Saints scrape through

An open game looked on the cards in the opening stages with Dyer particularly threatening while Welsh outpaced Dailly but failed to get past Davis. The game then lost its way after a lengthy injury stoppage, although Blackpool did come close when Morrell almost punished poor defending but shot against the post. However we did have a rare St. Mary's goal before half time when a neat exchange of passes gave John half a chance which he took well.

Saints began the second half brightly with Rachubka saving from Wright-Phillips before John hit the underside of the bar. It looked as though we would be rewarded when the referee decided that a dual challenge on Euell in the box was by one defender too many: we've all seen worse penalties than Euell's but it was at the right height for Rachubka to make a flying save.

Blackpool tried three up front to try to save the game and panicky Saints made the last quarter difficult by failing to keep possession for any length of time. In fact it was down to some embarrassing misses and a controversial refereeing decision to ensure John's goal proved enough, although Hammill missed badly in injury time to spoil a flowing breakaway move. Blackpool had put the ball in the net only to find play brought back for a free kick to them; the whistle had been clear, but it is less certain whether our defenders stopped playing because of it.