Blackpool 3-2 Barnsley: Seasiders claim crucial win to keep League One play-off hopes alive heading into the final weekend

Sonny Carey continued his recent resurgence in the starting XI with a great finish to open the scoring, before James Husband doubled the lead ahead of half time. After the break, Hayden Coulson added the Seasiders’ third, while John McAtee and Adam Phillips both pulled goals back for the Tykes. The visitors could’ve had another, but for some Dan Grimshaw heroics.

Neil Critchley’s side are now two points behind the Yorkshire outfit- who have failed to win in their last five. Elsewhere, Lincoln City’s 2-1 win against Cheltenham Town sees them move into sixth ahead of Oxford United on goal difference, following the U’s’ 1-1 draw with Stevenage on Friday night, with Blackpool behind both by a point.

The Seasiders placed early pressure onto Neill Collins’ side. The presence of Jake Beesley forced an error from Liam Roberts, with the Barnsley keeper unable to keep hold of the ball, but with the help of his defence, an eventual shot was blocked behind for a corner.

Blackpool were eventually rewarded for their bright start to the game, as the deadlock was broken in the 11th minute. Dembele made his way forward with some fantastic footwork, before laying the ball off to Carey, who whipped a shot into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box.

Moments later, the home crowd thought they had got a second. A great ball into the area from Hayden Couslon was met by Beesley, who produced a great finish to beat Roberts; only to be denied by the linesman’s flag for offside.

Dembele also had a couple of great opportunities to double Blackpool’s advantage. The Brest loanee initially had a shot inside the box deflected just wide of the target, before seeing a free kick blocked onto the crossbar shortly after.

Chances continued to come the way of Critchley’s side, with George Byers having a volley blocked, while very little came the way of the Tykes.

In stoppage time at the end of the first half, the Seasiders were able to make it 2-0. A free kick into the box from Dembele, was met by Husband, who headed past Roberts.

Following the restart, Blackpool quickly added a third, with Coulson producing an emphatic finish into the top corner to beat the keeper after a cross from the right side fell nicely into his path.

Despite having no chance with the shot from the wing-back, Roberts was able to stop things getting worse ahead of the hour mark, denying an attempt from Dembele with a superb save.

Down the other end, Matthew Pennington was called into action defensively, with the centre back blocking an effort by substitute Fabio Jalo following a break forward from Barnsley.

On their next attack, Collins’ side did come away with something, as John McAtee found the bottom corner with a neatly placed shot. With just over 10 minutes, the visitors came close to scoring again, but were denied by a fantastic double save by Grimshaw.

This proved to be crucial, as the Tykes did find another goal through Phillips in stoppage time, as the game finished 3-2.

Blackpool FC: Dan Grimshaw, Matthew Pennington, Marvin Ekpiteta, James Husband, CJ Hamilton, George Byers (81’), Sonny Carey, Hayden Coulson (81’), Karamoko Dembele (89’), Shayne Lavery (71’), Jake Beesley (89’).

Substitutes: Richard O’Donnell, Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel (81’), Ollie Norburn (71’), Kyle Joseph (89’), Matty Virtue (81’), Olly Casey, Kylian Kouassi (89’).