A brace from CJ Hamilton helped Blackpool to victory in the EFL Trophy against Crewe Alexandra at Bloomfield Road yesterday despite substitute Omar Bogle getting his first for the Alex.
Manager Lee Bell made 8 changes from Saturday’s 2-1 league win at Bromley as James Connolly, Ryan Cooney, Kian Breckin, Owen Lunt, Charlie Finney, Joel Tabiner, Chris Long and Jack Lankester all came in for Zac Williams, Matus Holicek and Max Conway (who all dropped down to the bench) as well as Mickey Demetriou, Max Sanders, Conor Thomas, Shilow Tracey and Kane Hemmings who missed out on the matchday squad.
The opening chance and goal of the game came in the 3rd minute with Jordan Rhodes bending the ball into the bottom corner from just the D before the first Alex chance saw Manchester City loanee Breckin head over from a Finney cross 3 minutes later. Blackpool had the ball in the net again a few minutes later as Ashley Fletcher turned in a free-kick but was in an offside position before the forward was denied by a decent save from Marschall on 34 minutes after being played through by Elliot Embleton.
Hamilton produced a right-sided cross that would see Jake Beesley backheel the ball goalwards which was saved by the Villa loanee before the lead was doubled a couple of minutes before the interval as Matthew Pennington’s cross was headed in by the unmarked Hamilton from 10 yards out.
After a triple half-time change that saw Williams, Holicek and Calum Agius replace Knight-Lebel, Long and Lankester, it would be the hosts who added their third of the game 10 minutes after the break as Carey’s low drive from outside of the area went in off the inside of the post before Breckin’s daisy-cutter deflected wide for a corner just after the hour. Hamilton would get his second and Blackpool’s fourth of the night on 63 minutes as he was played in behind before he smashed the ball into the net from 8 yards out before the Alex got one back a couple of minutes later as a poor kick from Harry Tyrer allowed Agius to square the ball for substitute Omar Bogle to get his first Alex goal.
The next games for the Alex host Morecambe on Saturday before travelling to Accrington Stanley the following Saturday, both games in the league.
Final Thoughts:
This game just goes to show the difference between the two squads – we brought in a number of teenagers while Blackpool could afford to bring in Embleton and Rhodes, the latter previously having an £8m transfer earlier in his career.
Bell and the team will be disappointed with the second and fourth goals in particular, Hamilton being given the freedom of the penalty area to score the header at the end of the first half as well as being allowed to run from the halfway line and score in the second.
Bloomfield Road
EFL Trophy
3/09/2024 7:00 pm
Attendance: 1474
Referee: Martin Woods
| Blackpool | Crewe Alexandra | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhodes, Hamilton (2), Carey | Bogle | ||||||
| Tyrer | Marschall | ||||||
| Pennington | Connolly | ||||||
| Casey | 63 | Knight-Lebel | 46 | ||||
| Ashworth | Billington | ||||||
| Hamilton | Cooney | ||||||
| Embleton | 85 | Breckin | 81 | ||||
| Carey | Lunt | ||||||
| Thompson | 70 | Finney | |||||
| Fletcher | 46 | Tabiner (c) | 62 | ||||
| Rhodes (c) | Long | 46 | |||||
| Beesley | 85 | Lankester | 46 | ||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| O'Donnell | Lenarcik | ||||||
| Lawrence-Gabriel | 63 | Williams | 46 | ||||
| Norburn | 46 | Bogle | 62 | ||||
| Lankshear | 70 | Holicek | 46 | ||||
| Upton | 85 | Agius | 46 | ||||
| Knight | 85 | Roberts | |||||
| Daniels | Conway | 81 | |||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 17 | Goal attempts | 13 |
| 7 | On Target | 3 |
| 4 | Corners | 1 |
| 9 | Fouls | 13 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 4 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 54 | % | 46 |