Blackpool 2-3 Nottingham Forest: Spirited Seasiders suffer FA Cup heartbreak in extra time after staging two-goal comeback

Blackpool suffered heartbreak in extra time of their FA Cup third round replay- as Chris Wood helped Nottingham Forest to a 3-2 victory.
Blackpool suffered FA Cup heartbreak in extra time against Nottingham ForestBlackpool suffered FA Cup heartbreak in extra time against Nottingham Forest
Blackpool suffered FA Cup heartbreak in extra time against Nottingham Forest

The visitors had taken a two goal lead at Bloomfield Road, with Andrew Omobamidele opening the scoring during the first half, before Danilo doubled their lead shortly after the break- following a Seasiders error.

After being at fault in the build-up to Forest’s second goal, Albie Morgan made amends for his error with a superb strike- before substitute Kyle Joseph headed Neil Critchley’s side level.

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At the City Ground it had been the Premier League outfit that had come from two-goals down, which prompted the replay. In the rematch there could be no draw, with an extra half an hour required, during which time Wood was able to score the deciding goal.

Dan Grimshaw was called into action inside the opening five minutes, with the Blackpool keeper getting down well to push away a Murillo header from a corner.

The visitors didn’t have to wait too long after that to break the deadlock. A corner from the right side was flicked on towards the back post, where Omobamidele was waiting unmarked to make it 1-0.

Critchley’s side did compete with their Premier League opponents in certain areas of the pitch, but just couldn’t find a way to hurt them for a long period. Morgan tried his luck from the edge of the box on a couple of occasions- pulling both attempts wide of the target.

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Meanwhile, just before the break, Marvin Ekpiteta fired the ball across the face of goal but no one was there to finish.

A Blackpool error allowed Forest to double their lead at the start of the second half. As the Seasiders attempted to play out from the back, Morgan’s pass back to Grimshaw was intercepted. The ex-Manchester City goalkeeper did well to stop an initial effort, but the ball came back to Danilo, who found the back of the net via a deflection.

Another blow soon came the Seasiders’ way, with the man between the sticks forced off through injury, after suffering a collision in the build-up to the visitors’ second goal.

Following his earlier error, Morgan soon made amends- hitting a superb strike from the edge of the box to bring Critchley’s side back into the game.

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Grimshaw’s replacement Richard O’Donnell was called into action pretty soon down the other end, with the substitute keeper pushing away a long-ranged effort from Neco Williams.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, the Seasiders pulled themselves level. A ball into the box from Andy Lyons was met by Joseph at the back post- with the striker fresh off the bench.

From there, Blackpool looked like a threat every time they got forward. Heading into the latter stages of 10 minutes of stoppage time, a long-ranged pass from James Husband found Karamoko Dembele, who took the ball around the keeper, but saw his shot blocked on the line- prompting extra time.

Not long after play had resumed, O’Donnell made a great save to stop a Danilo effort on the turn. Following the break, there was nothing the keeper could do to stop Wood’s winner, with the striker finishing from close-range.

Blackpool FC: Dan Grimshaw (58’), Callum Connolly, Marvin Ekpiteta, James Husband, Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel (105’), Ollie Norburn, Albie Morgan, Andy Lyons, CJ Hamilton (70’), Sonny Carey (70’), Jordan Rhodes (70’).

Substitutes: Richard O’Donnell (58’), Matthew Pennington, Owen Dale (105’), Kyle Joseph (70’), Karamoko Dembele (70’), Matty Virtue, Shayne Lavery (70’), Olly Casey, Tashan Oakley-Boothe.