Crawley Town 2-1 Blackpool: Seasiders slump to opening day defeat to relegation-favourites

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Junior Quitirna were both on the scoresheet for the Red Devils, as the bookies’ relegation favourites gave a good account of themselves on their League One return.

Ashley Fletcher was able to mark his Seasiders debut with a goal off the bench, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

Olly Casey had an early opportunity to open the scoring for the visitors, but couldn’t beat Jojo Wallacott with a headed attempt, following a dangerous free kick into the box from Lee Evans on his first competitive start for Blackpool.

Despite having the first chance of the game, the Seasiders soon found themselves on the back foot, with Crawley applying continuous pressure in their half.

This eventually resulted in the deadlock being broken, as Hepburn-Murphy controlled a chipped ball over the top, before finishing past Dan Grimshaw.

Ahead of the half hour mark, the Red Devils goalscorer tried to double his side’s lead, but curled an effort from the edge of the box wide of the target.

The forward did find the back of the net with his next attempt, but his celebrations were cut short by the referee’s whistle.

Crawley didn’t have to wait too much longer for their second, as Quitirna added his name to the scoresheet, with help from a deflection off Matthew Pennington - which lifted the ball over the keeper.

Blackpool had a couple of chances before the break, with Sonny Carey dragging a shot wide from the edge of the box and Ollie Norburn striking the post after some improvised play.

Following the restart, Max Anderson and Jay Williams both had further attempts for Scott Lindsey’s side, but neither caused any concern for Grimshaw.

A couple of days on from his permanent move from Sunderland, Elliot Embleton attempted to mark his Blackpool return with a wonder strike, but hit the ball well wide of the mark shortly after being introduced off the bench.

Another Seasiders substitute was able to make an instant impact, with a clearance from Wollacott deflecting in off Fletcher, as the striker was rewarded for his pressure on the keeper.

The summer arrival came close to levelling the scores shortly after, but couldn’t get a clean contact onto a ball into the box from Jake Beesley.

After putting his first shot wide of the target, Embleton forced the Crawley keeper into a save with a second, after a bright run forward.

Meanwhile, down the other end, Grimshaw was called into action to deny Ade Adeyemo.

The Red Devils found the back of the net again on their next attack, but Panutche Camara was denied by the linesman’s flag for offside.

This proved to have no impact on the result as Crawley saw out their 2-1 win, with Grimshaw required to make a late save to stop them from adding another in the final seconds.

Blackpool: Dan Grimshaw, Matthew Pennington, Olly Casey, James Husband, CJ Hamilton, Lee Evans, Ollie Norburn (60’), Sonny Carey, Hayden Coulson (82’), Jordan Rhodes (71’), Kyle Joseph (71’).

Substitutes: Richard O’Donnell, Elkan Baggott, Zac Ashworth, Elliot Embleton (60’), Rob Apter (82’), Ashley Fletcher (71’), Jake Beesley (71’).