HALF-TIME: Blackpool 0, Bristol City 0
The much-maligned Bloomfield Road pitch lived up to pre-match expectations, sporting almost as much sand as the nearby beach.
With little option but to adapt their game-plan accordingly, both sides resorted to direct tactics, frequently playing long passes into the channels and inviting the strikers to chase rather than attempting to keep the ball on the floor and build from the back.
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Blackpool V Bristol City 19
As a result, clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities were hard to come by and neither side was able to engineer a meaningful on-target effort during a frenetic opening period.
England Under-21 starlet Tom Ince was let down by is first touch when trying to connect with a nEil Eardley cross, while a Matt Phillips centre narrowly eluded the in-rushing Barry Ferguson as the Seasiders pressed.
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But City were giving as good as they go and Steven Davies hooked a shot just wide as the visitors flexed their muscles.
Even the talented Ince was unable to overcome the conditions and his surging run from the halfway line came to nought as his pass went astray on a horribly uneven surface.
Davies arrived a split-second too late to take advantage of a searching ball from Greg Cunningham and, as half-time approached, neither goalkeeper had been called upon to make a meaningful save.
It remained that way as Paul Anderson, profiting from a break-out initiated by Stephen Pearson, cut inside and curled a shot over the bar from the edge of the penalty area.
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