[NoSkillz]

Sat. February 18, 2023

FA Cup - 5th Round
Blackpool (3rd in the Championship) vs. Dover (3rd in Premier League)
Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, UK

Betting Odds: Blackpool: 3-1 Draw: 2-1 Dover: 4-5 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 1W 0D 0L

Interestingly enough, this is the first ever meaningful game between our two clubs, with our only previous matchup a preseason friendly back in 2019. Blackpool relegated from the Premier League just as we got promoted from the Championship five years ago and they are making a run at getting back to the top level with a fine performance so far this year in league play. They have a very prolific striker named Lazaros Sentementes, who has scored 20 times in 27 games. We'll have to watch him closely.

Neil Cairney is finally back from international duty and will start today. With us playing a lower league club, I'm going to go with some backups, like Helder Cruz, Zoltan Bardi, Carlos Guzman and Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz along with some slumping players, most notably Gianluca Bolis and Shanon Andrea. I want to see something from those two guys today! We're going with a one striker formation today but will use a control mentality as favourites on the road.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - C. Guzman, D. Traore, M. Yilmaz, S. Loucif
M - N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni
AM - H. Cruz, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea
Bench - C. Contreras, K. Zagos, S. Spall, E. Harvey, A. Bamba, G. Allan, P. Moses

Blackpool come out in a flat 4-4-1-1 with Sentementes up front. Uros Biscak is in goal. Lets do it for the travelling supporters today!

3' - Shanon Andrea gets ahead of the defence but is cut off. He attempts a cross but it deflects off a defender and right to fellow struggler Gianluca Bolis. The winger sends a blast to the far corner but it hits the goalpost and just misses going in the other side. That's what happens when you are slumping…bad break for Bolis!

7' - We win a corner and Cairney's cross is headed to the net by Zoltan Bardi. It hits a defender and deflects into the net. That's counted as an own goal - tough break for Bardi not to get credit but we'll take the lead. DOVER GOAL 1-0

9' - Yilmaz makes a great pass across to the left flank right onto the foot of Cruz. The left midfielder runs down the sidelines and feeds a gorgeous cross into the area to Andrea but his header is WIDE. Man. Snake bitten.

28' - Not much happening, as we continue to get chances and squander them. Blackpool midfielder Kenardo Forbes makes a beautiful pass through Yilmaz and Traore to send in their leading scorer Sentementes. He's in all alone and is clinical, putting it past a diving Ingo Wilke and it's IN. Blackpool pull level. BLACKPOOL GOAL 1-1

36' - We are taking these guys way too lightly and in a way, it's my fault for starting so many guys that are backups or slumping. There's another scramble in front of our net and Wilke just grabs the ball in time. We're getting outplayed by a Championship team.

37' - Just as I say that, one of the struggling players shows immense skill. Bolis takes the ball off a turnover around midfield and just SPEEDS through the middle and we have a 2 on 1 break, with Shanon Andrea to his left. Bolis dribbles all the way into the area and shoots and the ball curls past a diving Biscak and IN! Spectacular goal from our slumping winger and we're back ahead! DOVER GOAL 2-1

40' - Andrea and Bolis are at it again, as Andrea weaves in from midfield and feeds Bolis down the right. He cuts into the area and shoots but it's right at Biscak and he stops it.

42' - All of a sudden, there is END TO END ACTION! A crazy sequence culminates in Helder Cruz bolting down the left and feeding a ball into the middle. Zoltan Bardi is fouled in the box and the ref points to the penalty spot! Here comes Neil Cairney and he SCORES!!! DOVER GOAL 3-1

44' - We're too loose in the centre of our defence with Yilmaz and Traore and it's Sentementes getting loose again but Wilke makes a HUGE save. They win a corner and it's Kenardo Forbes getting another shot off but Wilke makes a SPECTACULAR save there too! Wow!

45' - Zoltan Bardi with a yellow card for a midfield take down. This game has gotten exciting.

45'+1 - Now Carlos Guzman, who is "playing nervously", gets a yellow.

HALFTIME - Wild half, especially at the end. We only held 48% of the possession but outshoot Blackpool 9-6 (3-5 on target). Wilke and Helder Cruz were our best players in that half. I encourage the players to keep going in the dressing room.

Blackpool drop back into a 5-3-2 formation to begin the second half.

51' - This Sentementes kid is playing great. Blackpool work a counter off a failed Cairney corner kick and Wilke again makes a tremendous save to keep us in a two goal lead.

60' - I get exactly what I was looking for, as Zoltan Bardi takes a pass from Cruz, then feeds the ball through the defence and there is Shanon Andrea. Our embattled striker bares in on goal and finishes perfectly into the corner past Biscak and in! Slump buster! DOVER GOAL 4-1

I take out Gianluca Bolis to save him for our Champions League game coming up and bring in Graham Allan.

72' - Now it's Neil Cairney coming off for Emmerson Harvey.

75' - We take down a man in our area but there is no call for some reason. He's holding his leg as we move swiftly up field and Andrea gets it at the midway line. He bolts into the zone and no one can catch him. He's in all alone but Biscak makes a spectacular stop to keep him from his brace. Great save.

77' - Out comes Fanfoni and in comes Shaun Spall.

85' - Helder Cruz, who has been very noticeable in a good way all game long, speeds down the left as we work a counter. He crosses and it's perfect again, right to the head of Andrea but it's deflected by a diving Biscak and it's off the crossbar and OUT. My goodness.

Good result.

Blackpool 1 - 4 Dover
Goals - Gianluca Bolis (8.0), Neil Cairney PEN (7.8), Shanon Andrea (8.7)
Assists - Zoltan Bardi 3 (8.6), Shanon Andrea
Man of the Match - Shanon Andrea
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.6), Salim Loucif (7.1), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (7.3), Daniel Traore (7.2), Carlos Guzman (7.0), Helder Cruz (7.1)
Attendance - 15,414

A rare game where our opponents win possession, as we only had 48% of it but outshot them 18-10 (8-8 on target). Zoltan Bardi with three helpers today!

-- We earn £184,000 for the win.

-- In other FA Cup news, we see a blurb that indicates that Reading, who have won the FA Cup two years in a row, have set a new record, having gone unbeaten in 18 consecutive FA Cup games. Nuts!



Dover U18 Update

--Eddie Robinson scores a hat trick in a 6-0 win over West Ham's U18 club. David Smith bagged a brace and Joshua Stokes finished off the scoring.



FA Cup - 6th Round Draw

-- We've reached the quarterfinals but we're in for a battle, as we face our nemesis and the first placed club in our league, Chelsea. Thankfully, it will be in the comfy confines of Crabble Athletic Ground.



Injury Update

-- We're starting to get healthy! Andrea Rocca (hip) is close to returning to full fitness while our other key injured player, Rayane Hamon, will be back in a couple of weeks.



Champions League Update

-- In more First Knockout Round action, AZ and Atletico Madrid battle to a scoreless draw while visitors Real Madrid beat Sampdoria 1-0 to take hold of their series.



Next Up

-- We head to Lisbon, Portugal to take on their league's top club, Benfica, in Champions League First Round Knockout play.