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Blackpool entertained their local rivals Lytham 2’s at Stanley Park on a warm autumnal afternoon and were pleased to see the full squad of 15 available, together with a sizeable crowd.
Blackpool were ready for a tough game, as this fixture is never easy, and pressurised every Lytham player not allowing them to play the possession hockey they usually enjoy. One early attack led to a Blackpool short corner and they pulled off another well practised routine with Dave Morgan finishing for the first goal of the match.
Lytham fought back and created problems for the Blackpool defence. However, Pete Latimer didn’t allow the tricky Dave Burns any room to show off his considerable skills, and the other defenders in Sean Lester, Dec O’Hara and Joe Boniface swept up any other attacks. Some of the umpiring decisions were frustrating the Blackpool players and Steve Whitley was yellow carded for back-chat, but even with 10 men the team held firm and even managed a great counter attack with Dave Morgan, drawing the keeper before passing the opportunity on to James Slater coming in from the right and increasing the lead to 2-0.
Blackpool continued to fight for possession with the skills of man of the match Dan Woodman and captain Rob Abbott in the centre of the park starting to dominate. When Lytham made a defensive mistake, Dave Morgan pounced on it and launched the ball into the D for Jack Boniface, having made a great run from the left, who proceeded to score from a tight angle to make the half time scoreline 3-0.
Blackpool were not content to sit back on that lead in the second half, especially as they’d let a 2-0 lead slip in the same fixture last year, and were awarded with a quick goal after great passing play between Dave Morgan and Steve Whitley with a diving Morgan finding the goal.
Lytham, to their credit, kept attacking and it was only due to a succession of great saves from close range by Blackpool keeper Graeme Kilshaw, that Lytham were kept from scoring. However, this did open up the midfield and Blackpool were able to counter attack at pace, especially as they were able to rotate their four subs and bring on fresh energy. One of these led to a goal mouth scramble, after Atish Mistry had kept the ball in play near the backline, with Dave Morgan grabbing his hat trick. Mistry was unlucky later when he launched a firm strike at the goal only for the Lytham goalie to parry it right over the pitch’s high surrounding fence. The sixth and final goal came from another breakaway when Steve Whitley ran from the halfway line and just had to pass to David Wright for a simple goal.
This fantastic win means Blackpool leap frogs Lytham up into 8th place in Division 4 and now have a 21 goal difference advantage over their rivals.
Opposition Man of Match – Dan Woodman. Players Votes – 1st Pete Latimer, 2nd James Slater, 3rd= Graeme Kilshaw & Dave Morgan .