Blackpool 2-3 Gillingham: Last-ditch sucker-punch condemns Seasiders and under-fire manager Simon Grayson to yet another costly defeat

A suckerpunch in the last action of the game condemned Blackpool and under-fire manager Simon Grayson to another costly defeat.

The Seasiders appeared to be heading for their first back-to-back league wins since November following Armand Gnanduillet’s sixth-minute strike.

But the away side stunned the Bloomfield Road crowd with two quickfire goals in the second half.

Nevertheless, Pool appeared to have snatched a point out of nowhere when Nathan Delfouneso headed home in the first of four minutes of stoppage time.

But the visitors still had time to win it with the final action of the game, Brandon Hanlan heading home from a corner.

The result sees Pool slump to their seventh defeat from their last nine league outings, increasing pressure on Grayson in the process with owner Simon Sadler watching on from the stands.

The Seasiders were unsurprisingly unchanged from the weekend win against Southend United, a result that marked Pool’s return to winning ways after two months without a victory.

The old alteration to their squad came on the subs bench, with James Husband returning from an ankle injury to replace Jordan Thorniley, who dropped out of the squad altogether.

Mark Howard, Teddy Howe, Ben Garrity and Sean Scannell were all left out, while Jak Alnwick, Ryan Edwards and Sullay Kaikai remain sidelined with injuries.

With owner Simon Sadler back in town and watching on from the directors’ box, Pool came flying out of the traps early on - almost breaking the deadlock after just six minutes.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner deflected to Gary Madine just six yards out but the striker was denied his second goal since returning to the club by a point-blank save from Jack Bonham.

It wasn’t to matter though, as barely 60 seconds later the Seasiders did make that all-important early breakthrough.

It came from that man Armand Gnanduillet once again, the 27-year-old scoring for the 18th time this season, and it was all of the striker’s own doing.

The Frenchman rode a challenge down the left, before bearing down on goal and beating Bonham with a low effort across the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

The two sides were playing with two distinct styles, Pool attempting to get the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Connor Ronan on the ball to try and dictate things, while the Gills were a constant threat from set pieces and long throws.

The first occasion Gillingham threatened did come via that route, a corner causing confusion inside the Blackpool box only for Grayson’s men to finally scramble clear.

The Seasiders were given something of a let-off on 20 minutes when nippy forward Brandon Hanlan got in behind Taylor Moore only to loft an effort wastefully over the bar.

With the visitors starting to gain the ascendancy, it was left to Pool to find joy on the attack and that’s what they almost did to precision just before the half-hour mark.

Dewsbury-Hall fed Ronan down the left, space subsequently opening up nicely for the on-loan Wolves man, only for the midfielder to fire into the side-netting after cutting inside his marker.

Pool wasted another glorious chance to add a second five minutes before the break, this time Madine was the guilty party.

It came after Marc Bola fired a dangerous volley towards the back post which fell right to the feet of the striker, giving him what looked to be a simple tap-in.

All Madine had to do was direct his effort into the back of the net but he failed to make a clean contact, his first-time effort ending up in the grateful arms of Bonham.

The Seasiders were forced into making a chance at the break, Grayson bringing on Matty Virtue to replace skipper Jay Spearing who had picked up a knock in the opening period.

Virtue’s first serious involvement was to power a rising volley towards goal from the edge of the box, but the substitute couldn’t quite keep his shot down.

After a quiet spell, a half chance of sorts came the way of Ben Heneghan from Dewsbury-Hall’s corner but the defender’s scuffed effort was easily claimed by the keeper.

A few moments later, the away side thought they were going to be awarded a penalty when Chris Maxwell brought down Jordan Roberts, but fortunately for Pool the linesman’s flag was raised for offside.

Pool weren’t prepared to just sit on their lead and continued to pepper the Gillingham goal, Dewsbury-Hall coming close with a low effort that whistled just past the near post.

The longer the game went on without Pool adding a second, the more fearful the home supporters became that the away side would snatch something.

But no-one could have predicted what transpired, as the game was flipped on its head with Gillingham scoring two in two minutes.

The first came in inexplicable circumstances, the strong and powerful John Akinde allowed to get in behind Pool’s backline before slotting an effort past Maxwell - despite the keeper’s best efforts.

Having trailed for 67 minutes, the away side soon found themselves in the lead as substitute Regan Charles-Cook somehow managed to squeeze a shot past Maxwell at the keeper’s near post.

With Pool left utterly shell-shocked, Gillingham were a whisker away from adding a third as Jack Tucker hit the crossbar with a looping header.

Heading into stoppage-time, Pool looked completely devoid of ideas.

But substitute Nathan Delfouneso was left completely unmarked at the back post to head home from Liam Feeney’s deep cross.

The Gillingham defenders looked to the linesman, hoping for his flag to be raised, but the goal stood.

Unfortunately the visitors still had time to snatch the winner with a last-second sucker punch, Hanlan heading home from a corner with the last action of the game.

The final whistle was met with boos from the home supporters, with a chant of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” ringing out from the North Stand.

TEAMS

Blackpool: Maxwell, Turton, Heneghan, Moore, Bola, Spearing (Virtue), Dewsbury-Hall, Ronan (Ward), Feeney, Madine (Delfouneso), Gnanduillet

Subs not used: Sims, Husband, Macdonald, Nuttall

Gillingham: Bonham, Fuller, Tucker, Ehmer, Ogilvie, O’Connor, Pringle (Charles-Cook), Graham (O'Keefe), Hanlan, Roberts (Mandron), Akinde

Subs not used: Walsh, Woods, Lee, Willock

Referee: Darren Handley

Attendance: 6,816 (125 Gillingham)