most of the time unfairly, too.
Still only young, the man bought from Blackburn Rovers has endured a tough time of it this term and I’m sure he’s had some difficult moments on a personal level.
That’s why then it was so gratifying to see the scenes that greeted his stoppage-time header, Nuttall being accepted into the grateful arms of the gleeful Blackpool fans behind the goal. As metaphors go, it couldn’t have been much more apt.
Let’s hope he now embarks on a good run between now and the end of the season. With Gary Madine stuttering a little bit due to a lack of fitness, he certainly deserves a chance.
This wasn’t just about his goal, either. Nuttall made a big impact off the bench, leading the line well, holding the ball up effectively and often bringing others into play.
It was fitting Nuttall’s dramatic winner came so late on as it capped off an entertaining, end-to-end and open affair.
We could be quite easily sitting here picking the bones out of a 2-1 Ipswich win, with Freddie Sears missing a golden chance at the other end of the pitch just seconds before Nuttall had the last laugh.
Sears had earlier pegged the Seasiders back when he levelled just 10 minutes into the second half, steering home from close range after Will Keane had capitalised on some hesitant defending from Taylor Moore and James Husband.
In their defence, the duo weren’t helped by Nathan Delfouneso conceding possession in a poor area of the pitch which allowed the Tractor Boys to break.
Sears’ goal was Ipswich’s response to Blackpool’s first-half effort, which came from the boot of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The midfielder, scoring for the second time in as many games, curled a low effort in off the post after some equally poor defending from the visitors. Goalkeeper Tomas Holy also took an age to get down to the shot, which probably shouldn’t come as a huge surprise given the Czech stands tall at 6ft 9ins.
Pool were fortunate to hold a one-goal lead at the break. Their performance, as admitted by Dunn after the game, was pretty average.
There’s a good argument that this was Blackpool’s worst performance of Dunn’s interim spell so far, and yet the display still wielded three points. Sometimes those victories are all the more sweeter.
The Seasiders were reliant on a superb Chris Maxwell save to keep them level prior to the break when he tipped an Emyr Huws effort away from goal, just one of several impressive stops from the 29-year-old.
Maxwell has been quietly going about his business very efficiently since arriving on a free during the January transfer window.
Not only does he make important stops at important times, he’s also confident from crosses and distributes well from the back.
Dunn sang his praises following this encounter, but will the 40-year-old get to work with him beyond this weekend?
The former Blackburn Rovers man provided an intriguing answer when asked about the current state of play with the club’s search for a permanent manager.
“I’m sure the club will make some kind of announcement soon — whether it’s a manager or whatever it is, we’ll just wait and see,” he said.
Dunn assured us in the press room he doesn’t know anything, but it was a coy response which suggests he perhaps knows more than he’s letting on.
Should a new manager arrive this week, he has the small matter of a Fylde coast clash against Fleetwood Town to look forward to in his first game. Dunn has certainly begun to lay some solid foundations should that be the case.
https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/sport/football/blackpool-fc/everyone-loves-la | |
| ‘Where there is harmony, may we bring discord. Where there is truth, may we bring error. Where there is faith, may we bring doubt. And where there is hope, may we bring despair’ |
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