Blackpool Fc vs Crawley Town match review
On Saturday, February 22, 2025, Blackpool FC secured a 3-1 victory over Crawley Town at Bloomfield Road in a League One fixture. This win marked Blackpool's first home triumph since September 28, 2024, and extended their unbeaten streak to 11 matches, maintaining their position at 11th in the league standings.
The Seasiders began the match assertively, with forward Niall Ennis showcasing his attacking prowess by netting two goals in the first half with Crawley halving the deficit on the half an hour mark through a great cutback by Anderson to Doyle . However, the momentum faced a potential shift when Ashley Fletcher received a red card in the 32nd minute for a very questionable decision with Steve Bruce and Blackpool appealing the decision straight away after the final whistle, reducing Blackpool to ten men. Despite this disadvantage, the team displayed resilience and tactical discipline. In the second half, midfielder Lee Evans extended the lead by converting a penalty, solidifying the team's control over the match.
Personally, from this game it shows the character that we can have and I tip my hat off to Bruce for changing the system to a back three which with the player we have suits it more and as Bruce said we could of been 4-0 in the fist half with how well we were playing with Carey missing a 1-on-1 chance on the tenth minute and Ennis missing a hard chance to make it the perfect hat-trick only just sailing wide of the post but that shouldn’t shy away from the great first half he had with a great diving header assisted my CJ with a great cutback cross which personally didn’t think he had that in him and then an Albie Morgan low cross/shot flicked on by Ennis showing the class that he has screaming for Blackpool fans to make him a permanent transfer. In the second half Crawley passed around not really looking like they were causing any danger and Ennis had the chance again to secure the hat—trick wriggling away from the defender going 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper but as you say sometimes he had to much time to think about just putting shy of the post the change at half time to bring on Gabriel for Hamilton was a good idea secure a good defence however noticing the problem Bruce changed back to his trusty back four in a 4-4-1 with Gabriel and Carey on the flanks both being instrumental behind the penalty call with Gabriel having his shirt pulled before striking the ball and Carey on the rebound missed the chance to score luckily the ref called it back which surprised us all with how poor he had managed the game missing obvious danger play on Evans and in general listening to the fourth official who was no where near enough to judge a decision from about 40 yards away to send off Fletcher. But Evans managed to convert the penalty to secure our first win at home since September and makes us slightly hopeful to challenge the play-offs and pick up some home form but can be decided next weekend against Stockport county.
My Ratings:
Tyrer: 7.1 Didn’t really have to do much during the game despite being down to ten men for over an hour however confused by what he was doing for Crawly’s goal and looked unsteady at some moments other than that quite solid making 4 saves and preventing 0.66 goals out of the 1.66 he faced but need him to be even better in the next few months if we really want to push for the play-offs.
Husband:7.5 did really well back in best position in my opinion which is the wide centre half having a wingback like Coulsen ahead of him as his attacking isn’t really his best attribute but then later on in the second half Bruce changed to a back 4 moving him to a centre half which again did really well with when we were under the cosh for large periods of the game but all held their shape to defend well but start counters off as well overall resulting in a good game for the captain.
Casey: 7.5 similar to Husband defended really well for the majority of the game just doing all the gritty stuff that Bruce see’s in him winning all his tackles and his aerial duels but only having 24 touches during the game and having a big impact says what a great defender he is but also how well we defended as a unit which caused us to win at home for the first time on over 5 months.
Offiah: 7.7 Same old Odel consistent as usual put in a good performance and didn’t really let anyone past him and before the red card he was getting up the pitch and affecting the game making good runs, passing or just his pace in defending which makes him a class player and expect him to go far when he leaves us at the end of the season if not playing for the Brighton first team with how well he’s played this year.
Coulsen: 7.8 another great performance attacked well before the red card and looks sharp considering how little he has played over the recent months after losing favour to Husband and him more suiting a wingback role compared to a fullback role however defended extremely well in the fullback role when we moved to a back 4 with Crawley really struggling to create anything due to the work put across the whole back line.
Morgan: 8.2 Had another good game registered another assist making it 4 for the year but really all the hard work was created by Ennis but we will talk about him later, but Morgan did have another chance with a diving header that was just about saved by Wollacott and would’ve capped another consistent performance which we expect every week, but I say again and it won’t be the last how well this team defended putting bodies on the line so that we could get the three points.
Evans: 8.3 similar to Morgan expected from him put in a shift and showed passion especially when the ref was being dreadful as he missed a high challenge on Evans but he carried on with his defensive duties which did result in a soft yellow but managed the game on from there looking composed and still playing passes to start counters.
Carey: 8.0 If he had scored it would be a lot higher missing two chances one in the tenth minute going 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper and hitting the side netting and just before the penalty was called shot the ball at the player standing in the net, other than that played extremely well looks tireless at the moment running till the fat lady sings and really deserved more from the game and past games with how much effort he is putting and looks a different player in recent weeks.
Hamilton: 7.0 only played the first half but got an assist with one of the best balls I’ve ever seen off him cutting back onto his left and whipping a great ball onto Ennis head who’s diving effort directed it towards goal, but I would say he was at fault the most for the Crawley goal letting his man run into box with a lot of time to find a play on the penalty spot which could of been the reason behind Gabriel coming on for him at half-time for his defensive structure but in the end moved back to a 4-4-1 with wingers which would of suited Hamilton more than Gabriel.
Ennis: 8.9 would of given an 9 or higher if he had finished off one of the other chances at either side of the half to make it his hat-trick but other than that played very well knew when to press or stand and with the team defended really well and put in a full shift before being taken off 3/4 off the way through the match with the full stadium praising his performance from the man on loan.
Fletcher: 5.0 what can I say, in Jose’ terms “I speak I am in big trouble” but before that incident played some good football winning aerials and causing Crawley problems with Ennis so, lets hope it can get overturned before Saturday otherwise that will be a three game ban and leaving our striker department very thin.
Subs:
Gabriel: 7.5 Put in a shift in that everyone appreciated and was to Jordan be back to his usual self playing for the badge and was great when either playing the the back 5 or 4 and won the penalty with his determination to get up the pitch and getting into an attacking area which resulted in his shirt getting pulled and ref calling it back but strangely not booking the playing at despite it being an goal scoring opportunity but ran up and down and defended well even putting a “let him know you’re there” challenge early on in the half
Beesley: 6.8 Didn’t have a lot of time to make an impact but did create a few chances and played a part in the winning the penalty playing the pass to Gabriel after playing a slight 1-2 wth Carey which resulted in spacing opening up for Gabriel who missed his chance but having his shirt pulled very hard was enough for the ref to give a penalty.
Baggot: N/A Didn’t play enough time to have an affect on the game.
Onomah: N/A Didn’t play enough time to have an affect on the game.
Subs used: (46) Hamilton off, Gabriel on, (76) Ennis off, Beesley on, (89) Morgan off, Onomah on, (90) Coulsen off, Baggot on.