Blackpool - 1 (Southern 88.)
Crystal Palace - 3 *Johnson 24. 87. Freedman 62.)
A quick series of throw-ins to both sides led to a free kick being awarded to our hosts for a foul on Chris Clarke by Dougie Freedman, before Danny Coid was caught offside. Scott Taylor got the ball into the centre and John Murphy saw his header fly over the top of the bar. More fouls and offside decisions followed, then disaster struck Blackpool as Phillip Barnes was flagged for deliberate handball outside of his area, and the referee had no other choice than to "award" him a red card. The sooner they get rid of this rule (the automatic red card part) the better I should think, but it left the home side in the awkward position of being without their keeper, with no substitute keeper on the bench. Gareth Evans took over between the sticks, and he would have been relieved to see the free kick wasted by the Palace side.
Despite being down to 10 men so early in the game Blackpool still pushed forward, and a cross sent in by Martin Bullock presented an opportunity to Taylor, his effort being well held by Thomas Myhre in the Palace goal. A corner to Blackpool followed, but within moments down at the other end Coid attempted a backpass to the keeper, and in a flash Andy Johnson nipped in and buried the ball into the back of the net. More niggling fouls followed before Coid got a shot on goal, his attempt going wide of the mark. Michael Hughes fired in a corner for Palace, and then Dougie tried a shot that went over the bar.
Another corner to Palace was wasted as Neil Shipperley was said to have fouled Clarke and a few minutes later Bullock put in a cross that Taylor fired goalwards, his attempt also going wide of the upright. AJ sent the ball into the area, Clarke making the clearance before Danny Butterfield sent in a corner that the defence scrambled to clear. With little further action the first half came to an end, and though Steve Kember may well have been pleased with the fact that we were ahead, he would have been emphasising the fact that the team really should have scored more against a depleted side.
The teams came back for the second half without any changes being made to either side, and the first action saw Steve Davis attempt a shot on goal that went wide of the posts once more. Jamie Smith cleared the next dangerous ball and AJ tried a shot that Evans did well to hang on to. A foul by Clarke on Neil saw Michael fire the free kick straight at goal, the keeper doing well to deflect the ball behind for a corner, and as usual Palace managed to waste the opportunity.
The next piece of action saw the beginning of the end for our hosts, as Simon Grayson fouled AJ just as he seemed to be getting clear on goal, and the referee had little hesitation in awarding a penalty. Dougie stepped up to take the spot kick, and he duly fired the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net to double our lead.
Taylor was caught offside, and Blackpool decided on the first change for the match, Keith Southern replacing Bullock. Danny fired a cross into the centre that was cleared by Clarke, and Aki Riihilahti fouled Richard Wellens for a free kick once more. I seem to have lost count just how many stoppages there had been by this time!
Clarke attempted a header that went wide of the post, and at the other end AJ fired a shot in that missed to the right of the upright. Danny made another cross into the danger area that AJ headed homewards, Evans doing well to hang on to the ball, and AJ tried another shot shortly after that also missed the goalmouth. The home side made their second change, Mike Sheron coming into the fray for Wellens, and the stop, start order of play continued for quite a while.
With only a few minutes on the clock Palace made certain of things as AJ got free, and in double-quick time he buried the ball into the back of the net, to make the scoreline read 3-0. Of course, Palace never make things that easy, and after Sheron tried a shot that was parried by Thomas the Blackpool substitute got another chance, and steered the ball to Southern who headed the ball gleefully home to reduce the arrears.
Ben Watson took the place of Michael as Palace was merely content to run the clock down, and following a corner to Blackpool we made another change, this time Jamie making way for Gary Borrowdale.
Dougie tried a last moment shot that Evans just managed to get a foot to, his clearance flying away, extra time ran out, and Palace headed home the victors, looking forward to their place in the final sixteen of the competition. It is now back to League action once more, and next week we come up against League front-runners Wigan.
Colin Pryce
Blackpool: Phillip Barnes, Chris Clarke, Danny Coid, Steve Davis, Simon Grayson, Martin Bullock (Keith Southern 65), John Douglas, Gareth Evans, Richard Wellens (Mike Sheron 78), John Murphy, Scott Taylor.
Substitutes not used: Mike Flynn, Leam Richardson, Kirk Hilton.
Crystal Palace: Thomas Myhre, Danny Butterfield, Jamie Smith (Gary Borrowdale 90), Kit Symons, Shaun Derry, Michael Hughes (Ben Watson 90), Aki Riihilahti, Dougie Freedman, Andrew Johnson, Wayne Routledge, Neil Shipperley.
Substitutes not used: Cedric Berthelin, Curtis Fleming, Tariq Nabil.
Attendance: 6,010
Referee: Mr P Danson