Neil Critchley on Blackpool's 'comfortable' victory against Bristol City and why CJ Hamilton and Josh Bowler were brought off

Neil Critchley pointed out how nice it was to enjoy a rare “comfortable” victory for his Blackpool side.
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Blackpool 3-1 Bristol City: CJ Hamilton and Josh Bowler star as Seasiders breeze...

The Seasiders breezed past Bristol City 3-1 at a blustery Bloomfield Road this afternoon to make it three wins on the spin on home turf.

It was only the third time this season that Critchley’s men, who are still unbeaten in the league in 2022, have scored more than two goals in a league game this season.

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The three points were wrapped up in comfortable fashion by CJ Hamilton, Gary Madine and Josh Bowler, moving Pool onto 40 points and only five adrift of the play-offs.

“It’s not often you can use the word ‘comfortable’ in the Championship,” Critchley said.

“I was actually thinking about that driving in today about the last time we won a game and my heart wasn’t racing at the end of the game when we’re 1-0 up or 2-1 up.

“But we were deserved victors today and played really well and scored some good goals, but the only blemish was the goal we conceded.

Critchley celebrates with the North Stand at the final whistleCritchley celebrates with the North Stand at the final whistle
Critchley celebrates with the North Stand at the final whistle
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“It was a really good all-round team performance from us today and it showed. We’re in good form at the minute.”

Hamilton got the ball rolling, tapping home after Jerry Yates had headed Jordan Gabriel’s cross towards the back post.

Just two minutes later, Blackpool doubled their lead through Madine’s header, while Bowler added gloss at the start of the second-half with a clever finish after a mazy run into the box.

“The goals we scored are things we’ve been working on,” Critchley added.

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“When the work you do on the training pitch and highlight to the players comes off it makes all the hard work worthwhile.

“The first goal, Jordan whisks the ball out to Gary and then we’ve protected our attack and counter-pressed really well. It’s come out again to Jordan, who has been working on his half-space crossing and it’s a lovely knockdown from Jerry and good movement from CJ in the box to tap it home. It was a fantastic goal.

“In the team meeting on Friday, I said it was about time we scored from a set-piece and it was a good delivery from Kenny (Dougall), good timing of Gary’s jump and a fantastic header.

“Two goals in quick succession settled us down but we were playing with confidence before that.

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“The third goal in any game is really important and we got it.

“With the way we set up and the way we play, there were quite a few moments in the first-half where we were winning the ball back and could spring some counter-attacks on them with CJ and Josh coming alive.

“Because of the formation they play, you know you can transition out to the sides and get them and we got them in the second-half because of that.

“It’s a great ball over to Josh and he’s killed it dead with his first touch to bring it down and then you know when it’s one-vs-one it’s a defender’s worst nightmare. He’s come inside and tucked it away lovely, so that was a great goal.

“At that point in the game, we were comfortable.”

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Such was Blackpool’s dominance, Critchley was able to bring off his star performers - Hamilton and Bowler - midway through the second-half.

But Pool’s head coach insists this wasn’t with one eye on Tuesday night’s trip to Coventry City.

“It wasn’t for that reason, I can assure you we were fully concentrated on getting the three points here,” he said.

“Josh had been booked and it only takes something daft to happen, so we decided to take him off.

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“CJ was tiring. There were a couple of moments where the ball ran away from him a little bit and we have some data to back that up on the side. He had put a lot into the game.

“When you can bring Owen (Dale) and Charlie (Kirk) on, you know you’re bringing good players on who have got energy and had put a right shift in too. He was a right handful and the defenders couldn’t cope with him.

“It was nice for Jake (Beesley) to come on and get his debut as well, so it was a great day all around.

“It was nice for Jake and Charlie to get a taste and I told them before they went on to make a good first impression, because this was their chance to impress the supporters.

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“Go and show them what they’re about and I felt they both did that.”

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