Blackpool 2nd team travelled to Cumbria for the second match in succession and again managed a single goal victory by beating Windermere 2’s 5-4 in a closely fought match.
Windermere started strongly but it was Blackpool’s counter attacking which led to the first two goals, the first from some fine skill by Chris Hocking, and the second struck in by Steve White after a ball into the D from Harrison Stott on the right wing.
Windermere then scored from a counter attack of their own, and despite Graeme Kilshaw saving the first shot, the rebound fell to an opposition striker to strike home. Windermere could have scored an equalizer from a short corner, but an airborne strike was saved on the line by Pete Latimer who deflected the ball up and over both the goal and the perimeter fencing.
The game continued to be end to end, and when a Blackpool short corner led to a goal-bound shot hitting a foot, a penalty stroke was awarded with Simon Allen stepping up to take Blackpool 3-1 ahead.
The second half started well for Blackpool after an early Windermere attack was broken down by Harrison Stott, who had to battle hard to gain control of the ball. He then ran down the right wing and passed to Chris Hocking who was able to pick out Alex Diver free in the D, who had the time to control the ball and smash it high into the net with the goalkeeper helpless to save it.
The game then seemed to turn around, with Windermere putting a lot of pressure on the Blackpool defence, and won several short corners, scoring from two of them. With a single goal difference, the defending became more heroic with Stan Morrison impressing on his promotion from the 3rd team, and keeper Graeme Kilshaw needing to make important saves too.
The pressure was eased when a Blackpool counter-attack led to Stott entering the D with the ball at the top and sending the ball goal wards, expecting the waiting Diver to deflect the ball, but instead it was dummied, which confused the keeper enough for the ball to carry on into the goal.
Blackpool’s two goal cushion lasted less than a minute with Windermere going straight on the attack after the restart and dribbling into the D firing off a shot which seemed to ricochet off Kilshaw’s kicker back into the goal.
With the score at 5-4 and the home crowd starting to believe in a miracle finish, Blackpool managed to regain their composure, play some passing hockey and eek out the final few minutes to secure the win.
Blackpool rise to 3rd in Division 5 and now play 2nd place Kirkby Lonsdale next week.