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Blackpool had another full squad of 14 for an away game, but it was only minutes before the match before the whole team assembled, with the goalkeeper having no time to warm up at all. Alex Rowe’s Sat Nav lead him, and a following team car, down the M61 to Manchester, and it was only when they were approaching the outskirts of Salford when someone realised that maybe they weren’t going in the right direction. Apparently he’d input the wrong name of the lesiure centre, although since we were playing Prescot in Prescot at the Prescot Leisure Centre , there really was nothing to get wrong. Meanwhile the other two team cars relied upon good old car maps and the perfectly adequate directions from this website.
Rowe naturally was left on the bench due to his incompetence, alongside captain Rayner being unselfish. Blackpool had a dream start when midfield maestro Blakemore squeezed a shot between the goalie and the post. The team then assumed that the rest of the match would be a walkover, but Prescot proved to be made of sterner stuff.
Blackpool dominated possession and passed beautifully at times, but each of their attacks seemed to get snuffed out by a solid Prescot defensive unit. Their goalie at one point even managed a header to clear the ball which raised a cheer from the home support. Prescot’s attacks were generally cut out early by Latimer and Walker in central defence, and in fact often led to quick counter-attacks. Eventually Blackpool got a second goal through Hayes and half-time saw the score at 2-0.
Prescot reorganised themselves at half-time and actually started stronger, and won their one and only short corner of the game. It came to nothing and Blackpool gradually racked up the pressure but again the Prescot defense held solid with their keeper in impressive form. Blackpool regularly rotated their subs all game, and the superior fitness and desire eventually led to a superbly taken goal by Goudie in the centre of the D, with a reverse shot sliding straight down the side of the post and rebounding in.
No more goals were scored, despite Prescot playing with 10 men for several minutes when one of their many youngsters stupidly lifted his fists after what he felt was a bad tackle. Otherwise it was a generally good tempered game. Nick Slater was voted Man of the Match for his good dribbling and link-play in attack. Rowe of course was the Dunce of the Day and is now hot favourite for the infamous ‘Green Pint’ at the end of season club night out.