Memory Match: Blackpool knock Swansea for six but miss out on automatic promotion, 2007

Blackpool missed out on automatic promotion despite hitting Swansea for SIX as they claimed a seventh straight victory in their final game of the season.

The Seasiders went into the game needing to win while hoping Bristol City would slip up against Rotherham United, but the Robins claimed a 3-1 victory.

Pool would now carry their fine form, which has seen them lose just one of their last 14 outings, into the play-offs.

Roberto Martinez’s side went all out to score as many goals as possible as they still had slim hopes of catching Oldham Athletic in sixth, who had a superior goal difference of plus three.

With a full house at the Liberty Stadium, the stage was set for what turned out to be an enthralling encounter.

The goals were flying in and the longest time we had to wait for the ball to hit the back of the net was 17 minutes.

Andy Morrell came close to breaking the deadlock early on but his sliding shot rolled just wide of the far post.

Both sides looked bright in the early stages but it was the home side who opened the scoring, Izzy Iriekpen rising well at the back post to head home.

The lead last just 11 minutes though, Pool firing back through Morrell with the first of his four-goal haul.

The scorer of Swansea’s goal, Iriekpen, lost possession after stumbling allowing Morrell to race through on goal and chip the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper.

It was soon Blackpool’s turn to take the lead just after the half-hour mark thanks to a superb strike from Keigan Parker that flew into the top corner from all of 25 yards.

The Seasiders, full of confidence from their recent run, continued to dazzle the hosts with some superb one-touch football.

But Swansea played their part too, and soon dragged themselves level at the start of the second period through Lee Trundle, who volleyed an impressive volley on the turn into the bottom corner.

The striker had the chance to make it 3-2 to the home side when he was brought down for a penalty, but he could only direct his spot kick onto the post.

Swansea did eventually take the lead on 55 minutes as Iriekpen scored his second, but Pool wasted no time in making it 3-3, Morrell heading home into an empty net after Shaun Barker’s long-range strike had thundered off the crossbar.

Four minutes later, the topsy-turvy nature of the game continued apace as Blackpool edged their noses in front to make it 4-3, as Morrell completed his hat-trick.

Three soon became four for Morrell as he lobbed the Swansea goalkeeper with a sublime strike, the shot stopper then suffering a similar fate as Parker grabbed his second with an equally-exquisite lob from 25 yards to make it six.

TEAMS

Swansea: Gueret, Amankwaah (Abbott), Iriekpen, Lawrence, Austin, Britton, Craney, O’Leary (Williams), Robinson (Allen), Trundle, Duffy

Blackpool: Hart, Jackson, Williams, Barker, Evatt, Southern, Forbes (Fox), Jorgensen, Hoolahan (Gillett), Parker, Morrell (Vernon)

Attendance: 18,903