Articles
Second Home Shock For Anfield Crowd
The game had settled down after rather a tentative opening, and there was some fast, accurate play by both teams. A good move between Melia and St John ended with Callaghan just failing to get in his shot and altogether, Liverpool were playing with more directness than they had shown on Wednesday.
But Blackpool were just as good with both Quinn and Parry doing well and a fine shot from Quinn was well saved by Lawrence. Then Hunt dispossessed Durie on the goal-line and turned the ball inside for Callaghan to try a left foot shot which the winger sent well wide.
Blackpool shocked Liverpool by taking the lead after nine minutes with a lovely goal from McPhee. Major credit goes to Quinn for a perfect defence splitting pass between Yeats and Moran for the wing half to race through and hit a well timed shot past Lawrence as the goalkeeper ran out.
BRILLIANT EFFORT
It took a brilliant piece of work by Hunt to bring Liverpool back into the game. He worked the ball cleverly past three defenders before hitting a tremendous left foot shot which Walters saved with an equally brilliant effort.
This had been the first real flash of what Liverpool could produce and the crowd now were urging their team to show some improvement.
Thompson was the one Liverpool forward to disturb the Blackpool defence at this stage and it was from one of his centres that Callaghan headed the ball back to Melia whose volleyed shot went just over the bar.
Then came a let off for Blackpool. Callaghan went through at speed, took a rebound off the feet of Martin and when he chipped the ball over, Walters got his hand to it but only deflected it onto the crossbar from where Gratrix managed to clear rather luckily.
ST JOHN’S SHOT
St John went close with a fine, shot from 20 yards and it was remarkable that Liverpool had not at least equalised after all their pressure of the preceding 15 minutes. During that time, Lawrence had not had to touch the ball.
In a rare Blackpool attack they showed how dangerous they could be when Quinn sent through another intelligent pass to Charnley, who was brushed off the ball in the act of shooting by Yeats.
Liverpool had knocked Blackpool right out of their stride with their powerful and attacking play, but they were still out of luck near goal. Walters made another good save from a St John shot and the game was almost entirely centred in the Blackpool half of the field.
POOR SERVICE
Blackpool’s defence kept remarkably calm against this Liverpool drive but I thought one Liverpool failing was the poor service that Thompson was receiving. He had shown his ability to make ground on the left, but rarely received the ball in a good position.
Liverpool were inclined to keep the ball too close between the inside trio and with Gratrix in dominating form in the middle, Liverpool were not making the progress they should.
Two minutes before half time, Blackpool showed that the simple way could pay off. In a series of calm, short passes between Quinn and Lea, the winger finally “wrong footed” Yeats with an accurate pass and Charnley was there to shoot into the net from 10 yards.
Immediately afterwards, Moran came up to hit a tremendous free kick from 25 yards which flew through a crowd of players but did not deceive Walters, who saved at the second attempt.
Half time – Liverpool nil, Blackpool 2
Liverpool took up the running again on the resumption as they had done for 75 per cent of the first half, but the Blackpool defence stayed calm and competent through it all. In the first few minutes of the second half, Thompson received a better service of the ball than he had for practically all of the first half. It nearly produced results.
He pushed the ball through cleverly inside to Melia who passed squarely for the incoming Milne to hit a first time shot which Walters saved well.
SIEGE IS ON
Byrne joined in the shooting act by racing forward and trying a left foot drive from 20 yards, the ball swinging away wide of the far post. Hunt got his head to a centre from Callaghan and directed the ball just wide and one wondered just how long this siege could go on without the Blackpool defence failing.
St John was penalised for dangerous kicking in the Blackpool penalty area and Durie took the full force of his boot in his face. The wing half recovered after attention. Liverpool were not helping themselves by more than a hint of panic in their forwards. They lacked the calmer approach of Blackpool on the few occasions the visiting side attacked. Once the Liverpool defence was spread-eagled by a good move by Parry and Horne dashed through to hit a terrific shot just wide.
SPEEDY WINGERS
Both Blackpool wingers had the beating of the Liverpool backs and Lea was especially dangerous on the right. From one of his raids, Charnley had a shot charged down by Moran and there was no doubt that the Liverpool defence was nothing like as compact as the Blackpool one.
After 63 minutes, Liverpool were awarded a penalty when Armfield handled the ball just inside the area as Thompson attempted to chip the ball over his head. Walters made a brilliant full length save to turn away Moran’s shot from the spot.
This was the culmination of a series of brilliant saves by Walters who had looked invincible when the fine defence in front of him could not hold Liverpool out.
BRILLIANT TOUCHES
The crowd were now applauding some of the brilliant individual touches by the Blackpool players. Certainly their methodical approach and highly cultured football was not lost on the spectators. The first time Gratrix had made the semblance of an error, he slipped and allowed Hunt a clear path to goal. As Walters came out, Hunt tired to chip the ball into the empty net, but his direction was bad and the ball sailed harmlessly over the bar.
Liverpool could hardly do anything right at this stage and the crowd were getting onto them for it. It must not be forgotten, however, that they had had a lot of bad luck in their scoring attempts but even that could not detract from the excellence of Blackpool’s all round play.
SLOW HANDCLAP
The Kop crowd were slow handclapping their team now, which didn’t help the players, but certainly gave some indication of the supporters frustration at seeing their side unable to score goals after they had had so much of the play.
Walters was in action again to make two excellent saves, first a low one from St John and then a long range shot from Stevenson. From the corner awarded after the second save, Walters touched over St John’s header and altogether looked invincible.
Liverpool were over desperate in their attempts – typical was a shot by Stevenson which landed on the roof behind the Anfield Road goal. At this late stage, Blackpool seemed quite content to hold onto their lead and rarely moved onto the attack.
With seven minutes to go, Melia brought Liverpool back in to the game with a goal. It followed a free kick which St John touched onto Stevenson whose shot hit the crossbar and bounced down conveniently for Melia to drive the ball into the roof of the net.
ORDERED OFF
Two small boys ran onto the pitch after the goal and were immediately ordered off by the scorer himself. Fortunately they did so before any other official action was required. Liverpool were going almost frantic in their efforts to get an equaliser, but Walters had no trouble with a miss hit shot from Hunt.
Copyright - Liverpool Echo - Transcribed by the makers of the "Walk On" film
But Blackpool were just as good with both Quinn and Parry doing well and a fine shot from Quinn was well saved by Lawrence. Then Hunt dispossessed Durie on the goal-line and turned the ball inside for Callaghan to try a left foot shot which the winger sent well wide.
Blackpool shocked Liverpool by taking the lead after nine minutes with a lovely goal from McPhee. Major credit goes to Quinn for a perfect defence splitting pass between Yeats and Moran for the wing half to race through and hit a well timed shot past Lawrence as the goalkeeper ran out.
BRILLIANT EFFORT
It took a brilliant piece of work by Hunt to bring Liverpool back into the game. He worked the ball cleverly past three defenders before hitting a tremendous left foot shot which Walters saved with an equally brilliant effort.
This had been the first real flash of what Liverpool could produce and the crowd now were urging their team to show some improvement.
Thompson was the one Liverpool forward to disturb the Blackpool defence at this stage and it was from one of his centres that Callaghan headed the ball back to Melia whose volleyed shot went just over the bar.
Then came a let off for Blackpool. Callaghan went through at speed, took a rebound off the feet of Martin and when he chipped the ball over, Walters got his hand to it but only deflected it onto the crossbar from where Gratrix managed to clear rather luckily.
ST JOHN’S SHOT
St John went close with a fine, shot from 20 yards and it was remarkable that Liverpool had not at least equalised after all their pressure of the preceding 15 minutes. During that time, Lawrence had not had to touch the ball.
In a rare Blackpool attack they showed how dangerous they could be when Quinn sent through another intelligent pass to Charnley, who was brushed off the ball in the act of shooting by Yeats.
Liverpool had knocked Blackpool right out of their stride with their powerful and attacking play, but they were still out of luck near goal. Walters made another good save from a St John shot and the game was almost entirely centred in the Blackpool half of the field.
POOR SERVICE
Blackpool’s defence kept remarkably calm against this Liverpool drive but I thought one Liverpool failing was the poor service that Thompson was receiving. He had shown his ability to make ground on the left, but rarely received the ball in a good position.
Liverpool were inclined to keep the ball too close between the inside trio and with Gratrix in dominating form in the middle, Liverpool were not making the progress they should.
Two minutes before half time, Blackpool showed that the simple way could pay off. In a series of calm, short passes between Quinn and Lea, the winger finally “wrong footed” Yeats with an accurate pass and Charnley was there to shoot into the net from 10 yards.
Immediately afterwards, Moran came up to hit a tremendous free kick from 25 yards which flew through a crowd of players but did not deceive Walters, who saved at the second attempt.
Half time – Liverpool nil, Blackpool 2
Liverpool took up the running again on the resumption as they had done for 75 per cent of the first half, but the Blackpool defence stayed calm and competent through it all. In the first few minutes of the second half, Thompson received a better service of the ball than he had for practically all of the first half. It nearly produced results.
He pushed the ball through cleverly inside to Melia who passed squarely for the incoming Milne to hit a first time shot which Walters saved well.
SIEGE IS ON
Byrne joined in the shooting act by racing forward and trying a left foot drive from 20 yards, the ball swinging away wide of the far post. Hunt got his head to a centre from Callaghan and directed the ball just wide and one wondered just how long this siege could go on without the Blackpool defence failing.
St John was penalised for dangerous kicking in the Blackpool penalty area and Durie took the full force of his boot in his face. The wing half recovered after attention. Liverpool were not helping themselves by more than a hint of panic in their forwards. They lacked the calmer approach of Blackpool on the few occasions the visiting side attacked. Once the Liverpool defence was spread-eagled by a good move by Parry and Horne dashed through to hit a terrific shot just wide.
SPEEDY WINGERS
Both Blackpool wingers had the beating of the Liverpool backs and Lea was especially dangerous on the right. From one of his raids, Charnley had a shot charged down by Moran and there was no doubt that the Liverpool defence was nothing like as compact as the Blackpool one.
After 63 minutes, Liverpool were awarded a penalty when Armfield handled the ball just inside the area as Thompson attempted to chip the ball over his head. Walters made a brilliant full length save to turn away Moran’s shot from the spot.
This was the culmination of a series of brilliant saves by Walters who had looked invincible when the fine defence in front of him could not hold Liverpool out.
BRILLIANT TOUCHES
The crowd were now applauding some of the brilliant individual touches by the Blackpool players. Certainly their methodical approach and highly cultured football was not lost on the spectators. The first time Gratrix had made the semblance of an error, he slipped and allowed Hunt a clear path to goal. As Walters came out, Hunt tired to chip the ball into the empty net, but his direction was bad and the ball sailed harmlessly over the bar.
Liverpool could hardly do anything right at this stage and the crowd were getting onto them for it. It must not be forgotten, however, that they had had a lot of bad luck in their scoring attempts but even that could not detract from the excellence of Blackpool’s all round play.
SLOW HANDCLAP
The Kop crowd were slow handclapping their team now, which didn’t help the players, but certainly gave some indication of the supporters frustration at seeing their side unable to score goals after they had had so much of the play.
Walters was in action again to make two excellent saves, first a low one from St John and then a long range shot from Stevenson. From the corner awarded after the second save, Walters touched over St John’s header and altogether looked invincible.
Liverpool were over desperate in their attempts – typical was a shot by Stevenson which landed on the roof behind the Anfield Road goal. At this late stage, Blackpool seemed quite content to hold onto their lead and rarely moved onto the attack.
With seven minutes to go, Melia brought Liverpool back in to the game with a goal. It followed a free kick which St John touched onto Stevenson whose shot hit the crossbar and bounced down conveniently for Melia to drive the ball into the roof of the net.
ORDERED OFF
Two small boys ran onto the pitch after the goal and were immediately ordered off by the scorer himself. Fortunately they did so before any other official action was required. Liverpool were going almost frantic in their efforts to get an equaliser, but Walters had no trouble with a miss hit shot from Hunt.
Copyright - Liverpool Echo - Transcribed by the makers of the "Walk On" film
