Blackpool boss Ian Holloway holds the trophy aloft
THE £90million promotion showdown turned into a
tangerine dream for Blackpool as they won a captivating Play-off final
to reach the Premier League.
As their fans danced with
joy and the players of the seaside town danced with weary delight,
manager Ian Holloway was a picture of calm and dignity.
Holloway
is the little manager with a marvellous way with words, and it is an
almost miraculous achievement to inspire Blackpool to promotion back to
the top flight for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Yet
at the moment of his greatest triumph, he found time first to shake
hands with Cardiff boss Dave Jones, who had seen his team twice denied
goals by the woodwork.
By
such narrow margins are glory and riches won and lost. But it would be
a hard man who would deny that Blackpool deserved to be singing lustily
in the sunshine yesterday afternoon.
They
played with great spirit and an admirable commitment to passing
football. Sure, they will require extra players to have a chance of
staying more than one season in the Premier League, but that is for the
future.
Yesterday at
Wembley was a day for unsung heroes, like captain Charlie Adam, typical
of the excellent footballers who play to such a high standard in the
Championship.
Like
another midfielder David Vaughan, a class act. Like veteran striker
Brett Ormerod, the veteran 33-year-old whose goal eventually proved
decisive.
In the
106-degree heat of the afternoon, the match had a blazing start.
Michael Chopra struck the woodwork from close range after just three
minutes and put Cardiff ahead soon after.
It
was a lovely goal, created by some intricate footwork from Peter
Whittingham and finished with a powerful low shot from 20 yards by
Chopra.
Cardiff had begun
the more assured side, but any Blackpool nerves were washed away by a
stupendous free-kick equaliser in the 13th minute.
Adam curled his shot into the top corner of the net and there was already the sense that this would be a match to remember.
Both
teams were committed to attack and trying to play passing football. At
times, that was proving difficult on the hopeless Wembley pitch, but
the spectacle was never less than enthralling. Cardiff were back in the
lead in the 37th minute, thanks to another sublime pass from
Whittingham that put Joe Ledley clear in the box. He steered home a
shot that was made easier than it might have been by poor positioning
from Blackpool keeper Matt Gilks.
Again,
the lead lasted only a couple of minutes. Blackpool surged forward
undaunted and Gary Taylor-Fletcher struck the post from 20 yards. The
ball went out for a corner, from which Taylor-Fletcher headed home to
make it 2-2 after a pinball sequence in the Cardiff box.
By
the break it was the tangerine hordes celebrating again as Ormerod put
Blackpool ahead for the first time from eight yards after a jinking run
from Campbell.
Cardiff
still had time for another effort from Darcy Blake to be correctly
disallowed for offside before the whistle blew on a crackerjack first
half.
The chances kept
coming for both sides after the break. Chopra hit the woodwork again in
the 57th minute and Ledley headed narrowly wide from a corner as
Cardiff fought for the equaliser they needed.
Perhaps it was inevitable the players began to wilt in the heat – the pace was unrelenting, and the fabulous prize so close.
It
went to Blackpool, who had been followed down to London by a third of
the town’s population, and who will revel in being visited by the fans
of Manchester United and Liverpool.
They
used to go to Blackpool just for the beach, the tower and the
illuminations. Now it will be for the football too.CHARLIE ADAM:
Blackpool’s captain scored a superb free-kick and was a robust,
controlling influence in midfield.
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