Cheltenham Town 1-3 Blackpool: 10-man Seasiders ease into the last 16 of the FA Youth Cup

The young Seasiders controlled their fourth round tie from start to finish despite being a man down for over an hour at Whaddon Road due to Tayt Trusy’s straight red.

Jake Daniels got them off to the perfect start, scoring after just four minutes, only for the Robins to hit back four minutes later.

But from that point onwards it was one-way traffic and goals from Dannen Francis and Will Squires gave them the lead their play deserved.

Such was Blackpool’s dominance, they could easily have added more to their tally and they certainly had the chances to do so.

While the Under-19s didn’t hit the free-flowing best they showed against Huddersfield Town in the previous round, they were in command throughout and never looked in danger of being knocked out despite their numerical disadvantage.

They were impressively dominant in the second-half in particular and took their game to another level on the break despite Trusty’s dismissal.

John Murphy’s side will now be hoping to land a plum tie against one of the Premier League big boys in the fifth round of the competition.

Blackpool made a dream start to the game as they took the lead with their first sight of goal after just four minutes.

Jake Daniels was the man to make the early breakthrough as he timed his run smartly to meet Dannen Francis’ lofted cross to toe-poke past the stricken Cheltenham goalkeeper.

Their lead only lasted four minutes though, as the Robins quickly levelled with a slice of good fortune.

Cheltenham captain Joe Hunt looked to pick out a teammate in the middle as he roamed down the right wing, but his cross inadvertently lobbed keeper Alex McLachlan and nestled in the corner of the Blackpool net.

It might have been a lively start in terms of goals, but both sides were struggling to keep hold of possession for any sustained period of time in the opening stages.

Blackpool’s superior quality soon showed though, Dannen Francis coming close to restoring his side’s lead, turning his man inside and out and skewing just wide of the upright after pouncing on a poor pass out from the back.

Tayt Trusty then dragged a shot wide from the edge of the box as the visitors maintained their presence in the Cheltenham half.

The pressure told midway through the half when Francis, the provider of Pool’s first goal, added his name to the scoresheet with a smart low, drilled finish.

It followed some persistent work from Johnny Johnston down the right, which led to a Jack Moore cross being partially cleared.

The Robins came within inches of levelling for the second time in the evening within three minutes of Francis’ strike.

But McLachlan made two important stops in quick succession to ensure that didn’t happen, somehow managing to tip Adulai Sambu’s 20-yard piledriver around the post before denying Will Armitage from the resulting corner.

Trusty, who was in imposing form for Blackpool in the middle of the park, roamed forward for the away side before sending a low shot straight at the keeper.

While the Robins had their moments, Blackpool remained in control and continued to create promising openings on a consistent basis.

Joe Strawn, who had been quiet up to this point, burst alive in the box before seeing a low shot from the angle well saved.

The Seasiders were dealt a major setback though five minutes before the break when they were reduced to 10 men.

Trusty was the man given his marching orders, shown a straight red for a late and high challenge on Sambu.

Despite the deficit, Pool came within inches of making it 3-1 a minute before half-time when Jake Moore curled inches wide with a 25-yard free-kick.

Blackpool emerged unchanged for the second-half, although John Murphy did change things around a little tactically by moving Daniels to the right wing. This left Johnston to lead the line on his own in a 4-4-1.

The Robins began the second half brightly, threatening through Brennan Denness-Barrett whose close range shot was well blocked by Moore.

The right-back then posed a threat at the other end of the field, racing towards goal from deep before shooting straight at the keeper.

The visitors, who retained a threat going forwards despite being a man down, squandered a big chance to make it 3-1 when Daniels, the scorer of their first, skewed wide following a quick break.

Thankfully they weren’t left to regret the miss for too long as went on to add a third just two minutes later.

It was a scrappy goal, but they all count. Defender Will Squires was the player to stab home from close range after the ball was kept alive at the back post following a bit of pinball in the Cheltenham box.

A fourth almost followed through Daniels, who drilled just wide of the far post after breaching the Cheltenham defence on the counter-attack once again.

Try as they might, the hosts really struggled to create any chances of note in the final stages as Pool held on relatively comfortably.

Murphy’s men threatened again 12 minutes from time when substitute Arnold Matshazi rifled in a volley which was superbly tipped behind.

Daniels, meanwhile, came close to adding what would have been a deserved second goal of the night with a curling effort which deflected agonisingly wide. In the following move, skipper Moore sent a swerving long-range effort just over the bar.

There was further agony for Daniels as he failed to find the target from a corner despite being left unmarked at the back stick.

But it wasn’t to matter, as the damage had already been done and Blackpool’s place in the next round was assured.

TEAMS

Cheltenham: Parsisson, Hunt, Taylor, Jakeways, T Spencer, Denness-Barrett, Armitage, Sambu (R Spencer), Liggett (Dashfield), Miles, Simpson (Aldridge)

Subs not used: Jenner, Woodall, Skurek, George

Blackpool: McLachlan, Moore, Squires, Fitzgerald, Littler, Trusty, Mariette, Francis (Harrison), Strawn, Daniels, Johnston (Matshazi)

Subs not used: Cunningham, Bjork, Donkor, Byron, Yelegon

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