Blackpool vs Hull City. Sky Bet Championship.
Bloomfield RoadAttendance11,300.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Blackpool and Hull City at Bloomfield Road as Gary Madine's first-half penalty sealed victory for Neil Critchley's Tangerines on New Year's Day
Saturday 1 January 2022 19:55, UK
Gary Madine was the penalty hero as Blackpool started the year with a hard-fought 1-0 Championship victory over Hull.
Madine converted a 31st-minute spot-kick after reported Nottingham Forest target and former Tigers loanee Josh Bowler was fouled by Jacob Greaves.
After finishing 2021 with just one win from their previous 10 league outings, victory was a timely tonic for the Tangerines.
It also lifted Neil Critchley's side above Sheffield United into 12th place while City - back in action for the first time in 14 days after coronavirus issues - remain 19th, four points above the drop zone.
Bowler showed again why clubs are reportedly casting envious glances at the former Everton prospect.
And Daniel Grimshaw's saves in the first half and then stoppage time at the end of the game also proved pivotal as Blackpool shrugged off their holiday defeats by Huddersfield and Middlesbrough.
For Hull, it was an unhappy return to action after their fixtures with Blackburn and Sheffield United were both called off.
Pool finished nine points behind last season's third-tier champions but kicked off this latest meeting seven points better off than the visitors.
Bowler forced the game's opening corner after two minutes, while the lively Keshi Anderson blazed wide shortly after in a bright Blackpool start.
But the visitors nearly took the lead when hesitancy in the home defence ended with Grimshaw saving George Honeyman's low shot, deflected off Richard Keogh.
Blackpool survived another let-off when Richie Smallwood headed Honeyman's corner fractionally wide.
But the breakthrough went the hosts' way in the 31st minute. Bowler reprised his early trickery and was sent tumbling by defender Greaves.
There were few complaints from the Tigers and Madine blasted his spot-kick straight down the middle past Nathan Baxter.
Hull's response was commendable as twice Keane Lewis-Potter showed why he has been City's most potent threat this season with efforts that needed interventions from Grimshaw.
The goal certainly brought a more open contest. Madine twice set up Anderson with delightful passes but his team-mate's left-footed finishes were tame.
So too was substitute Tyler Smith's toe-poke in first-half stoppage time when he looked poised to score.
The second half rarely came to life but a frantic five minutes of stoppage-time almost saw Hull draw level.
Tom Eaves, a 62nd-minute replacement for Josh Magennis, had already pulled one left-footed effort wide before Grimshaw again came to the rescue.
Three times in 30 seconds he kept out Hull single-handedly, blocking shots from Smith after Honeyman's ball in and then bravely denying fellow sub Randell Williams at the far post following Lewis-Potter's deep cross.
Blackpool's Neil Critchley: "If they had scored at the end, I am not sure what I would have done. We don't make things easy for ourselves, do we? It is so hard to win a game in this division and you have to do it at both ends of the pitch. We didn't see out of the game any better than we had earlier in the week and we relied on our goalkeeper to win us the game with two moments of brilliance.
"We deserved it today but over the course of the week, had we come out of the three games without a win and only picking up a point it would have been a travesty. If we want to be looking up in this division, that game should have been 2-0 or 3-0. At 1-0 it was comfortable and they never got near our goal in the second half. They opened the game up quite early and we could have finished it off. It was a crazy end to the game but it should not have got to that."
Hull's Grant McCann: "The goal was disappointing for us. We prepped on Josh Bowler and we know him inside out. A lot of what has come from him this season is dribbling and cutting in on his left foot. We shouldn't have let it get to that stage. We were not at our best and didn't get going. It was one of those scrappy games.
"We had a good chance with Tyler Smith. We said to the boys pick up the energy and aggression in second half. We had two unbelievable chances at the end we had to score. There is no question about that."
