Ref was a complete muppet. We've said that a lot this season, but this guy was a prize plonker. But we won both despite and because of his efforts. I hope both managers rip it out of him in their match reports and that he gets struck off the list, because he's a disgrace to the few good referees that there are (somewhere) out there.
It was another cold November night, and our fans weren't at their most vocal, probably rubbing hands together or clutching at the pocket with the handwarmer in it, while the Blackpool away following was quite impressive and co-ordinated. They kept making noise even at a goal down which did them credit, not bad for a bunch of gypsies.
The game itself okay it had spells that weren't great, but their best efforts were tame and from long-range, Ward collecting no trouble; whereas our dynamic duo of Thompson and Shuker looked dead certs to put in dangerous balls from the right every time they got hold of it. Their midfielders worked damn hard, running around like nutters, their gameplan seemed to be to work at a high tempo and to beat men with clever movement and inter-passing. It worked well but they lacked any clinical end-product, and by midway through the second half they had run themselves out in the middle of the park, so McLaren and Mullin came into their own, and on one occasion so did Goodison! Their midfield were just too tired to go chasing after him and let him go on by.
Looking more at our perspective, Thompson played excellently and for me it was a contest between him and Davies for man of the match, then Davies appeared at the far post to whallop home the goal that put the game beyond doubt and also clinched my choice as MoTM. Nice to see Jackson again, and nice that the curse of the ex-player didn't rear its ugly head once more. Les Parry back in shorts, and three points under the floodlights on a Friday night. Spot on.