'If you wanted to see a microcosm of the season so far, this was it': Matt Scrafton's verdict on nine-man Blackpool's miserable defeat to AFC Wimbledon

The year 2020 has thrown up plenty of baffling scenarios but witnessing AFC Wimbledon struggle to hold on against the nine men of Blackpool must be right up there.

Neil Critchley’s side were poor with 11 men, better with 10 but superb with nine. The world just doesn’t make sense anymore.

Unfortunately it was the Seasiders’ poor start to the game, where both sides had their full complement of players still on the pitch, which ultimately cost them and condemned them to a sixth defeat from just nine league games.

The narrative after the match was that referee Sam Purkiss was the man to blame, having two dished out two contentious red cards. I can see the logic to that, the first one was debatable and the second red just looked innocuous and the decisions clearly gave Blackpool a huge mountain to climb.

But in a bizarre twist of fate, the man in the middle might have actually done Blackpool a favour.

With the onus now on Wimbledon to attack, something they’re clearly not used to doing, Blackpool were able to sit in and hit the home side on the counter.

From what I’ve seen of the Seasiders this season, and even going back to the start of pre-season, this suits them down to the ground. When they were able to pick and choose their moments to attack at speed, they became much more of an attacking threat.

We were finally seeing what we had been promised and what we had witnessed in its full glory during pre-season. Pool were direct, they played their football at an impressive tempo and intensity and the opposition simply couldn’t deal with them.

When it was 11 v 11, other than the odd set-piece, Blackpool barely created a thing and looked devoid of ideas. Considering they’ve now scored just seven goals in nine games, this surely becomes a major concern.

The frustrating thing is, they probably ought to have had a goal after just 11 minutes when they forced the ball home from a corner.

Marvin Ekpiteta appeared to be the man to get the final touch as he out jumped the Wimbledon keeper after Gary Madine, who provided a much-needed aerial presence all night, had headed a deep corner back into the six-yard box.

There didn’t appear to be a great deal in it but the referee, who seemed to hold something against the Seasiders all night, had other ideas and blew for a free-kick. If Pool’s coaching staff were frustrated by that decision, just you wait until what comes later on.

Wimbledon play exactly like you’d expect a Wimbledon side to play. They’re very solid, they’re resolute and they make life difficult for you. Very similar to Gillingham in that respect.

So for Blackpool to go a goal down just two minutes later was the worst thing they could do, because it gave the hosts something to hold onto and, for the remaining 77 minutes, would look to frustrate, wind the clock down and feign injury at every given opportunity.

Even more frustrating was the manner in which Blackpool conceded their goal. It was so, so soft.

Callum Reilly was allowed to waltz in from the right wing, float past Sullay Kaikai and Demetri Mitchell without an attempted challenge in sight before firing past Chris Maxwell, who will be disappointed with the way the ball slipped underneath him.

Blackpool were unable to muster much of a response. Their play continued to be too slow, too predictable and too ponderous, they took far too many touches and allowed Wimbledon to retreat into their deep defensive block.

Their night went from bad to worse seven minutes before half-time when they were reduced to 10 men.

Ethan Robson was the man to be shown a straight red after clattering into Reilly having overstretched following a poor touch. Pool will argue it was a 50-50 challenge and a yellow would have sufficed, but Robson gave the referee a decision to make.

At this point you’re thinking Blackpool will be in for a long night and it could get messy, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Whatever criticisms we throw at the players for their poor start to the season, which are wholly justified, they deserve huge credit for how they performed with 10 men.

Madine, who probably ought to have scored with a header from Sullay Kaikai’s free-kick earlier in the game, came close with another header which Wimbledon somehow managed to scramble over their own crossbar.

The Dons still had the odd chance, that was always going to be the case with a one-man advantage with bigger gaps appearing behind Pool’s backline, but they were few and far between.

When they did get in, Maxwell was there to make a superb stop, tipping Joe Piggott’s low curling effort around the post.

CJ Hamilton, dropped to the bench following his frustrating display at the weekend, came on and made a real difference. His pace frightened the living daylights out of the Wimbledon defence and twice in the final stages he got beyond his marker only to fire frustratingly wide on both occasions.

Any slim hopes of Pool making an unlikely comeback appeared to be over when Dan Ballard joined Robson in the dressing room.

His dismissal was a bizarre one, at first no-one seemed to realise what had even happened. Apparently the referee, or perhaps the fourth official, who spoke to the man in charge at length following the incident, spotted an elbow on Shane McLoughlin. If there was any contact whatsoever, it was minimal.

The Wimbledon player writhed around on the ground before clutching his face, which looked to have swayed the officials.

However, it was the home side – still with 11 players on the pitch, remember – who were in disarray in the final moments. They were all over the shop defensively and were desperate to hear the final whistle.

Blackpool just needed one final chance and they got it four minutes from time. Mitchell, who had struggled defensively all night, had the chance to redeem himself when he was left in acres of space behind Wimbledon’s backline, only to shoot weakly at the goalkeeper who was completely stranded in no man’s land.

Chance gone and another costly defeat beckoned – 406 days have now passed since Blackpool’s last victory on the road.

That statistic simply has to change when Blackpool take on bottom-side Burton Albion on Saturday at the Pirelli Stadium.