Ipswich 1-0 Blackpool

Michael Chopra helped ease Ipswich's relegation fears as his second-half strike secured victory over Blackpool. Substitute Chopra fired in from 12 yards for his fifth goal of the season after good work by Guirane N'Daw. Tiago Gomes hit the post in the first half for the Seasiders with Ipswich goalkeeper Stephen Henderson turning away Alex Baptiste's goalbound cross. N'Daw also cleared Baptiste's header as Ipswich moved four points clear of the drop zone. The result condemned Blackpool caretaker-manager Steve Thompson to a fifth defeat in his seventh game in charge. Mick McCarthy's Ipswich, who had won only one of their previous six league games, secured back-to-back victories at Portman Road, while Blackpool remain six points clear of the bottom three after only two wins in 10 Championship matches.

Paul Ince set for Blackpool job

Paul Ince looks set to be announced as the new Blackpool manager before the weekend after extensive meetings with chairman Karl Oyston Oyston is on the verge of announcing Ince as the new manager, bringing an end to the club's lengthy search for a successor to Michael Appleton, who became Blackburn manager five weeks ago. The hunt for a new manager has been extensive, with over 20 candidates being considered, but Ince appears the man to fill the hotseat at Bloomfield Road. The former England international spent six months with Championship rivals Blackburn in 2008, but the 45-year-old has been without a job since April 2011, when he parted company with Notts County. With son Tom at the club, Ince Snr has been attending a lot of Blackpool games this season, and would come into the role having already developed an opinion on how to improve the side. It is also understood that the former Liverpool and Manchester United star has agreed to keep current caretaker manager Steve Thompson at the club as his assistant manager. The Tangerines are currently 14th in the table, 10 points behind sixth-placed Middlesbrough and will be keen to maintain their bid for a play-off place.

Blackpool 2-1 Millwall

Millwall boss Kenny Jackett bemoaned his side's defending after they allowed a a 1-0 lead to turn into defeat at Blackpool. On-loan striker Nathan Delfouneso was the match-winner for the Seasiders in stoppage time, after Thomas Ince had cancelled out James Henry's opener. Jackett said: "I'm very frustrated and disappointed with both the goals defensively. "Over a period of maybe 10 games we've given away too many goals with not enough clean sheets. "We've given two goals away again. Every game we have not had zeros against us enough. "You have to come through those periods of pressure and make sure you don't concede and we didn't do that well enough. "I felt going forward we probably had more clear-cut chances than we have in a while without necessarily putting them away. "It was tough from us to get a decision from the referee and the linesman throughout the game, but that's how it is for us away from home. "It hurts the players and myself as manager to have lost four games on the spin. Whatever the details of the game are, there's a line there and that's winning and losing."

Match Report :Blackpool 1 Birmingham 0

Curtis Davies' unfortunate own goal gave Blackpool a slender 1-0 advantage over Birmingham in the first leg of their npower Championship play-off semi-final. Gary Taylor-Fletcher prodded home from an offside position for the hosts, while Davies headed off target at the other end in a frenetic opening. Marlon King might have done better when his shot from Chris Burke's cutback clipped the top of the bar at the end of a clinical 40th-minute counter attack. The hosts broke the deadlock 44 minutes into an evenly-matched first half when Tom Ince's speculative low drive took a significant deflection off Blues captain Davies. Ian Holloway introduced Nouha Dicko and and Kevin Phillips in a straight swap for forwards Stephen Dobbie and Taylor-Fletcher and the latter thought he had made an instant impact against his former club, only to be flagged offside after heading home a right-wing cross from namesake Matt. King was agonisingly close to levelling the tie in the first minute of stoppage time, stretching to steer Wade Elliott's knockdown against the woodwork.

West Ham Hammer Blackpool

Three goals in eight second-half minutes ensured a resounding 4-0 victory for West Ham as Blackpool's defence endured a torrid time.John Carew set the Hammers on their way with a 12th-minute header and Blackpool collapsed after the break as a Sam Baldock double and Jack Collison's strike completed the rout.
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce had spoken during the week of his bitterness at being dismissed by Blackpool after leading them to the brink of promotion in 1996 and he gained some revenge with a dominant display at Upton Park.Blackpool had gone into the game high on confidence after winning 5-0 last time out and they actually looked the better team until West Ham opened the scoring.The Hammers needed just two minutes of the second half to double their lead as Matthew Taylor's header put Baldock clean through, and the striker held his nerve to slot coolly past Matthew Gilks.It was all over four minutes later and Matthew Hill was at fault as the ball was allowed to bounce in the area before Carew flicked the ball over Gilks and Baldock tapped in on the line. Collison then grabbed the fourth with a deflected volley.

Match Report: Crystal Palace 1 Blackpool 1

Crystal Palace substitute Glenn Murray struck a second-half equaliser to deny Blackpool victory in their npower Championship match at Selhurst Park.Blackpool went close inside the third minute when veteran striker Brett Ormerod hit a 12-yard shot which drew a fine parried save from Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni.Darren Ambrose then fired over from distance for Crystal Palace before Baptiste opened the scoring four minutes before the break when he swept home a right-footed shot from six yards after connecting sweetly with Barry Ferguson's cross.In the 67th minute, veteran Blackpool striker Kevin Phillips produced a weak shot from 12 yards when he should have done better and Palace's Dean Moxey then hit the bar from distance.Murray then entered the action and soon had a header saved by Gilks before he equalised in the 79th minute. Moxey crossed from the left flank and Murray arrived to sweep the ball home right-footed.Blackpool midfielder Keith Southern and Murray then both went close from distance but neither side could find a winner.

Match Report: Blackpool 0 Derby 1

Blackpool fell to their first defeat of the campaign as they were beaten 1-0 by Nigel Clough's Derby County.Despite dominating possession for much of the game the Seasiders couldn't find a way past the resilient Rams.Stephen Crainey had Blackpool's best opportunity of the first-half when his cross-shot was deflected narrowly over the bar, before the visitors took the lead through a second-half strike from Craig Bryson.The hosts continued to push for a leveller, with Taylor-Fletcher hitting the post late on, but Derby held on to end the Tangerines' 100% record and retain their own perfect start.It was a meeting of two teams with identical records at Bloomfield Road as the pair went head-to-head having both taken six points from their opening two Championship fixtures.Ian Holloway had stressed the importance of experience prior to the encounter and with that in mind there was one change to the side from the weekend, with Matt Hill replacing Craig Cathcart at the heart of the back four.Given the close proximity between the sides in the table, it was little wonder that the opening 45 minutes resembled a game of chess, with Blackpool dominating possession and the visitors happy to play on the counter-attack.Chances were few and far between as Holloway's side attempted to crack the Derby code, but Taylor-Fletcher's early cross along the six-yard box at least had the visitors' defence worried.Jamie Ward fizzed a carbon-copy effort across the face of Matt Gilks' goal on eight minutes, but the Tangerine Army had to wait until the 21st to witness the first effort of note, as Taylor-Fletcher drew a decent save from Frank Fielding with a 20-yard drive.A lack of pace in the Blackpool attack was telling but with Stephen Crainey an ever-willing runner down the left-hand side, the Scotsman very nearly gave his side the lead right on half-time.Taylor-Fletcher and Kevin Phillips combined well and the latter slid Crainey in on goal, but his drilled cross was deflected over the bar by a brilliant block from Bryson - when a shot was perhaps the better option.

The second-half continued in similar vein - Kevin Phillips was hungry to add to his weekend brace and he very nearly did when Taylor-Fletcher laid the ball into his path after a mazy run, but his drilled, 20-yard shot flew wide.Holloway sent on Billy Clarke in place of the tireless Brett Ormerod, in an attempt to break the stalemate.But, no sooner had the change been made and the Seasiders were a goal behind against the run of play.Rams striker Steven Davies lined up a free-kick 25 yards from goal, but while Gilks did well to palm his powerful effort away, Bryson reacted quickest to slot the rebound into the far corner.

The lead was flattering for a Derby side who had shown little ambition in the final third and it was the home side who continued to seize the initiative, with Taylor-Fletcher hitting the post with a shot from just inside the box after another winding run.

Elliot Grandin then made way for Tom Ince for the youngster's first taste of league action in tangerine and his impact gave the Tangerines a new dimension in attack.

A one-two with Clarke set the 19-year-old free inside the box on 80 minutes, but just as he looked to pull the trigger Taylor-Fletcher took the ball off his toes and denied him of a golden opportunity to level.

Craig Sutherland replaced Matt Hill late on as Holloway threw caution to the wind, but still they couldn't find a way past Clough's resilient side.

Match Report: Blackpool 2 Peterborough 1

Blackpool were in the fourth tier when they last secured back-to-back victories at the beginning of a league campaign in 1991.It's only taken a rollercoaster 20 years for that statistic to finally be rewritten as Kevin Phillips notched his first goals in tangerine colours to put the Seasiders' amongst the early promotion pack in the Championship.The evergreen 38-year-old proved he could be an integral part of a team seeking top-flight redemption by firing two poacher's efforts either side of half time in a frenetic encounter against newly-promoted Peterborough United.The Seasiders put in a solid performance at a sunsoaked Bloomfield Road, but had to endure a late rally from the visitors to seal the points after summer transfer target George Boyd struck what proved to be a mere consolation.Ian Holloway elected to retain the same starting line-up that won at Hull nine days earlier, and his side made a positive start when Phillips' close-range header drew Paul Jones into a fine save before Elliot Grandin rattled the post from the resulting loose ball.Peterborough weathered the early storm though and had chances of their own with Lee Frecklington firstly seeing his 25-yard effort cleared off the line by Keith Southern.Seasiders stopper Matt Gilks - who shook off an injury to start - then came to the rescue to deny both Lee Tomlin and David Ball one-on-one before making a fine save from Ryan Bennett's header.

Match Report:Hull City 0 Blackpool 1

A fine finish from Gary Taylor-Fletcher secured Blackpool victory over Hull in the opening match of the Championship season at the KC Stadium.The Seasiders, relegated from the Premier League last season, were more than matched by Hull through the match.Matty Fryatt wasted two fine chances for the hosts when clean through while Tom Cairney hit the bar.But Taylor-Fletcher lashed home a half-volley from Keith Southern's chip and his side survived several late scares.Blackpool dropped out of the Premier League in May after finishing 19th, while Hull were relegated from the top flight 12 months earlier, and the teams were well-matched.The hosts enjoyed the best of the opening quarter of the match as Cairney crashed a free-kick against the woodwork and Robert Brady dragged a shot wide.But after a slow start, Blackpool managed to assert their passing game and created the better of the chances before the break.First a cross from Kevin Phillips tempted Peter Gulacsi from his line and the goalkeeper was far from convincing as Elliot Grandin almost hunted down a loose ball.Then Phillips, who left Birmingham when his contract expired at the end of last season, rattled the post with a cleanly struck effort from the edge of the box.Hull suffered a setback as debutant Dele Adebola was forced off in the first minute of the second half, but the Tigers could have taken the lead when Fryatt burst through on goal.He was denied however as Alex Baptiste chased back and timed his tackle to perfection to rob the former Leicester striker.Fryatt and substitute Nick Barmby then squandered clear openings as the Seasiders defence disintegrated in front of them.But Taylor-Fletcher proved more clincial as he rifled an awkwardly bouncing ball into the top corner before Jay Simpson flicked Hull's last chance over the bar.Blackpool manager Ian Holloway told Sky Sports: "I want to prove that it's not just the players we've lost that were good. I want these lads to shine again and for me they did in this very tough fixture."I'm delighted for the lads, we've had a tough few weeks and it's always about getting the game started. We've had a terrible pre-season, we haven't played well at all, but we have tonight so that's all that matters."Hull boss Nigel Pearson felt his side were unfortunate to lose but admitted they had only themselves to blame."We've been mugged a bit because of the number of chances we've made," he said.

"We should be taking them but that's the Championship. It's a steep learning curve for some of our lads."