Town 0-0 Blackpool Saturday, 15th Feb 2014 17:05 Returning keeper Scott Loach made three important saves from Blackpool midfielder Faris Haroun as the Blues and Seasiders drew a blank at Portman Road. Top scorer David McGoldrick headed disappointing Town's best opportunity wide in the ninth minute with Loach thwarting Haroun twice in the first half and once late on in the second. Loach came in for his first league start since August with first-choice keeper Dean Gerken missing out having woken up with a stiff neck. Midfielder Paul Green was handed his full debut and his first appearance for Town at Portman Road, while Luke Hyam returned to the starting line-up after his gashed leg. Frank Nouble and Jay Tabb dropped to the bench, alongside Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, back from his hamstring injury, and academy keeper Michael Crowe. Former Town striker Michael Chopra was on the bench for Blackpool, alongside ex-Blues loanee Ricardo Fuller. Following a minute’s applause in tribute to Sir Tom Finney, McGoldrick went close to breaking the deadlock in the third minute. First he just failed to get a touch on Chambers’s cross from the right, before David Perkins blocked his shot after Stephen Hunt had cut it back from the left. Daryl Murphy went close in the sixth minute, breaking into the area on the right and hitting a low shot which Seasiders’ keeper Matt Gilks could only palm away, fortunately for the visitors just beyond Green. Town had started well and in the ninth minute again went close, Luke Chambers crossing from the right and McGoldrick heading just wide at the near post. The Blues number 10 will feel he should have been celebrating his 17th goal of the season. Both sides were forced into substitutions after only 12 minutes. Hyam, who had been out with a gashed leg, was replaced by Tabb, while Andrew Halliday took over from Jack Robinson at left-back for the Tangerines. Blackpool’s first chance fell to Kirk Broadfoot, the Scot turning a 16th minute freekick from deep into the side-netting. Town had been unable to make their early dominance count and in the 29th minute the visitors weren’t far from going in front when Stephen Dobbie played in Haroun and the Belgian midfielder forced Loach to save well down to his left. The ball ran loose but Chambers did well to get to it and stab it away ahead of Perkins. Haroun picked up the game’s first yellow card for a foul on Tabb soon after, then Steven Davies lashed well over from distance. The Seasiders were by now on top with the Blues making little headway in the Blackpool half and giving the ball away too easily in their own territory. On 40 Loach again had to save down to his left from Haroun after Smith had given the ball away on the Town left. After a bright start in which they should have gone in front, McGoldrick’s chance having been the best opportunity, the Town performance drifted and only a couple of sharp Loach saves had prevented the visitors from being ahead after a not overly enthralling half. Haroun, who was linked with Town prior to his move into English football with Middlesbrough in the summer of 2011, threatened again within a minute of the restart, hitting a right-footed shot across the face of goal from Dobbie’s pass. Boss Mick McCarthy had switched around his midfield at the break with Green moving into the centre and Tabb going out to the right. In the 50th minute MacKenzie was booked for a foul on McGoldrick. Murphy shot not far wide from the left of the area on 54 after latching on to Christophe Berra’s clearance with Town looking more dangerous in the opening minutes of the second period than they had in the closing stages of the first. Two minutes later, Hunt shot over from Murphy’s knockdown. Blackpool boss Barry Ferguson switched strikers Davies and Keogh for Fuller and David Goodwillie in the 63rd minute, meaning there would be no appearance from ex-Blue Chopra, who earlier had been booed by Town fans as he warmed up. Perkins was booked for a blatant trip on Murphy after the Irishman had got away from him 10 yards inside the Blackpool half. From Hunt’s quickly taken freekick, Murphy teed up Tabb, who scuffed weakly to Gilks. On 70 McGoldrick and particularly the Sir Bobby Robson Stand felt Broadfoot had handled in the area as the striker tried to take the ball past him, but referee Mark Haywood waved away the protests. On the touchline manager McCarthy made his feelings known to the fourth official before switching Green for Paul Anderson, who moved into his usual right midfield role with Tabb switching back to the centre. Four minutes later, as the game moved into its final quarter of an hour with rain by now falling heavily and the pitch increasingly difficult, Ebanks-Blake was handed his league debut for the tiring Hunt, Murphy moving to left midfield. MacKenzie headed wide for Blackpool from a freekick on the left but having strayed offside, then Dobbie’s 83rd minute shot deflected wide off Tommy Smith. The Seasiders were looking the more likely scorers and in the 86th minute Loach again thwarted Haroun, this time blocking from the Belgian from close range. Two minutes later, Dobbie shot well over from distance. In the final minute of scheduled time, Murphy brought the ball forward from deep but wasted the opportunity. As the game moved into three minutes of injury time the Irishman’s strike deflected wide. The Blues finally added some urgency to their game in the final moments with a number of crosses flying into the box, McGoldrick scuffing well wide when found in space by Cresswell 14 yards out. Town had to be content with their first 0-0 home draw since February 2010 and it would have been harsh on Blackpool to have taken nothing from the game. Having started the first half well, the Blues’ performance deteriorated and they would have been behind but for two fine Loach saves from Haroun. The returning Town keeper made another important stop from the Belgian in the second half with the Blues again under par. Manager Mick McCarthy will be pleased with the clean sheet — the third on the trot at home - but disappointed with the overall performance and failure to take all three points against a Blackpool side now without a win in 15 matches. Town: Loach, Chambers, Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Green (Anderson 71), Hyam (Tabb 12), Skuse, Hunt (Ebanks-Blake 75), McGoldrick, Murphy. Unused: Crowe, Mings, Richardson, Nouble. Blackpool: Gilks, McMahon, Broadfoot, MacKenzie, Robinson (Halliday 12), Angel, Perkins, Haroun, Dobbie, Keogh (Goodwillie 63), Davies (Fuller 63). Unused: Cathcart, Basham, Grandin, Chopra. Referee: Mark Haywood (West Yorkshire). Att: 16,010 (Blackpool: 285).
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