Blackpool and Fleetwood Town meet again as they play out entertaining draw in reserve fixture

Both sides fielded strong starting XI’s in this afternoon’s Central League Cup group stage fixture.

The likes of Mark Howard, Michael Nottingham, Jordan Thompson, Sean Scannell and Ryan Hardie were named in the Seasiders’ line-up.

Meanwhile, former Pool defender Peter Clarke captained a Fleetwood side that also included Alex Cairns, Ash Hunter and Conor McAleny.

All four goals came in the second half, with Ryan Hardie scoring a brace before Harvey Saunders did the same for the Cod Army.

It means Hardie has now scored five goals in his last two outings for Blackpool’s reserve side, having netted a hat-trick in their last game against Morecambe.

The first half failed to deliver anything of note, with the torrential rain causing real issues for the players.

The second 45 minutes sparked into life just two minutes after the restart as Hardie opened the scoring with an incredible long-range effort.

The striker spotted Fleetwood’s Cairns off his line and, fully 40 yards out, lobbed the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net.

The former Rangers man made it 2-0 to the away side just 10 minutes later. Sean Scannell did well down the left flank before setting it up nicely for Hardie to score with a cute back-heeled finish from close range.

As the wind and rain swept in, Fleetwood came back into the game on 59 minutes through a good finish from Saunders.

Saunders then levelled proceedings five minutes later with a powerful effort into the back of the net from inside the area to share the spoils at a drenched Poolfoot Farm.

Report supplied by Blackpool FC. The media were asked not to attend the game.

TEAMS

Fleetwood: Cairns, Southam-Hales, Clarke, Holgate, Rydel, Biggins, Sheron, Matete, Mooney, Hunter, McAleny

Blackpool: Howard, Shaw, Nottingham, Bushiri, Macdonald, Antwi, Thompson, Roache. Weston, Scannell, Hardie