This was going to be a great big shiny end-of-season trip write-up, but there’s no internet on Blackpool, apparently, so I took my laptop along with me, kept adding to the story as the weekend progressed (nice couple of pints in Skipton – we took them by surprise – on the way down, sunshine in Blackpool for the first time I can remember, and feeling a bit inadequate as a drinking group because we didn’t have matching shirts, not were we throwing up in Woolie’s doorway at half six. Then I lost that silly little memory stick thingy, so I’ve had to make it all up again.

Thankfully, the sun was still shining as we took refreshment in Garstang, then hit the Reebok, all fancy dress and end of season jollity. Dropping Higgi would have been difficult, so Roy didn’t, instead putting Noz back in the dangermouse position of right back.

Gordon
Noz Higgi Evans Collins
Richardson Reid Whitehead Miller
Jones Chopra

We struggled to form any pattern in our play, and while Edwards has never been quite right since his injuries, his presence does give us a definite shape. A quick resume of the day would be that we didn’t need the points, and Bolton did. In Diouf (whatever you might think of him – spitty, moody, dirty. Greedy, diving) they had a player who rarely wasted the ball and had that little bit of class about him. While Jones missed a couple of decent chances at one end, half time approached when we allowed Diouf acres of space and hours of time at the back post to pick his spot and fire across Gordon for the opener. We couldn’t really complain about that scoreline – if we’d taken our chances, we’d have been ahead, but there you go. We weren’t that much worse than the home side, but a little less hungry, and we failed to string any passes together or prevent Bolton from making telling runs. In short, we made them look better than they really are – a speciality of ours, it seems.

As the second half began, Chopra got in a shot which was no problem for their keeper, and Jones continued to be a threat in the air, but without doing the important thing. Fifteen minutes into the second half Roy threw all his cards on the table by replacing Miller, Noz (who’d never looked comfortable) and Chopra with Murphy, Leadbitter, and O’Donovan. The Latter almost set up Jones as he set about his day’s work with enthusiasm, but Kenwyne failed to connect with the cross. Leadbitter got into the game more than Miller had, and Deano moved to right back as we re-shaped. Murphy, on the other hand, failed to get forward much, and for the second successive game glanced in a header from a corner. At the wrong end this time, and despite the presence of Reid in the back of the net. A few players should have been playing for their futures at the Reebok, and Miller, Richardson, and Chopra didn’t do themselves any favours. A big summer for Roy with Niall’s chequebook, methinks, and a nervous one for a lot of the players.

Man of the Match? Probably Evans, as he was the only person seeming able to find a team mate with a pass all afternoon, as well as keeping the combative Davies under control most of the time.

Back to Blackpool, an evening with Wilko Johnson at Riffs club, a debate of which five players we should keep, then wind our weary way home via Lancaster on Sunday,.

Oh, and lose the memory stick. Pillock.

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