FOR some, there was a
sense of déjà vu at
Bloomfield Road.
When Saints last visited
Blackpool in December 1977,
Lawrie McMenemy was in the
away dugout and Alan Ball was
back where it all began for him
midway through his first full season
at The Dell.
On that occasion, Ball helped
Saints to an important win - Ted
MacDougall scored the only goal -
en route to promotion back to the
old first division.
Thirty years on, a portrait of Ball
in his Blackpool days was unveiled
before kick-off and McMenemy
was again in attendance, this time
in the directors' box, while two
clubs with proud histories
resumed their battle for points in
English football's second tier.
But unlike 1977-78, 2007-08 is all
about avoiding relegation.
Saints have League One to avoid
as they are now just three points
clear of third-from-bottom
Sheffield Wednesday, who have two
games in hand and a better goal difference.
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While Saints were earning a creditable
fourth successive draw,
results elsewhere were conspiring
against them, notably at
Hillsborough, where the club Nigel
Pearson once captained with distinction
came from behind to beat
QPR.
At half-time, however, it all
looked very promising.
Pearson named the same side that
left the field at Wolves but shuffled
his midfield quartet with Mario
Licka handed the right flank role in
which he impressed for the
reserves before his first-team
recall.
Jason Euell, in his first start for
nearly three weeks, took the
Czech's place on the left, while
Jhon Viafara was given a central
role alongside Youssef Safri.
The gusty conditions at an
exposed Bloomfield Road were not
conducive to flowing football, but
Saints at least showed the tenacity
that Ball was known for, albeit
without his quality.
Wayne Thomas and Andrew
Davies continued to lay a solid
foundation and behind them
Michael Poke enjoyed an encouraging
debut in difficult conditions
after Kelvin Davis failed a fitness
test on the dislocated finger he suffered
at Wolves.
Neither keeper was called into
action until Poke dived full stretch
to his right and got his finger tips
to a cross shot from former
Cherries midfielder Claus
Jorgensen midway through the
first half.
That helped settle any nerves that
the 22-year-old may have had and,
ten minutes later, Gregory Vignal
showed none at all in dispatching
another positive penalty into the
bottom-right corner.
Following good approach play
from Euell and Marek Saganowski,
Stern John found himself with
nowhere to go in the penalty area
as a cluster of defenders surrounded
him.
But he did well to keep possession
before Kaspars Gorkss was
adjudged to have fouled him.
Vignal's confidence from the
penalty spot put him on the score
sheet for the third successive away
game, following his goals at
Scunthorpe and Wolves.
Thankfully, his sending off at
Molineux was overturned on
Thursday when video evidence
showed he gave Sylvan Ebanks-
Blake an innocuous prod and not a
malicious kick.
Saints were grateful to his quality
at left-back.
An outstanding pass found Marek
Saganowski just before the break
but it is now nearly six months
since the Pole last scored.
He has played for 1,040 minutes without netting - against
Barnsley last September - but
came close to his third in 27
appearances this season when he
fired Vignal's incisive pass wide
of the far post.
Had that gone in, Saints would
surely have got the win that would
have relieved some pressure
ahead of fourth-from-bottom
Leicester's visit to St Mary's
tomorrow.
But two Blackpool goals in six
second-half minutes shortly after
half-time ensured Saints were
grateful for a point in the end.
Midfielder Keith Southern, captain
in Michael Jackson's
absence, glanced a header from
Shaun Barker's long throw into
the far corner of Poke's goal.
And when Andrew Davies's
header only half cleared a freekick
from former Saint Stephen
Crainey, Latvian international
Gorkss atoned for the penalty by
volleying Blackpool into a 55thminute
lead through a crowded
area.
No Championship side has conceded
more goals away from home
than the 37 Saints have let in this
season.
But they continued to show
their new-found resilience, even
after Davies departed with a suspected
cheekbone fracture.
When Euell's near-post header
following Licka's corner hit the
legs of Paul Rachubka, John netted
the rebound, his 15th goal of
the season for Saints, from inside
the six-yard box in the 63rd
minute.
Saints had chances to claim a
first win in 10 Championship
matches.
But Saganowski headed straight
at Rachubka and Euell's appeals
for a penalty following a goalmouth
melee midway through the
second half were ignored by referee
David Foster, presumably for
ball-to-hand.
The draw was the fair result as
Poke was kept busy.
Saints were also relieved when a
Gary Taylor-Fletcher cross
flashed across the six-yard box
and when Wes Hoolahan twice
missed the target.
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