Matthew Pennington’s first half header was quickly cancelled out by a goal from Mark Harris, with neither team able to find a winner at Bloomfield Road despite both having further chances.
Following last week’s defeat to Stevenage, Neil Critchley’s side would’ve been hoping to pick up maximum points against another team with their sights set on the play-off places, but were unable to find a winner on this occasion.
Blackpool had a couple of half chances during the early stages of the game. After his recent success in similar areas, Albie Morgan tried his luck from the edge of the box, with slight deflection taking the ball wide of the right post. Meanwhile, a good passage of play down the right side opened up space in the box for Karamoko Dembele, who curled his shot off target.
The opening goal came in the 17th minute after a well worked setpiece routine from the Seasiders. A deep corner into the box was met by Ollie Norburn, with the midfielder poking the ball back into the danger zone for Pennington to head past Jamie Cumming.
Blackpool weren’t ahead for long, as Oxford quickly struck back in a similar fashion. Sam Long headed down from a corner into the path of Harris, who pounced on the opportunity to fire the ball into the back of the net from close-range.
The U’s nearly edged their way in front before the break, but were denied by a superb block by Marvin Ekpiteta, with the centre back throwing his body on the line to stop a certain goal.
Following the restart, the Seasiders were once again on the front foot. Kyle Joseph was denied a couple of times by Cumming, with the latter of the two being a superb save from a headed attempt.
Heading into the final quarter of the match, a triple change saw George Byers come on for his debut in Tangerine, following his Deadline Day loan move from Sheffield Wednesday.
The best chance of the second half came the way of Billy Bodin in the 86th minute, with the substitute hitting the back post with free header when he should’ve been scoring.
Here’s how the Seasiders performed:
7. Ollie Norburn- 6.5
Ollie Norburn provided the assist for Pennington's goal, with a good ball back into the danger zone. The midfielder could've done better in other scenarios in the game. Photo: CameraSport - Dave Howarth
8. Albie Morgan- 7
Albie Morgan had an early shot just deflected past the post for the Seasiders, and hit another effort straight at Cumming. On the whole, he was bright enough. Photo: CameraSport - Dave Howarth
9. Hayden Coulson- 6
It wasn't quite Hayden Coulson's day on the left side, with the wing-back unable to find the right ball into the box. Photo: CameraSport - Dave Howarth
10. Karamoko Dembele- 7
Karamoko Dembele had a couple of bright moments, but couldn't create as much as he would've liked. A number of high balls were fired in his direction, which he was never going to win. Photo: CameraSport - Dave Howarth
11. Shayne Lavery- 7
Shayne Lavery looked sharp throughout his 72 minutes on the pitch, causing trouble for the visitors when running at them. The striker just didn't receive that fortunate break to get a clear opportunity. Photo: CameraSport - Dave Howarth
12. Kyle Joseph- 7
Kyle Joseph was hardworking as usual up front. The striker had a headed effort saved by Jamie Cumming in the second half. Photo: CameraSport - Dave Howarth