Blackpool 0

Argyle 0

THE Pilgrims' visit to the North Atlantic coast was anything but a stroll along the prom prom prom, as Blackpool made them battle all the way for a point.

To their credit, Argyle refused to be bullied by the home side's in-yer-face brand of football that has served last season's League One play-off winners so well.

On the debit side, they never really worked out a way to break down the fairly agricultural system employed by the Tangerines.

Argyle manager Ian Holloway had made two changes to the side that set out on the way to a 1-0 home victory over Crystal Palace the previous Tuesday.

Barry Hayles was dropped to the bench to allow Sylvan Ebanks-Blake to partner Nick Chadwick, while Hungarian international midfielder Ákos Buzsáky returned in place of teenager Dan Gosling. Lee Martin, Friday's loan signing from Manchester United, started on the substitutes' bench.

Blackpool also made two changes after their 3-1 midweek defeat at Coventry, which was only their second reverse in 22 games.

Matt Jackson, the veteran defender now with Watford, made his debut after moving to Bloomfield Road on an 11th-hour loan, replacing suspended Latvian international Kaspars Gorkss, while Keigan Parker came in for Danny Coid to partner Andy Morrell up front.

Former Wigan, Everton and Luton star defender Jackson lined up in the centre of defence alongside another of his ilk, Michael, which should confuse future generations of Blackpool club historians. It also made the home back four of Barker, Jackson, Jackson and Crainey sound more like a firm of lawyers, than a defensive unit.

Argyle, playing in all green, perhaps in sympathy for migraine sufferers, started fitfully, and initially found the midfield runs of right-winger Gary Taylor-Fletcher hard to pick up. It was the man with two surnames who set up an early chance for his opposite flanker, Wes Hoolahan, who volleyed over at the far post.

A pacy opening saw the two sides swap scoring opportunities. Chadwick managed to direct Lee Hodges's cross goalwards but failed to truly trouble Tangerines' goalkeeper Paul Rachubka, while home full-back Shaun Barker evaded the attentions of everyone, except Taylor-Fletcher, before volleying the latter's pass over the Argyle crossbar.

The Pilgrims continued to live precariously and did well to contain a quick Blackpool break that ended with David Fox, son of former Exeter City manager and current Pool goalkeeping coach, Peter, drawing Luke McCormick into an admittedly routine save with a shot from range.

Gradually, though, Argyle managed to wrest some measure of control, keeping the ball and putting together some neat passing moves without finding the desired end product. Blackpool continued to press hard and lump the ball forward whenever they could.

The first time Péter Halmosi got one on one with Barker, he turned the defender outside in and unleashed a shot that Rachubka did well to beat out, with Ebanks-Blake just unable to profit from the quick rebound.

The Pilgrims still looked vulnerable to the Seasiders' quick back-to-front moves and Fox completely sprang the trap to race clear on to Hoolahan's perceptive loft forward but shanked the bouncing ball wide of McCormick's goal with the Argyle goalkeeper merely a stranded spectator.

Holloway swapped round Buzsáky and Nalis for the start of the second half, maybe in an attempt to stem the amount of influence Hoolahan was having on the game, and it was not long before Buzsáky's race was run altogether, with Martin replacing him. Hayles, too, joined the fray in place of Chadwick.

It was Blackpool, though, who looked the most potent attacking force, with Parker twice causing a flutter before being denied, first, by his own poor decision to attempt to chip McCormick, and, then, by the decision of the linesman to flag him for offside.

Holloway sent on Rory Fallon, for Ebanks-Blake, in an attempt to regain control of a situation which appeared to be running away from the Pilgrims.

That feeling was reinforced when Barker made the byeline down the Blackpool right and sent over a cross that Paul Connolly, in clearing from Morrell, headed against his own post. The rebound set Argyle up for an immediate riposte that saw Martin's first meaningful participation in a green shirt set up Fallon for a shot on the turn that went high over the home side's crossbar.

Largely, however, the Pilgrims spent the majority of the second half trying to burst the bubbles of the effervescent home side, whose recent success has surely been built on an admirably high capacity for hard work. It ain't pretty, but it is certainly effective.

A rash of poor decisions from referee Jon Moss and his assistants failed to settle Argyle nerves as the game reached its conclusion, having to face a slew of free-kicks and throw-ins and deal with some dubious onside calls.

Hayles relived the pressure briefly when he had Rachubka full stretch to turn a drive away for a corner, and McCormick did well to keep out a shot from Parker in injury-time, before Moss brought an end to one of the more fresh of stalemates.

Blackpool (4-4-2):1 Paul Rachubka; 25 Shaun Barker, 5 Michael Jackson (capt), 24 Matt Jackson, 3 Stephen Crainey; 12 Gary Fletcher-Taylor (20 Andy Welsh 85), 14 David Fox, 4 Keith Southern (16 Claus Jorgensen 77), 11 Wes Hoolahan; 9 Andy Morrell (10 Scott Vernon 69), 7 Keigan Parker. Substitutes (not used): 2 Danny Coid, 28 Michael Flynn.

Booked: Hoolahan 63, Welsh 86.

Argyle (4-4-2): 23 Luke McCormick; 2 Paul Connolly, 5 Krisztián Timar, 19 Marcel Seip, 17 Lee Hodges; 7 David Norris, 4 Lilian Nalis (capt), 8 Ákos Buzsáky (29 Lee Martin 60), 16 Péter Halmosi; 11 Nick Chadwick (10 Barry Hayles 56), 9 Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (14 Rory Fallon 64). Substitutes (not used): 13 Mathias Kouo-Doumbe, 18 Gary Sawyer.

Booked: Nalis 67.

Referee: Jon Moss (West Yorkshire).

Attendance: 8,784 (1,232 away).