Blackpool 3-1 Peterborough United: Subs Carey & Yates seal late win
- Published
- comments
Keshi Anderson's equaliser was Blackpool's first goal since 20 November, when he was also on the scoresheet against Swansea
Blackpool won for the first time in eight games to ensure struggling Peterborough will spend Christmas in the Championship relegation zone.
Siriki Dembele rounded Tangerines goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw to fire Posh ahead after 11 minutes.
Blackpool responded well and deservedly equalised after 27 minutes through Keshi Anderson's close-range finish.
Sonny Carey put the hosts ahead with four minutes left and fellow substitute Jerry Yates bundled in a late third.
Victory saw Blackpool move up to 12th, five points off the play-off spots, but Peterborough remain in the bottom three, two points from safety, ahead of a crucial date with 21st-placed Reading on 26 December.
The Tangerines had not won in their past seven matches, failing to score in the last four, and were behind early at Bloomfield Road when Dembele finished well after being sent through on goal by Josh Knight.
Gary Madine, back in the side after missing two games through injury, had a chance to equalise almost immediately but headed wide from a corner.
The hosts got the goal their play deserved when the influential Josh Bowler sent a low ball into a crowded six-yard box, where Anderson applied the finishing touch from close range.
That was how it stayed at half-time and neither team was able to find any fluency on the resumption, before a Madine header was saved by David Cornell on the hour mark.
The game appeared to be heading for a draw before Blackpool boss Neil Critchley sent on Carey and Yates with 17 minutes left and it didn't take long for them to make an impact.
Carey had already gone close when he was picked out by Anderson and guided in his first goal for the club with a low strike past Grimshaw.
Fellow substitute Yates then got in on the act, scoring his sixth goal of the season to put the result beyond doubt.
Blackpool manager Neil Critchley told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"If you'd said at the halfway point in the Championship you'd have just sneaked into the top half of the league, and we'd be on 30 points, would we have taken that?
"I think possibly, but we do want more. We want to get better and be competitive in every game and that's what we do; we just try to improve and move onto the next game and you know, this league is brutal.
"I'm delighted for Sonny [Carey], he's had to be patient coming from Kings Lynn. I've had quite a few chats with him and he's impatient, he wants to play. He's a young player who believes in his own ability and there's no doubt I think that he's going to be a very good player for this football club in the future."
Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire:
"I'm extremely disappointed. I'm still a bit shocked how we've lost that game 3-1 to be honest. It was a game where for a large part we were in control, particularly the first 20 minutes.
"Then you go into the last five minutes and, I'm not making excuses, but the ball takes an unbelievable deflection and ends up in a place where they can only get a goal and I suppose that sums up where we are away from home.
"It's a hard one to take as it was a real opportunity after last week's performance and result. We can't seem to get that momentum or back-to-back wins. Our away form is horrendous so our home form is going to have to keep us in the league, it's as simple as that."