Crawley Town got the new SkyBet League One season off to almost the perfect start after beating 2-1 at Broadfield Stadium.
First half goals from Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Armando Junior Quitirna put the Reds in control at the break.
And they looked set for a comfortable win over the Seasiders but Ashley Fletcher’s opportunist goal set up a tense finale, however the hosts held on to claim all three points.
It’s been a summer of change on the pitch for Crawley, and Scott Lindsey could only name two of the 11 who started the League Two Play-Off Final win at Wembley in the starting line-up.
That included handing Max Anderson and Josh Flint full EFL debuts, and the Reds looked to take the game to Blackpool in the early stages.
Having just missed out on the play-offs last term, hopes would’ve been high for Neil Critchley’s side, who had the first chance of the game when Olly Casey met Lee Evans’ free-kick – but his diving header was well held by Jojo Wollacott.
It was Crawley who broke the deadlock just after the 15 minute mark. Jeremy Kelly released Hepburn-Murphy down the right, and the forward broke clear before lifting the ball past Daniel Grimshaw and into the far corner.
The visitors looked for an immediate response, with Jordan Rhodes seeing his near post effort well blocked by Joy Mukena, before Hepburn-Murphy opened up to shoot at the other end but fired high and wide.
Reds – many people’s favourites a swift drop back to League Two – then doubled their lead 10 minutes before the break.
Ronan Darcy did well to pounce on a loose ball and find Quitirna on the left. The winger then drove inside the area, before seeing his shot take a deflection off Matt Pennington to lift the ball over Grimshaw and into the far corner.
Wollacott had little to do in the first half at Broadfield, but the visitors did go within a whisker of halving the deficit with the last kick of the opening 45 minutes – Ollie Norburn seeing a low drive hit the outside of the post and go wide.
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