No doubt the doom and gloom brigade will be out in force tonight after the Seasiders slipped to only their second defeat in 22 matches. Pool to their credit made Coventry work hard for the points and on another night and in particular another referee Simon Grayson's men would have returned home with a point.
Pool got things underway and within seconds Wes Hoolahan had been sent tumbling after he tried to skip past a Coventry defender.
Robbie Simpson had the hosts first attempt on goal, the stocky blonde took advantage of Danny Coid's hesitation to
Coventry forced the games first corner after Michael Jackson was forced to turn behind on five minutes.
The Sky Blues hero six days ago was Maltese Michael Misfud and the livewire forward showed Pool his threat on seven minutes after he fired into the side netting
Coventry had started well and forced two corners in quick succession, the second of which saw Shaun Barker head just over his own bar, fortunately for Pool the fourth corner of the game was cleared and Pool could regroup.
Coventry were dominating proceedings and Pool were indebted to Paul Rachubka who saved smartly from the impressive Robbie Simpson twice whilst Misfud fired into the side netting.
Having weathered the Coventry storm, Pool took the lead on 32 minutes and it was a dream return for ANDY MORRELL, the former Coventry man expertly glanced home a great free kick from David Fox. The Coventry faithful to their credit gave their former striker a an excellent round of applause when the PA announcer gave his name as the Pool scorer.
Three minutes before the break Coventry levelled when MICHAEL DOYLE fired home from the spot after Danny Coid had fouled Misfud inside the area, the in form striker stepped up and gave Paul Rachubka no chance from 12 yards.
Kaspars Gorkss became the first Pool player to be booked on the stroke of half time in what was a bizarre decision from referee Mr Thorpe, the big Latvian timed his challenge to perfection to win the ball, but the referee thought otherwise and Gorkss picked up his second yellow card of the season, the general consensus in the press room at the break was the referee had mistaken Gorkss for Danny Coid!
Half Time Coventry City 1 Blackpool 1
Pool began the second period brightly and enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening stages
The Seasiders were indebted to a brilliant save from Paul Rachubka, the Pool stopper reacted brilliantly to push behind for a corner after Pool's Shaun Barker had almost turned a right wing corner into his own goal. Before the resulting corner Pool made a change with Keigan Parker replacing the shattered Andy Morrell, Morrell left the field to a standing ovation from both sets of fans.
Within a minute of the change Pool found themselves behind when MICHAEL MISFUD was sent clear of the Seasiders defence by substitute Dele Adebola, Misfud showed great composure to expertly finish beyond the advancing Rachubka.
Pool's response was to force their first corner of the night, the Seasiders then went on to force another two corners in quick succession, but Pool failed to test the Sky Blues defence.
.With 16 minutes Pool made a double change with Scott Vernon and Andy Welsh replacing Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Keith Southern. The changes saw Pool revert to a 4-4-2 formation.
With just over ten minutes remaining, Mike Thorpe became the least popular man in Blackpool and probably Latvia when he showed Kaspars Gorkss a straight red after he clipped Adebola on the edge of the area. The gentle giant looked absolutely distraught as he made his way to the dressing room.
After that it was one way traffic and with six minutes to go Coventry made their advantage tell when ROBBIE SIMPSON fired home after a scramble in which Paul Rachubka made another fine save.
The Seasiders looked shattered at the full time whistle and it will be up to Simon Grayson and his back room staff to lift Pool for Saturday's game with Plymouth Argyle.
POOL: Rachubka, Barker, Jackson, Gorkss, Coid, Taylor-Fletcher (Vernon 74), Flynn, Fox, Southern (Welsh 74), Hoolahan, Morrell (Parker 66) Subs Not Used: Jorgensen, Hills
COVNETRY: Marshall, Ward, Hughes, Doyle, Osbourne, Mifsud, Tabb (McNamee 77), Best (Adebola 56), Simpson, Borrowdale (Thornton 87), Turner Subs Not Used: Konstantopoulos, Kyle,
Attendance: 15803 (1153 Pool)
