Wolves loanee Theo Corbeanu bags again as Blackpool get back to winning ways against Huddersfield Town

The winger’s first-half effort saw Michael Appleton’s side pick up their third win of the campaign to see them move up into the top half of the table.

The Seasiders had to survive a spot of controversy in the second-half when Yuta Nakayama’s close-range effort appeared to cross the line, but the referee didn’t award the goal despite the use of goalline technology.

But the visitors held on for the three points to win at the John Smith’s Stadium for the first time since 2007.

Gary Madine missed out through suspension as Blackpool made three changes from their midweek defeat to Blackburn Rovers.

The striker has been handed a three-match suspension for violent conduct following an apparent stamp on Lewis Travis just before half-time on Wednesday night.

Elsewhere, Josh Bowler dropped out of the squad for obvious reasons while Shayne Lavery was relegated to the bench.

The three players to come into the side were Jordan Thorniley, Theo Corbeanu and Ian Poveda, who was handed his first start after getting 10 minutes off the bench in midweek.

Luke Garbutt featured in a match-day squad for the first time this season after being named among the substitutes.

With a shortage of options, youngster Jack Moore was also included on the bench alongside deadline day signing Callum Wright.

Sonny Carey served the third and final match of his three-game suspension, while Kevin Stewart, Charlie Patino, Lewis Fiorini, Keshi Anderson and Jake Beesley all remain sidelined through injury.

Before the game got underway, a poignant minute’s applause was held for Eleanor Haugh, a member of Huddersfield’s communications team who died suddenly on Friday at the age of 26.

The game’s first shot on goal came via Theo Corbeanu, who was back in the team after back-to-back substitute appearances.

The winger drove through the centre of the pitch before firing over from long range. Keeper Lee Nicholls bizarrely ducked as the ball flew just two or three yards over his bar.

The Seasiders continued their positive start as Corbeanu played in Dom Thompson down the left, only for the wing-back’s cross to be salvaged by Lee Nicholls.

Huddersfield’s first sight of goal came via the dangerous Sorba Thomas, who cut in from the left before testing Dan Grimshaw with a low effort which the Blackpool shot stopper was equal to.

The Seasiders could sense some anxiety among the home crowd in the early stages, as their side struggled to play it out from the back.

On one occasion, Jerry Yates was gifted the ball on the edge of the box only to see his shot charged down by a Huddersfield defender.

Yates then missed a gilt-edged chance to give Blackpool a 19th minute lead when he was gifted the ball once again, only this time in the Huddersfield box.

The forward deliberated what to do and seemingly took an age to make his mind up, before really doing neither despite their being a sea of tangerine bodies flooding the box - resulting in the chance going to waste.

Defensively though Blackpool were looking solid and weren’t giving up many opportunities at all, although Jack Rudoni - linked with the Seasiders this summer - did glance a header wide from a corner.

The Seasiders began to sit back a little too often, which only invited more pressure on themselves. Ten minutes before the break, Danny Ward fired wide after turning smartly on the edge of Blackpool’s box.

Appleton showed a sign of frustration in the technical area when he flung his bottle of water into the air after Marvin Ekpiteta miscued a clearance straight to Rudoni. The midfielder let fly at the Blackpool goal but Grimshaw did well to turn it behind for a corner.

The game’s opening goal followed this passage of play, but it came via a swift Blackpool counter-attack rather than Huddersfield’s set-piece.

Jordan Gabriel did superbly to press on the front foot, setting Ian Poveda free through the middle.

The chance looked to have gone to waste when the Leeds United loanee struck the foot of the post, but fortunately the ball rebounded straight to Theo Corbeanu who found the back of the empty net much to the delight of the travelling fans.

Blackpool held out relatively comfortably for the remainder of the first-half, although Grimshaw was called upon again to push Rudoni’s drive away from his near post.

The only real threat the home side had posed in the first-half was from wide areas, so it was no surprise to see Danny Schofield’s side repeat this tactic with their first chance of the second-half, although Ward’s weak header was easy enough for Grimshaw to deal with.

There was almost half a chance for the Seasiders when they worked the ball well around the Huddersfield box, but the move fell down at the decisive moment when Dom Thompson overhit his pass into Yates.

The game suddenly sparked into life on the hour mark when Huddersfield thought they had equalised.

Yuta Nakayama appeared to have bundled the ball over the line from close range despite Grimshaw’s best efforts, but despite replays showing the ball clearly crossed the line, the referee couldn’t award the goal as the technology on his watch didn’t go off.

The Seasiders were initially a little shaky after the controversy as Huddersfield looked to make up for their apparent injustice.

But Blackpool rode it out well and squandered a big chance to double their lead when Yates laid the ball off in the box to Poveda, whose close-range effort deflected frustratingly wide.

Despite some late pressure from the home side, and 19-year-old substitute Pat Jones in particular, the Seasiders managed the game relatively well in the final stages.

Huddersfield ran out of ideas in the dying seconds and despite five minutes of stoppage time being added on, the men in tangerine rode it out to pick up a morale-boosting victory.

TEAMS

Huddersfield: Nicholls, Turton, Russell (Camara), Hogg (Ruffels), Kesler-Hayden (Jones), Rudoni, Lees, Nakayama, Thomas, Anjorin (Holmes), Ward (Rhodes)

Subs not used: Bilokapic, Helik, Rhodes

Blackpool: Grimshaw, Williams, Ekpiteta, Thorniley, Gabriel, Thompson, Connolly, Dougall, Poveda, Corbeanu, Yates

Subs not used: Maxwell, Moore, Garbutt, Wright

Referee: John Busby

Attendance: 19,815 (1,599 Blackpool)