Blackpool get 4 points out of 6.

The Seasiders last two games have been played at home, which has been a rare occurance so far this season. Last Monday evening we welcomed

West Bromwich Albion (the Baggies) to Bloomfield Rd and what was anticipated as an entertaining game turned out to be the opposite. They had two players sent off, which reduced their options and resulted in a very strange game. The first sending off was followed by referee Michael Oliver awarding us a penalty, which Charlie Adam converted, although Carson the baggies goalie nearly saved it. The second sending off, a reckless lunge by Gonzalo Jara on Luke Varney was well deserved and was a result of him being annoyed by the first sending off. What that did made the remainder of the game an unbalanced affair. The home crowd were getting more and more restless at the team's inability to capitalise on their two player advantage, which seem to add to the player's nervousness.  Although we went 1-0 up through the penalty, it took until the 62 minute for us to make it 2-0 when Luke Varney scored. This seemed to give us the impetus to go forward more and we had a number of chances to improve our goal difference, but to no avail because of poor finishing. This poor finishing nearly resulted in the nine men of West Brom getting something out of the game when they pulled a goal back through a great individual effort by Mulumbu to make it 2-1. Thank goodness we managed to hold on and register our first home win since returning to the Premiership and a valuable 3 points.

In contrast, the game yesterday against Everton had everything the Baggies game didn't have. It was entertaining, end to end stuff, full of good football. The Toffee's start to the season has been a slow  one. They have struggled to get going, but recent results have improved to such an extent that they have gone on an unbeaten run. Their team included internationals from all parts of the world unlike their hosts. That said, the game was a close affair. It was also good to see Seamus Coleman return albeit in a blue shirt rather than a tangerine one. He had a superb match topped off with a second equalising goal. 16,000 fans packed Bloomfield Rd and created a fantastic atmosphere, which encouraged both teams to produce a nail-biting game. We took the lead through a superb Neil Eardley free-kick on the edge of their box. Unfortunately our lead only lasted two minutes before Tim Cahill headed in an equaliser from a Yakubu cross. Both sides went into half time level at 1-1. Ollie had given Keith Southern a start, mainly because Everton was his first club and David Moyes was and still is the manager there. Unfortunately Keith struggled to make a mark and was substituted shortly after the restart. On came Phillips, Grandin and Harewood, which gave us the impetus we lacked earlier. The changes resulted in us taking the lead again through man of the match, David Vaughan. But yet again our lead only lasted a couple of minutes before Seamus levelled. Opinion was that Matt Gilks could have done a lot better by keeping the shot out but let it squirm under his body. Everton had a couple of chances to win the game after that as did the Pool, with Marlon Harewood scoring what looked like our winner, only for referee Andre Marriner to disallow it for a very innocuous "push" by Marlon on Jagielka. On reflection I think a draw was a fair result and a great advertisement for entertainment.