Two goals from Dion Dublin helped Norwich to a 3-1 win at Bloomfield Road despite a spirited effort from Pool.
At 2-1 down The Seasiders looked set to at least earn a point but an 81st minute penalty save from Norwich keeper David Marshall denied Wes Hoolahan an equaliser in a game that could have gone either way.
It meant that in stoppage time Dion Dublin struck and killed the game off as the ball went low into the bottom left corner of the Pool game.
Pool had earlier gone down to a 30th minute strike from Dion Dublin before Bartosz Slusarski claimed a deflection from a Gary Taylor-Fletcher strike to equalise (35). Despite Pool starting the second half brightly, The Canaries went 2-1 up thanks to
Martin Taylor before Hoolahan's penalty miss and Dublin's late strike.
In what was quite a frantic first half that threatened to boil over on several occasions, it was Norwich who were first to threaten Paul Rachubka in the Pool goal. Jon Otsemobor was the man to have the effort but Rachubka got down low to save before Danny Coid cleared his lines as Jamie Cureton looked to follow up.
Both sides looked keen to play expansively all across the park but unfortunately the ball just wouldn't stick for The Seasiders when it came to the crunch.
After an earlier Claus Jorgensen header, it wasn't until the 25th minute when Pool had a real effort on goal. That came from Wes Hoolahan, who returned to the starting line-up after missing the weekend's game with a chest infection. The tricky Irishman did what he does best and cut infield from the right to strike low across goal only for David Marshall to save.
The Canaries responded when Jamie Cureton found space down the right hand side of the pitch after Kaspars Gorkss mistimed a leap for a header. Cureton burst into the box to lay the ball back across for Dion Dublin but for a last gasp Shaun Barker tackle just doing enough to put the big frontman off. The scramble wasn't to end there with Luke Chadwick following up as he forced a great save from Paul Rachubka.
Despite the great defensive efforts of the Pool defence, Norwich scored from the resulting corner. On loan Newcastle midfielder Matty Pattison floated a ball across goal for DION DUBLIN (30) to poke home and make it BLACKPOOL 0 NORWICH 1.
Dublin was in the thick of the action minutes later when Paul Rachubka let the ball run out for a goal kick before being caught late by a challenge from the former Aston Villa striker. After cries of 'off, off' from the Tangerine faithful the referee decided just to book The Canaries number nine.
The game then looked to become a little heated but the fire from the Pool players came in the force of fire power when Gary Taylor-Fletcher hit a speculative strike on the edge of the area. The ball went under the legs of David Marshall and into the net but as Taylor-Fletcher began to celebrate it was BARTOSZ SLUSARSKI who claimed the goal after his deflection steered the ball in for a debut goal (37).
The goal seemed to have Norwich rocked and within a minute of the restart it was that man again Wes Hoolahan who for all the world looked to have put Pool 2-1 up. Hoolahan jinked Mo Camara inside and out before cut inside and unleashing an effort back across goal only for it to strike the post and go out for a goal kick. It meant that at half time the score remained BLACKPOOL 1 NORWICH CITY 1.
The fifteen minute break and team talk forced Glenn Roeder into introducing Darren Huckerby six minutes into the second half as the former Newcastle boss chased his second win in charge.
It was Pool however who looked the brighter with Claus Jorgensen just failing to connect to a Wes Hoolahan ball into the box on the slide.
Pool continued to dominate possession with Norwich looking to hit them on the counter but neither side really fashioned an effort at goal. In a bid to push further on, Simon Grayson brought on Andy Welsh and Keigan Parker as The Seasiders looked to add more pace to their attack.
Despite those substitutions it was Norwich who did counter as a Darren Huckerby mazy run forced a corner. It was a set piece that again Pool were to be punished from as defender MARTIN TAYLOR (73) steered a diving header into the bottom right hand corner of the goal making it BLACKPOOL 1 NORWICH CITY 2.
Pool looked to have been awarded a lifeline when Andy Welsh, chasing the ball just inside of the Norwich penalty area, was clipped by Jon Otsemobor with ten minutes remaining. The resulting penalty was taken by Wes Hoolahan only for David Marshall to guess correctly to save. Wes then had the rebound saved before the Norwich defence bombarded the goal line to scramble away an effort from Andy Morrell.
As Pool pressed for the equaliser, DION DUBLIN struck deep into stoppage time (90+2) to make it BLACKPOOL 1 NORWICH 3.
