Weak officiating, time wasting and fine margins - Matt Scrafton's verdict on Blackpool's frustrating defeat to Tranmere Rovers

The Seasiders finding themselves on the wrong end of those fine margins continues to be their downfall.

Eight of Blackpool’s last 14 outings have ended in a 2-1 scoreline, which just highlights how tight and even the games are.

Unfortunately for the Seasiders, too often than not those 2-1 scorelines are going against them, rather than in their favour.

That was the case again at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday night where Neil Critchley endured a frustrating defeat to Tranmere Rovers in his first home game in charge.

Critchley’s first experience of being in the Bloomfield Road dugout pretty much had it all.

The only thing it lacked was a red card, although Pool probably ought to have been shown one when Matty Virtue – already on a booking – clattered into former Seasider Peter Clarke.

How referee Seb Stockbridge didn’t show a second yellow, I don’t know, but the man in the middle had a bit of a stinker all night.

Stockbridge, who was already unpopular with the Blackpool fans for his controversial decision to award Shrewsbury Town a penalty in the 1-0 defeat in December, just moments after denying the Seasiders a blatant spot kick of their own, wasn’t the reason why Pool lost to Tranmere.

But he did himself no favours with three or baffling decisions, before allowing Tranmere goalkeeper Scott Davies to take as long as he wanted over his late goal kicks despite the venom being aimed in his direction from the terraces.

You can’t really blame Davies for taking advantage of such weak officiating, I’m sure Blackpool would do exactly the same were they in Tranmere’s perilous position in the league table.

While Pool fans might disagree, this wasn’t a case of Stockbridge being biased towards Tranmere – he was equally as bad for both sides.

As already mentioned, Virtue probably ought to have been given his marching orders in the first half and there was a puzzling moment towards the end of the game where Ben Heneghan appeared to wipe out Tranmere man Corey Blackett-Taylor, only to award Blackpool a free kick.

It was a decision that had journalists in the press box scratching their heads in bemusement.

What was equally surprising was Tranmere’s first-half display, which made a mockery of their position inside League One’s bottom three.

The Seasiders had actually made a bright start to proceedings, playing some lovely one and two-touch football at a tempo the away side struggled to live with.

In fact, the game was played at a frantic pace for the entirety of the first half in what made for an entertaining affair, in complete contrast to the rubbish served up in the initial fixture at Prenton Park after Christmas.

As so often has been the case this season, Pool weren’t able to capitalise on their early dominance and it wasn’t long until the pendulum swung in Tranmere’s favour.

For the remainder of the opening half, it has to be said Blackpool very much second best.

The Seasiders were sucked into a physical battle they weren’t really prepared for. Tranmere, on the other hand, were in their element.

Micky Mellon’s men were in the ascendancy long before their opener, which came via a well-taken header from Morgan Ferrier.

The striker, who gave Pool a torrid time for the second occasion this season, got across his marker James Husband to glance home into the bottom corner.

Had Critchley’s side made it to the break just one goal down, they probably would have been fairly happy with that given Tranmere’s dominance.

But that wasn’t to be the case, as the away side doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time.

Ferrier played the role of creator this time, playing the ball into the path of strike partner James Vaughan – previously a target for the Seasiders – who produced a clinical finish in off the post.

Virtue, who was hauled off at half time to stop him from receiving a second yellow, was guilty of conceding possession in the build up.

Joe Nuttall, who struggled to make an impact, was also brought off, with Jay Spearing and Armand Gnanduillet entering the fray.

While it proved too late, the fact that Critchley was able to identify the problem and address it at the interval was encouraging. Too often this season Simon Grayson allowed the game to play out for too long before eventually making changes.

The second half was a different kettle of fish altogether, with the Seasiders camped in the Tranmere half thanks to some composed and measured football.

Once Pool got one goal back, which they did just before the hour mark when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall thundered a 25-yard howitzer into the back of the net for his third goal in four games, it appeared just a matter of time until the Seasiders would draw level and, perhaps, even go on and win the game.

A minute after Dewsbury-Hall’s wonder strike, midfield partner Connor Ronan sent a swerving, dipping low effort towards goal that Davies somehow managed to tip onto the post.

With the momentum fully on Pool’s side, and the North Stand in fine voice, wave after wave of attacks came Tranmere’s way.

Unfortunately the Seasiders weren’t able to find that second goal and it was left to Tranmere to wind the clock down, something they managed fairly efficiently thanks to a combination of their ‘game management’ and Stockbridge’s refusal to intervene.