Fleetwood Town Head Coach Lee Johnson was pleased by his side’s improvement after they salvaged a point in a Lancashire Derby against Blackpool.
The Cod Army ran away with an early lead at Highbury, with Promise Omochere and Jack Marriott putting the home side 2-0 up within 20 minutes.
They held on for the first half, but a quickfire double from Sonny Carey after the break put the Tangerines back level. Shayne Lavery put Neil Critchley’s side into the lead on 67 minutes.
But Marriott provided a late equaliser, ensuring all spoils were shared on Wednesday night.
Johnson spoke to club media following the match, with a bittersweet tone. He said: “We’re disappointed to not take all three points after being two goals up at half-time; Ben Heneghan has stood up in the changing room then and said that we should have nine points out of the past three games.
“We have five, so it isn’t a disaster and it’s a bit of an unbeaten run. There was a lot of character on the pitch today from both teams, I thought the fans were fantastic and gave it a real derby feel.
“Blackpool do have quality players and they threw caution to the wind, but we should have dealt with it better. We are improving but we can’t get ahead of ourselves and there is still plenty of work to do.”
The 42-year-old was still pleased by the passion shown by his team. He added: “I was very critical of our ability not to maintain the ball at Barnsley, but in the first half today it was fantastic – we had a few chances to go three goals to the good but their ‘keeper made a fantastic save and that changed the game.
“We know we are reducing the worst of us, and I think the fans can see that, we got clapped off at the end because we played with so much spirit, we have to keep building, we have played two top six sides in my view in terms of quality.”
The Cods travel down to Kidderminster Harriers on Sunday in the FA Cup. The Worcestershire side are experienced in giant killings, so Fleetwood must remain on their toes against the National League team.
Writer’s View
Fleetwood must be disappointed not winning their local derby match, taking an early 2-0 lead and having chances to extend it further. On paper, Blackpool should have run away with it, as shown in the match. The Tangerines had 30 shots in the game and 65% possession. However, 16 of their attempts were blocked, demonstrating the Cods’ defensive resilience on the night. It was a well-won point for Lee Johnson’s side.
The Lancashire side have now strung together a small but vital unbeaten run. It is something to be proud of when you take points off some of League One’s big sides in Barnsley and Blackpool. With how tight it is at the bottom of the third tier, wins against the easier opposition coming up will see The Cod Army escape the drop zone they are currently sat in.
1st Class Honours in Multimedia Journalism at Salford University. Writing mainly about League Two.
