Blackpool - 1 (Popovic og 9.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Black 55. 63.)
The "favoured" sides that did end up losing in this round turned out to be Derby, falling to Brentford (1-0, courtesy of a goal by ex-Palace player Stephen Hunt) and Everton going down to Shrewsbury (2-1). Other matches still remain to be decided, following draws at the first attempt, and a couple of other results saw less favoured sides scraping through to the next round. Monday night will tell us who faces who in the next round, let's hope for once we draw a Premiership side, preferably at Selhurst Park.
This match got underway, and the first action saw a free kick to Blackpool following an apparent handball by Dele Adebola. Richard Walker was then caught offside, and as the ball made its' way up the other end Julian Gray got a cross in to the centre that John Hills cleared for the Blackpool defence. A foul, by Keith Southern on Tommy Black, saw a free kick taken by Danny Granville, but the move broke down. Walker then managed to get a shot on goal that Alex Kolinko did well to tip round the post for a corner, but the set piece to Pool was wasted. Tommy had the next shot on goal, and he really should have done a little better, the ball going wide of the post.
Another corner to the home side was again wasted, but as the ball came back to our end Tony Popovic saw his attempted clearance fly into the back of the net, and suddenly we were 1-0 down. Aki Riihilahti then was penalised for a foul on Southern, the free kick being taken by Richard Wellens, before Julian was caught offside when in a reasonable position in front of goal. Ben Thornley fired another shot goalwards that gave Alex little trouble, but all the play seemed to be going the wrong way as far as Palace supporters were concerned.
Danny Butterfield then took a shot at goal, which once again went wide of the mark, and shortly after Julian fired a cross in that Phillip Barnes did well to hang on to. Another handball decision against Dele saw Blackpool make their way up the other end of the pitch, but John Murphy fouled Hayden Mullins, and the pressure was relieved. Thornley then got another shot at goal, but from a fair way out the ball missed the target, and another goal kick fell the way of Palace.
Danny B put in a cross that Leam Richardson cleared behind for a corner, and as Tommy fired the shot in to the area Wellens managed to get a touch to clear the danger. Shaun Derry then let fly with a volley that once again went wide of the goalposts, and the game settled down for a while, with neither side appearing to be in the ascendancy. Julian fouled Thornley, relieving the pressure once more for Blackpool, then Hills returned the compliment at the other end of the ground, this time being pinged for a tackle on Julian.
Murphy was caught offside, and Palace won a corner that was fired in by Tommy, the keeper coming out well to cut out the inswinging ball. Murphy then fouled Tony, and by now it appeared that the referee had seen enough of all these niggles, brandishing his yellow card for the first booking of the match. A corner to the home side was wasted once again, but Walker got free and tried to lob the ball over the head of Alex, but as he was on his line there was little chance, and he held on to the ball well.
Shaun was booked for a foul on Danny Coid, and then Coid hit a shot goalwards that flew over the top of the bar. This was the last of the first half action, and the players trooped off, presumably to quite different team talks from their respective managers. One can be sure that Trevor Francis would not have been particularly happy with what he had seen so far!
An immediate substitution was notable at the beginning of the second half, as Danny G made way for Ade Akinbiyi - Palace certainly now had a much more attacking look to the side. Ade's first action saw him being caught offside, but the free kick to Pool was simply played out without any danger to the Palace defence. Tommy fired a shot on goal that went wide of the post once again, then a free kick to Palace, for a foul on Dele by Chris Clarke, saw a shot by Shaun go wide of the mark from a fair distance out.
Tommy sent another cross in which was cleared by Clarke, and Ade tried a shot that went wide - how many times will we miss? Danny B then got the ball out on the right hand side of the pitch, and a good centering shot found Tommy lurking in the area, his shot flying into the top corner of the goal, giving the keeper little chance of even getting a hand on it. Back to all square, and everything to play for.
Blackpool made a double substitution, Thornley and Clarke making way for Lee Collins and John O'Kane, and the first action following this was a cross in by Hills that Alex did well to hang on to. O'Kane's first action was to bring Tommy down as he got free in the area, and the referee had little hesitation in awarding a penalty, which Ade placed on the spot. Palace supporters started to pray that he might take it, as Tommy took the last penalty we had awarded to us, and he missed! It was not to be though, as Tommy stepped up to take it, and the keeper once again parried the shot to keep the ball out. Fortunately this time Tommy was awake enough to follow up the shot, and he slammed the ball home before the keeper could react again, and suddenly we were ahead for the first time in the game.
A corner to Palace was cleared by Hills, and yet another shot at goal went wide, this time from Julian. Aki was adjudged to have fouled Murphy, but the free kick once again simply saw play continue on, before Dele was caught offside once more. Pool made their final substitution, Coid going off for Martin Bullock. Alex appeared to be injured in goal for Palace, and wishing to take no chances Cedric Berthelin came on for his debut. One thing to note here was that he was wearing a shirt that declared him to be Number 1 in the side, but also told us that his name was Clarke. I wonder why he was wearing Matt's shirt? Surely Palace had time to at least make a shirt up for him, even if he did only sign a few days ago? Perhaps Vic forgot to pack one? Whatever the reason, let's hope he is better outfitted next time he needs to take to the field.
A cross into the centre by Bullock was well cleared by Kit Symons, and then Southern sent the ball back in, this time the clearance falling to Hayden. A shot by Hills missed the goalmouth, and Palace took the opportunity to make their final substitution, this time taking Dele off and replacing him with Gary Borrowdale. At least now we were back to a more conventional field, and with the lead we might well need all the defence we can find.
Danny B fired the ball back in, and Tommy missed the chance, once more the shot going wide, and again this happened as Danny got on the end of a Julian cross - obviously these posts are too close together! Bullock was caught offside and Wellens tried a shot that was well wide once again. Ade attempted a shot that really should have wrapped up the game, but the keeper managed to beat the ball out, apparently making contact with his legs as he went down to stop the shot. Julian fired yet another shot wide, but time was now running out for the home side to get back into this match.
Tommy managed to get booked for unsporting behaviour in the last official minute of the match, but four minutes of time was added on to the end for the time lost during this period of play. Bullock fired a cross in that Murphy got his head to; Cedric making a fine save to stop the home side earning a replay. The home keeper tipped a final shot by Tommy around the post, and as the resulting corner was taken the final whistle sounded, and Palace had progressed to the next round.
One wonders who we might play in three weeks time?
Colin Pryce
Blackpool: Phillip Barnes, Leam Richardson, Simon Grayson, Chris Clarke (John O'Kane 57), Danny Coid (Martin Bullock 73), Ben Thornley (Lee Collins 57), Richard Wellens, Keith Southern, John Hills, John Murphy, Richard Walker.
Substitutes not used: Paul Dalglish, Scott Taylor.
Crystal Palace: Alex Kolinko (Cedric Berthelin 75), Hayden Mullins, Tony Popovic, Danny Butterfield, Danny Granville (Ade Akinbiyi 45), Shaun Derry, Aki Riihilahti, Julian Gray, Dele Adebola (Gary Borrowdale 78), Tommy Black.
Substitutes not used: Wayne Routledge, Will Antwi.
Attendance: 9,062
Referee: Mr C Webster (Tyne & Wear)