Town earn a point and a clean sheet away to Blackpool
Blackpool: Christoffer Mafoumbi, Donervon Daniels, Ben Heneghan, Jay Spearing, Jordan Thompson, Curtis Tilt, Armand Gnanduillet, Liam Feeney (Michael Nottingham, 81), Callum Guy (Harry Pritchard, 66), Marc Bola, Chris Long (John O’Sullivan, 81).
Subs: Myles Boney, Nick Anderton, Nathan Delfouneso, Michael Nottingham, Harry Pritchard, John O’Sullivan, Nya Kirby.
Town: Steve Arnold, Ryan Haynes, Mat Sadler, Omar Beckles, Greg Docherty, Fejiri Okenabirhie (Sam Smith, 74), James Bolton, Luke Waterfall, Josh Laurent (Alex Gilliead, 74), Ollie Norburn, Anthony Grant.
Subs: Reice Charles-Cook, Lee Angol, Sam Smith, Alex Gilliead, Aaron Amadi-Holloway, Abo Eisa, Ryan Sears.
Attendance: 3186 (516)
The game at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road came to an end with the scores remaining level.
A more competitive second-half didn’t see either team take al three points as Town left the northwest with a point and a clean sheet.
Team News: Alex Gilliead and Aaron Amadi-Holloway were the two players who made way in today’s starting line up and were replaced by Ollie Norburn and Omar Beckles.
First Half:
Town’s first 10 minutes in Blackpool started in very positive fashion, with the Shrews dominating the ball and being the team on the front foot. Greg Docherty and Josh Laurent were the two who were mainly pushing the pace.
Laurent’s hard work saw the midfielder get into good positions in and around the Pool box. Unfortunately for Laurent, the final ball was getting a late block or just firing wide.
Steve Arnold was rarely called into action, even with over 30 minutes on the clock but Town’s shot stopper was efficient and calm when dealing with the rare cross into the Shrews danger zone.
Ollie Norburn was also showing his class in winning and distributing the ball well. The midfielder was getting stuck in and really challenging the home sides midfield contingent.
The half came to an end with neither team able to break the deadlock. Chances were scarce for both sides. Town would have been pleased with the first-half work and would have felt confident going into the next period.
Second Half:
The second-half began identically to the first, with Town dominating the ball and pushing forward at any given chance. Docherty was another bright spark in the middle of the pitch – winning balls and pushing the team forward.
A driven effort from Norburn had the Town fans on their feet in the 56th minute. The powerful effort looked to be heading towards goal, but the home side deflected the ball out for a corner – which ultimately didn’t create a chance.
The home side had to wait until the 66th minute for a real chance at goal. A good cross was fired towards Armand Gnanduillet but the Pool 21 was unable to capitalise and fired the ball over the bar.
The next chance of the game came in the 82nd minute as the home side rattled the ball from outside of the box. Some good movement from Long gave the forward a yard of space just outside the box but his effort cannoned back off the woodwork.
The game came to an end with neither team able to break the deadlock as the points were shared at Bloomfield Road.