From the day FC United's fixtures were put out back in July it was the game that stood out more than the rest, Blackpool Mechanics. The Red Army had been looking forward to a day up in Blackpool and it didn't disapoint one bit. Hotels and B+B's were packed with reds many had come up for the weekend and many of the locals didn't know what had hit them as a sea of red arived in town. After the pre match 100 aside on the beach and watching some other match on TV cant remember who it was ;-), it was time to head for Bloomfield road. The singing was immense on the way to the ground and in the big ques to try and get in, It made you think about all the people who said FC was all a pipe dream, well look at us now.
A delayed kick off as expected to the number of reds trying to get in the ground, saw quite a scrappy first half. Blackpool were dogged in defense and kept trying to catch United on the counter attack. With few chances of note it was Blackpool who took the lead on 40 minutes when Braebaum nodded home a superb header past George. 1-0 to the mechanics at half time, the second half saw Simon Band making an exit due to an arm injury. He was replaced by assitant manager phil power who made an instant impact upfront with some great hold up play. United were much more up for it this half and it didn't take long for the scores to be level. Chris Simms was impeded in the box resulting in Patterson slotting home from the spot to make it 1-1. 10 minutes later the scores had completley turned around a cross found Dave Chadwick who manged to control before half volleying home to put United 2-1 up and claim his 2nd goal in 2 games. More United pressure followed with some great football played but 64 minutes in and Blackpool were level again after Ford struck home. United were having non of it though and 6 minutes later Aherne found himself with the ball in area shooting near post and managing to find the back of the net to make it 3-2. Blackpool were disheartened and didn't look like coming back again. The result was guarenteed when Power broke into the box in the 90th minute only to be body checked down. Resulting in a penalty that Patterson duly slotted home for his 2nd on the day and to make the final score 4-2. A 14 point lead at the top of the league as it stands with 12 games to go, next stop Altrincham.
2 Rob Nugent
3 Gareth Ormes
4 Chris Simms
5 Billy McCartney
6 David Chadwick(c)
7 Josh Howard
8 William Aherne
9 Simon Band
10 Steve Torpey
11 Rory Patterson
Subs Used
12 Darren Lyons
13 Phil Power
14 David Brown
Attendance 4300
Scorers
Patterson 49 (Pen), 90 (Pen), Chadwick 59, Aherne 70