Match verdict: A poor game neither side dared to lose

The draw leaves both teams to fight another day, but for me it was a huge missed chance.

And when we evaluate the scrappy and nervous affair at Highbury, I don’t think either side did enough to win it.

Neil McDonald obviously didn’t see it that way, claiming Blackpool dominated, but that simply wasn’t the case.

The away side probably just about shaded it, but Chris Maxwell hardly had to make a clear save all afternoon.

It’s no fun constantly disagreeing with a manager, but after listening to his analysis it’s hard not to, and I wasn’t alone. He left many of the watching press shaking their heads with his claims of domination. The statistics show a fairly even game. And it wasn’t a particularly good even game either.

For Blackpool there was a big improvement on the Rochdale game seven days earlier. No doubt they were competitive, defended well enough and worked hard for just about the whole game.

There was very little quality. And while a battling away performance may well have been applauded a few weeks ago, sadly there needs to be a change of mindset now.

To stay up they simply have to win games, which means taking a risk or two in the final third, something they’ve been very reluctant to do under McDonald.

Fleetwood will be hugely disappointed. They didn’t really turn up. I thought Steven Pressley’s post-match comments were spot on – there was no questioning their commitment but the occasion maybe got the better of them. I’m not sure the pre-match brass band, flags and national anthem really helped that either.

Fleetwood’s big problem came in the final third, all too often they collapsed when they got there, and they wasted far too many set pieces. Colin Doyle was able to cleanly catch far too many corners and free-kicks in and around the area.

They also never really made us of Blackpool’s narrow set-up, after the opening 20 minutes Fleetwood hardly got the ball wide. So where does a point leave our teams? Both very much in trouble.

Shrewsbury’s superb win at Gillingham came from nowhere, and even Doncaster are now very much back in the mix. At least for Fleetwood it’s in their own hands. For me, Pool need at least four more points to have any hope.

McDonald promised changes after Rochdale and made three. In came Hayden White, Liam Smith and Jack Redshaw in a much more attack-minded side, with Brad Potts, Emmerson Boyce and Jacob Blyth dropping out.

It all made for a 4-4-2 formation, with Pool operating a diamond style which saw Redshaw behind the front two.

While both managers were keen to describe Saturday as just another game, on arrival at Highbury it was quickly clear this was anything but.

On top of the sell-out crowd, Fleetwood handed out hundreds of flags and even a brass band was performing pitch side. It had the feeling of anything but a regular league clash, and it was always going to be a case of who handled the situation best.

And in the opening stages it was without doubt Fleetwood, they clearly thought they could get at the Seasiders.

With Pool’s line-up looking narrow, Town full-backs Amari’i Bell and Conor McLaughlin had the freedom of Highbury to attack.

The lack of width did mean Pool had numbers in the middle, and the key would be getting the ball to Redshaw. On nine minutes we saw the first glimpse of him finding space.

Redshaw dropped off in between Fleetwood’s two lines, turned with plenty of space and shot wide.

While his effort drifted aimlessly wide it showed where Pool could get at their well drilled hosts. Barring that, and a couple of set-pieces for the home side which came to nothing, it was the sort of clash most were expecting.

It was scrappy, with little goalmouth action at either end. The first save for Colin Doyle in Blackpool’s goal came just after the quarter hour mark when Antoni Sarcevic found space to turn and shoot from the edge of the area, it was a routine save for Doyle.

Bobby Grant also had a pop from range minutes later, but his curling effort was always drifting aimlessly over. It was the home side which was controlling the game at this point, in the first 20 minutes enjoying 73% of the possession.

Crucially they hadn’t turned that domination into anything resembling a threat.

The games first real chance game on 21 minutes when Bristol City loan man Wes Burns broke into the box and fired towards the near post, only for Doyle to be a match to it. It was a good stop from the Blackpool keeper.

Sarcevic was looking Fleetwood’s biggest threat in the middle of the park, and on 30 minutes came close again, this time driving a powerful effort just past Doyle’s post.

With Blackpool failing to register a single shot on target in the game at Bloomfield Road, we were all starting to wonder if they ever would against Fleetwood.

But on 35 minutes they finally mustered one, and forced a brilliant save out of Chris Maxwell in goal. It was Mark Cullen who broke into the box on the left and fired towards the bottom corner, only for Maxwell to beat the ball away with a strong hand.

It showed while Fleetwood were very much controlling the game, Blackpool were still very much in it. The first goal in this game was always going to be the crucial one.

And on 38 minutes Blackpool should have been ahead.Jim McAlister made a superb run into the box and poked the ball goalwards past Maxwell, only for Danny Philliskirk to instinctively tap the ball in on the line when in an offside position. McAlister’s reaction said it all – he chased his team-mate, waving furiously.

While Fleetwood started the half brightly, it was Blackpool who ended the strongest.

The nervous silence among the home supporters probably spoke volumes, there were a lot of nerves around Highbury.

The second half started in similar fashion, with both sides competing at least but really struggling to find anything like a breakthrough. Philliskirk had the half’s first effort, turning and firing wide from 25 yards.

As the second half went on you could see the midweek trip to Millwall was taking it’s toll on Fleetwood, they got a little sloppy in possession and in the final third. While McDonald made what appeared to be positive substitutions in bringing on Mark Yeates and Martin Paterson, his side never really took the game to a tiring home team.

With results going against Pool, caution to the wind at this point could well have made all the difference, but I suppose that’s just not in McDonald’s thoughts - ever.

And the stress of the afternoon appeared to be getting to everyone inside Highbury, particularly McDonald.

He spent much of the second half berating the fourth official, the press box was close enough to hear it was the officials who were getting much of the tension in the ear.

Fleetwood were offering very little as the game drifted past the hour mark, with Pool’s fans chants of ‘attack, attack, attack’ highlighting the game was very much there for the taking.

The middle of the second half probably was Blackpool’s best spell of the game, with Newcastle loan man Liam Smith pulling the strings in the middle.

Pressley responded to a pretty poor spell for his side by calling upon Shola Ameobi, who made a difference almost instantly to Fleetwood’s confidence.

Within a minute, Jimmy Ryan found space and his curling effort beat Doyle but rattled the bar.

With the game on a knife edge it was Blackpool’s turn to go close when Paterson’s looping header was saved by Maxwell at full stretch.

For Fleetwood the point isn’t a bad one but the performance wasn’t up to scratch; for Blackpool it was better. but it’s points they need, not performances.

We’ve said it all along but this is going right to the wire.