| Blackpool Men’s 1s | 4-3 | Nelson & Rossendale Men’s 2s |
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by Alex Diver |
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Blackpool retain 1st place in the league thanks to a hat-trick from Man of the Match Andy Mortimer, and despite almost letting a 4-1 lead slip away.
With the opposition arriving late and having no time to warm up, Blackpool took advantage and controlled the early stages of the match. Within minutes they had scored through an attack on the right by Dan Woodman and Liam Morrow with the final pass to Mortimer to slot home.
Blackpool’s 2nd goal came from a short corner routine which seemed to occur in slow motion and completely fooled the Rossendale defence with a slip to Gareth Gettings dummied for Mortimer to push past the confused keeper.
Blackpool made it 3-0 with a fine example of their quick counter-attacking when Rob Abbott intercepted a pass, passed to Woodman on the left, onto Morrow who from the bye-line crossed to Dave Morgan to clinically finish into the goal.
Just before half-time, a counter-attack from Rossendale split the Blackpool defence apart and they scored easily, giving them fresh impetus going into the break just two goals down.
Blackpool were keen to finish off the game, and despite some renewed pressure from Rossendale they scored again to make it 4-1. Mortimer completed his hat-trick after his forward partner Morgan had done the hard work by rounding three opposition players.
Rossendale refused to lie down and to their credit actually dominated the remainder of the game. They were awarded a number of short corners although failed to convert any of them. However they managed to grab a goal after a prolonged goalmouth scramble.
Blackpool now struggled to get the ball out of their own half with their passes going straight to opposition players, and so the pressure on the defence was never relieved. Rob Pasqualino was unluckily sin-binned after some over-strict umpiring. Down to ten men Blackpool conceded a penalty flick after a certain Rossendale goal was stopped by a foot in front of goal. The flick was converted to make the score 4-3 and Blackpool breathed a huge sigh of relief when the final whistle blew a minute later.
Written by Pete Latimer