Blackpool Men’s 3s 1 Morecambe Men’s 3s 2 (10/12/11)
After the previous week’s eventful 2-0 defeat at the hands of high- flying Blackburn Northern – the match was delayed because no-one had a key to the pitch, goalkeeper Richard Pilling got his 4×4 stuck in mud, Fran Tidmarsh and Tom Wilkinson were locked in a changing room with no handle and the ball split at a penalty corner strike but a goal was given – Morecambe 3s returned to winning ways against Blackpool.
Despite languishing at the foot of the table, Blackpool played with real quality and spirit and the first half was goalless. However, Morecambe’s Charles ‘Pike’ Ingham broke the deadlock after intricate passing between Andy Bevington and Andy Pilling created an opening. Then, evergreen centre back Fran Tidmarsh turned back time by racing out of Morecambe’s D to meet a perfectly weighted ball from Pike on the right wing. Still running at top speed he then smacked the ball to Andy Pilling on the edge of the Blackpool D and Andy calmly drilled the ball into goal for what was to be the winning goal.
Blackpool responded with a fiercely hit penalty corner strike into the corner of stand-in keeper Phil Savage’s goal but the 3s nipped any hope of a home equaliser in the bud by defending high up the pitch in the final minutes.
Steve Southworth gave yet another solid performance alongside Fran without any of those rare mistakes which have harshly earned him the knickname “Santa Steve”. In fact, this victory underlined the whole side’s improvement this season which has resulted in several players being promoted to the 2s.
