Hull City 1-1 Blackpool: Seasiders waste golden chance to make it three wins after being pegged back late on by 10-men Tigers

The Seasiders looked to be heading to their fourth win in five games thanks to Shayne Lavery’s superfly-taken first-time strike.

But the game flipped on its head 10 minutes from time when the struggling Tigers were reduced to 10 men in the 80th minute.

But the dismissal seemed to spur the home side into life and Tom Eaves came off the bench to level matters four minutes from time.

Neil Critchley’s side still had chances to retake the lead in the dying minutes, but they were unable to make the most of their chances.

While a draw away at Hull is not to be sniffed at, it feels more like a defeat given the nature of how Hull equalised.

Nevertheless, Pool are still looking in healthy shape having lost just one of their last five games.

There was a surprise inclusion in the Blackpool side in the form of Gary Madine, who was handed his first start in eight months.

The striker has previously made three substitute appearances so far this season following his recovery from a niggling groin injury.

Tyreece John-Jules was the man to make way, while Demetri Mitchell came in for Josh Bowler.

It was also a first start of the season for the winger, who had been sidelined for eight weeks with a knee injury sustained in pre-season.

There was still no spot in the 18 for Jordan Gabriel, who returned to training on Sunday after being forced to self-isolate after his girlfriend tested positive for Covid-19.

But Kevin Stewart returned from a foot injury to be included among Blackpool’s substitutes.

Reece James (foot), Matty Virtue (ACL), Grant Ward (achilles), Kevin Stewart (foot), Owen Dale (foot) and CJ Hamilton (foot) all remain sidelined.

Teddy Howe, Oliver Sarkic, Bez Lubala and Joe Nuttall, meanwhile, continue to be left out having not been registered in Blackpool’s squad.

Hull, meanwhile, made three changes from their 2-0 defeat to Stoke City at the weekend.

Grant McCann’s side, who joined the Seasiders in winning promotion from League One last season, started the day inside the bottom three, having failed to win since the opening day of the season.

Unsurprisingly then, Hull looked short on confidence in the early exchanges, as Blackpool did most of the early running.

With Demetri Mitchell and Shayne Lavery dropping in-between the lines, the Seasiders looked a threat when they got into Hull’s final third.

But it was the hosts who produced the first shot in anger of the night, Greg Docherty whistling one harmlessly wide from long range.

Pool’s first chance of the game came via their main dangerman Lavery, who fired across the face of goal after latching onto Madine’s clever flick-on.

The Seasiders were still looking the more threatening side though, working the ball into some dangerous positions on a fairly regular basis.

The atmosphere among the home crowd finally stirred midway through the opening half as Mitchell and Keshi Anderson produced a couple of meaty challenges.

Critchley’s men were given a major let-off on 27 minutes when Chris Maxwell produced a weak pass out from the back straight to Ryan Longman.

The forward pulled the ball back to Mallik Wilks in front of goal, but the Hull man delayed and delayed before the chance eventually went to waste.

Wilks looked to atone for his wastefulness a moment later when he met a ball in from the left inside the six-yard box, but Maxwell was equal to his downward header.

In either case, the referee blew for a foul after Wilks was adjudged to have shoved Richard Keogh to the ground prior to meeting the cross.

Pool, who had just slipped off their game for a 10-minute period or so, hit back with a chance for Mitchell, whose curling effort from the right was palmed away from danger by Matt Ingram.

The Seasiders began to become a little sloppy at this moment, which allowed Grant McCann’s men to get on top. But neither side were creating a great deal and there wasn’t much quality on either.

Four minutes before the interval, Dujon Sterling was required to make a vital interception after Wilks had sprung the offside trap.

Just as it looked like Hull were getting on top, Blackpool took the lead with a goal of real quality.

Ryan Wintle laid the ball off to Mitchell, who had switched flanks to come over to the left.

The winger played a lovely ball into the centre where Lavery lashed the ball high into the roof of the net for his seventh goal of the season.

The Tigers were clearly given a rocket during the break by McCann as they emerged three or four minutes early for the start of the second-half.

They caused Pool’s backline one or two problems early on too, Longman firing into the side-netting after the Seasiders could only partially clear a free-kick.

Richard Keogh then made a vital block to deny Keane Lewis-Potter as the home side continued to pile on some pressure.

The Seasiders responded well though as Lavery came to life once again, the Northern Irishman firing over after being played in by Keshi Anderson.

Critchley freshened things up on the hour mark, introducing Josh Bowler in place of Mitchell, who got a useful 60 minutes under his belt on his first start of the season.

Bowler almost made an instant impact against his former club, breaking forward at speed before seeing his shot well blocked.

Jerry Yates was the next man to be introduced from the bench, replacing Madine who was given a healthy ovation as he trudged off the pitch by the travelling Pool fans.

As Hull threw caution to the wind in the final 15 minutes and threw more men forward, space began to open up for Pool on the counter.

On one occasion, Anderson was allowed to race towards the edge of the box where he wastefully lashed wide of the upright.

Hull’s task became even harder when they were reduced to 10 men 10 minutes from time, former Fleetwood man Lewie Coyle shown a second yellow for a pull back on Lavery.

Despite being a man down, Hull drew themselves level four minutes later.

The hosts were inexplicably allowed to counter at speed, as Lewis-Potter picked out substitute Tom Eaves who fired home past Maxwell.

It could have got even worse for the Seasiders, who almost went behind to the 10 men as Maxwell turned Tyler Smith’s curling effort around the post.

Pool still had chances to win the game late on, Bowler going close on two occasions with two similar opportunities.

The winger, cutting in from the right, fired a goalbound effort into teammate Yates before lashing just wide in the five minutes of stoppage time.

Luke Garbutt had the final chance of the night, arrowing a right-footed effort towards the near post, but Ingram got across well to palm the ball away.

TEAMS

Hull: Ingram, Coyle, Jones, Elder, Greaves, Cannon (Eaves), Docherty, Moncur, Wilks, Lewis-Potter, Longman (T. Smith)

Subs not used: Baxter, Smallwood, Emmanuel, M. Smith, Bernard

Blackpool: Maxwell, Sterling, Keogh, Ekpiteta, Garbutt, Dougall, Wintle, Mitchell (Bowler), Anderson, Lavery (John-Jules), Madine (Yates)

Subs not used: Moore, Connolly, Husband, Stewart

Referee: Matthew Donohue

Attendance: 10,189

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