Terry McPhillips happy with Blackpool’s ‘clinical’ first-half display - 7M sport

Terry McPhillips happy with Blackpool’s ‘clinical’ first-half display



Posted Sunday, November 11, 2018 by PA

Terry McPhillips happy with Blackpool’s ‘clinical’ first-half display

Blackpool boss Terry McPhillips hailed a ruthless first half from his side as three goals in the opening 24 minutes sealed an FA Cup first-round win at Exeter.

Joe Dodoo opened the scoring with a header inside two minutes before Marc Cullen scrambled home a corner to make it 2-0 after 19 minutes.

Harry Pritchard made it 3-0 to effectively end the game as a contest and McPhillips hailed the effort of his team.

“It was a good first half,” McPhillips said.

“We were clinical. I don’t think we were three goals better than them but we took our chances, so it was a professional first half. In the second half it was always going to be difficult and it was about who got the next goal.

“It was them, so it was always a close game. The stats will tell you there was nothing in it, what was in it was our clinical nature in the first half.

“The first one we have been working on the diagonal and Johno (O’Sullivan) heads it back and Joe Dodoo leaps like a salmon and heads it in, so that was good.

“The corner we have been working on and Cullen does ever so well to get his goal so your two centre-forwards have scored, brilliant. And then Joe does ever so well and has his show and Harry does what he does – gets to the back stick and knocks it in.”

Exeter pulled goals back in the second half through Jordan Tillson and Tristan Abrahams, but manager Matt Taylor bemoaned his side’s poor start to the game.

“Three goals in quick succession in the first half took us out of the game, it’s a simple as that,” he said.

“No matter how well you play in the second half, you don’t deserve to get back in the game if you don’t give yourself a chance and we certainly did that.

“It’s the basics that we’ve got to do better. I said it last week and I said it the week before. I sound like a broken record at the moment with the goals we’re conceding. They are frustrating me, they really are.

“No matter what we do on the training pitch during the week, you can’t legislate for defending like that in the first half. Every attack they had, the ball ended up in the goal and some of them weren’t even attacks, we had the ball.

“I will keep looking at that. I changed the personnel to give people opportunities and I will do it again on Tuesday to get people in the rhythm of defending in the right place and playing with a bit of confidence and being in the right place at the right time.

“We’ve got good attacking players, but it is absolutely irrelevant if you are 3-0 down at half-time.”

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