Yeovil Town suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Blackpool in Sky Bet League Two in torrential conditions at Huish Park.
After a first half harnessed in terms of entertainment by the pouring rain, the visitors took the lead just before the hour mark courtesy of a Colin Daniel strike from 30 yards.
The Seasiders missed a penalty inside the final ten minutes’ courtesy of Armand Gnanduillet but doubled their lead after 83 minutes thanks to a second from Daniel.
With Yeovil pressing late on the visitors added a third through Gnanduillet, as Town failed to build on Tuesday’s victory in the Checkatrade Trophy.
Darren Way made two changes to the side that won 4-3 against Portsmouth in the Checkatrade Trophy in mid-week, re-introducing Kevin Dawson and captain Ryan Dickson in place of Bevis Mugabi (suspended) and Ben Whitfield who dropped to the bench.
With torrential rain and high winds making for far from ideal conditions for football, both sides struggled to gather momentum in the opening exchanges, as the ball whizzed off of the Huish Park surface.
The Glovers enjoyed a succession of corners inside the opening 10 minutes but the imperious Blackpool striker Armand Gnanduillet was on hand in his own box to clear the danger on both occasions.
As the rain continued to pour, Otis Khan saw an effort from 20 yards fly over Sam Slocombe’s goal whilst at the other end Alex Lawless’ clearance cannoned off of a Seasiders player and enabled Brad Potts to stab at goal, which dribbled inches wide from what would’ve been a fortuitous opener for Gary Bowyer’s side.
Just before the half hour mark Gnanduillet dragged an effort horribly wide from inside the box whilst Izale McLeod – who scored on his home debut in midweek – slipped at the crucial moment 20 yards from goal as he pulled the trigger.
After the break, and donning less saturated shirts than they ended the first half in, Darren Way’s side started on the front foot.
Khan’s dangerous free-kick from midway inside the Blackpool half narrowly evaded both Eaves and Butcher in the six-yard box, as Slocombe remained rooted to the spot.
The visitors responded with a chance of their own just before the hour mark when Colin Daniel’s effort was tipped round the post by Artur Krysiak after the ball picked up pace off the wet surface, before Brad Potts somehow headed an effort wide of goal from six yards.
But Gary Bowyer’s side didn’t have to wait long to take the lead as on 59 minutes Daniel gave the visitors the lead with an unstoppable effort from 30 yards which gave Krysiak no chance.
Darren Way immediately introduced Tahvon Campbell in place of Khan before Ben Whitfield – who made his debut on Tuesday night – took to the field in place of Dawson in the Glovers midfield.
As the rain finally eased in Somerset, Yeovil started to test Slocombe in a bid to try and get back into the match.
The Glovers continued to press for an equaliser and engineered their best chance of the match with 77 minutes on the clock after fantastic build-up play.
Whitfield drove from the halfway line before finding McLeod on the edge of the box, with the striker demonstrating excellent awareness to lay the ball off to the oncoming Dolan whose driven effort from the edge of the box was well gathered by Slocombe.
With the hosts pressing for an equaliser Blackpool were awarded a penalty inside the final ten minutes when Shephard was adjudged to have felled Bright Osayi-Samuel, but Gnanduillet blasted an effort from 12 yards over Krysiak’s goal to keep the score at 1-0.
Despite the reprieve the Glovers did fall further behind just minutes later when Daniel notched his second of the match with a cool finish after 83 minutes, as the game seemingly slipped away from Yeovil.
Piling numbers forward in search of a way back into the match, Blackpool executed a counter-attack four minutes later which resulted in Gnanduillet tapping in an effort from Potts’ low cross.
The rain finally stopped at Huish Park as the referee called time on a disappointing afternoon for Darren Way’s side, who will look to bounce back at home again next weekend when they take on Hartlepool United.
Yeovil Town: Krysiak; Shephard, Butcher, Smith, Dickson; Dawson (Whitfield 71’), Lawless, Dolan; Khan (Campbell 61’), McLeod, Eaves.
Bookings: Shephard 82’.
Subs not used: Maddison, Sowunmi, Lea, Bassett, Copp.
Blackpool: Slocombe; Mellor, Robertson, Aldred, Taylor; Potts (Yeates 89’), McAllister, Pugh, Daniel; Vassell (Osayi-Samuel 62’), Gnanduillet.
Bookings: Vassell 45’, Daniel 80’, Robertson 90’.
Subs not used: Aimson, Cameron, Nolan, Cain, Lyness.
