Late heartbreak for Blackpool as Jerry Yates misses penalty in cruel Swansea City defeat

Michael Appleton’s side had weathered the Swansea storm and were the side pressing to win the game in the final stages.

After a poor first-half, which resulted in the home side being booed off, Blackpool came out of the blocks a different side in the second period.

Jerry Yates squandered a priceless chance to put their noses in front, seeing a penalty saved by the legs of Andy Fisher.

Nevertheless, the hosts remained undeterred and ploughed forward in search of a late winner at Bloomfield Road.

But they were cruelly undone on the break three minutes from time after Dom Thompson was left on his own at the back against two Swansea men.

Ntcham had the simple task of tapping home into the back of an empty net to break Blackpool hearts and condemn Appleton’s men to back-to-back defeats in the league.

Appleton made two changes to the side that lost 2-0 to Stoke City in their last league encounter.

Kenny Dougall and Theo Corbeanu came in for Matty Virtue and Gary Madine, who were both left out of the squad altogether.

Madine missed Tuesday night’s cup defeat to Barrow with a knock after taking a bang to his shin against Stoke.

It meant Dougall was handed a first league start of the season alongside Lewis Fiorini and Sonny Carey in midfield, while Charlie Patino was only named among the substitutes.

James Husband and Jordan Gabriel were also included on the bench after making their return from injury in midweek.

Beryly Lubala, meanwhile, was completely left out of the side as was Doug Tharme, who is now back in training.

Luke Garbutt, Kevin Stewart, Keshi Anderson and Jake Beesley all remain sidelined.

The game kicked off to a cauldron of noise inside Bloomfield Road, with plenty of noise outside as well with the Blackpool Air Show.

The Seasiders made their intentions clear from the off, launching forward with purpose only for Theo Corbeanu to balloon a shot well wide.

At the other end, Blackpool’s backline was breached too easily as Joel Piroe’s shot deflected just wide of the upright.

Most people were expecting a close and cagey game with lots of sideways passing, but that certainly wasn’t the case in the opening exchanges.

Josh Bowler almost produced a piece of magic after receiving the ball from Jerry Yates, somehow managing to skip past a couple of challenges in the box before being denied by the goalkeeper.

Dan Grimshaw, meanwhile, was called into action at the other end, saving comfortably from Michael Obafemi’s snapshot.

The away side soon settled into their rhythm, penning Blackpool in. Matt Grimes especially was pulling the strings in the middle of the park.

He went close to opening the scoring too, firing narrowly over 25 yards from goal. It looked like Grimshaw might have got a touch but only a goal kick was awarded.

Due to the searing heat, the two sets of players were temporarily taken off the pitch midway through the first-half for a drinks break.

Upon their return, the Seasiders had a good chance on the break as Sonny Carey fed Bowler, whose attempted shot through the eye of a needle was blocked.

The Seasiders were dealt a let-off 10 minutes before the interval when a flying header from Ben Cabango narrowly missed Dan Grimshaw’s goal.

The Swans soon got back into their stride towards the end of first-half, helped by the hosts who were conceding possession to them far too easily.

Fortunately most of Swansea’s efforts were coming from range, as the dangerous Obafemi failed to trouble Grimshaw with an effort from the angle.

It remained one-way pressure, as Piroe was the latest to get a shot off at goal, but again thankfully it was straight at the Blackpool keeper.

Lewis Fiorini’s sloppy first-half almost ended with the loanee inadvertently scoring an own goal as he somehow managed to direct a header hurtling towards the bottom corner, but Grimshaw was fortunately on hand to tip it around the post.

It appeared inevitable the visitors would break the deadlock in first-half injury time when the ball fell for Jay Fulton eight yards out, but Marvin Ekpiteta recovered to make a miraculous block to keep the scores level.

A little surprisingly, a few boos from the home fans greeted the half-time whistle, with many fans frustrated with their side’s willingness to sit back and soak up too much pressure.

Appleton reacted at the break, introducing Shayne Lavery in place of Theo Corbeanu.

The Northern Irishman was clearly fired up because he made a real impact off the bench, even if he was stuck out on the left wing with Yates keeping his number nine role.

Saying that, they were reliant on yet another superb Grimshaw stop to keep themselves on level terms and boy, what a save it was.

Rhys Williams stuck out a lazy leg in an attempt to block a long-range effort, inadvertently wrong-footing Grimshaw who somehow managed to fling himself across goal and claw the ball away from the line.

The wonder save sprung the Seasiders into life as they changed their approach, instead opting to go at Swansea and press high from the front, rather than sit off.

It paid dividends when Kenny Dougall was tripped inside the Swansea box after seeing a shot blocked, giving the referee no option but to point to the penalty spot.

With Madine not involved, Jerry Yates took responsibility only to see his spot kick saved by the legs of Andy Fisher.

To Blackpool’s credit, they didn’t allow the setback to affect their display and they stuck at it, taking the game to Swansea rather than waiting for something to happen.

Pool kept their foot on the pedal, as Lewis Fiorini unleashed Bowler down the right only for the winger to shoot straight at Fisher.

Appleton’s men weren’t able to sustain the level of pressure for the entirety of the half though, resulting in Swansea hitting back with their own dominance.

Blackpool once again invited pressure on themselves when they allowed Harry Darling the freedom of the midfield to bring the ball out from defence, opening up space 30 yards from goal before unleashing a long-range effort which went just over.

With 12 minutes remaining, Appleton added some fresh legs with Jordan Gabriel and Charlie Patino replacing Connolly and Carey respectively.

With only six minutes left on the clock, Bowler squandered a gilt-edged chance to win it for Blackpool after being gifted the ball down the right.

The winger ignored Yates in the centre, opting to go alone instead before blazing well over.

Bowler had a chance to redeem himself a moment later when the ball dropped to him in the box, but his shot on the turn was superbly tipped over by Fisher.

The following corner resulted in disaster as the Seasiders only left Dom Thompson back, allowing the Swans to break with two against one.

A pass across the face of goal handed Oliver Ntcham the simplest of tasks to tap home into the back of an empty net from a handful of yards, breaking Blackpool’s hearts in the process.

TEAMS

Blackpool: Grimshaw, Connolly (Gabriel), Ekpiteta, Williams, Thompson, Dougall, Fiorini, Carey (Patino), Bowler (Hamilton), Corbeanu (Lavery), Yates

Subs not used: Maxwell, Thorniley, Husband

Swansea: Fisher, Manning, Cabango, Darling, Naughton (Cullen), Sorinola (Congreve), Fulton (Ntcham), Grimes, Latibeaudiere, Obafemi, Piroe (Allen)

Subs not used: Benda, Wood, Cooper

Referee: Andy Woolmer