26th June 2011 - Chester Gladiators 22 - Blackpool Sea Eagles 32

A sensational second half comeback saw Blackpool pick up their second win of the season as they ran out 32 – 22 against a strong Chester Gladiators outfit. With injuries and unavailability still taking their toll, Blackpool were only able to name the bare minimum thirteen players for the trip to Cheshire, whilst the home side had the luxury of being able to leave players out of their full twenty man match day squad.

The game began poorly for the Sea Eagles as within two minutes of the kick off the Gladiators, aided by a needless penalty, had powered their way over from close range for a converted try and a 6 – 0 lead. However straight from the restart Blackpool hit back as strong runs from Danny Gee and Nathan Gemmell created the platform for stand off Dean Dollin to dummy and jink his way over for an excellent try. More pressure from the visitors looked have given them the lead as loose forward Gee smashed his way over the whitewash from close range only for the score to be ruled out for knock-on in the act of scoring.

The home side made the most of this reprieve and took advantage of some understandably tired Blackpool defending to score three quick fire tries in the space of six minutes to take a commanding 22 – 4 lead. For many teams this point’s blitz would have broken them; however the Sea Eagles were made of sterner stuff and came firing back with excellent scrambling defence typified by the efforts of Tom Sanderson and Paul Carmody amongst others preventing the home side from extending their lead further before the break.

Unlike the first half, the second period began excellently for the Sea Eagles as after good work by Jack Emery and Gary Prescott had carried the side deep into the Chester half, Dean Dollin produced a superb kick to the corner which was collected and touched down by centre Wayne Dollin. Try creator Dollin displayed his kicking skills again by slotting over the resultant conversion from the touchline to cut the deficit between the sides further. This early score sparked a period of Blackpool pressure as firstly Johnny Lane and then Chris Lane came close to scoring only to be denied by some last ditch tackling from the home side.

The visitor’s weight of possession eventually told as the ball was kept alive on the last tackle allowing Wayne Dollin to scythe through for his second try of the afternoon, with namesake Dean producing another fantastic goal from the sideline to narrow the gap between the teams to only six points. Blackpool could clearly sense that the game was there to be taken and some bone shuddering defence, typified by huge tackles from Gee, Gemmell and Carmody, repeatedly drove the Gladiators back and forced them to cough up possession. The Sea Eagles were also firing in attack and after strong runs from Ste Galvin and John Iddon had carried their side deep into Chester territory, the ball was swept out to the flanks to centre Antony Clark who dived over in the corner to cut the deficit between the teams to only two points with fifteen minutes left on the clock.

The Seasiders did not have to wait long to draw level as ill discipline from the hosts presented the visitors with a kickable shot at goal , which Dollin duly dispatched to tie the score. With the game at a tipping point the Gladiators tried to battle back, but were met time and again by some ferocious Blackpool tackling with Clark, Emery and Sanderson pulling off some terrific hits. Another infringement from the hosts, presented the Sea Eagles with a chance to take the lead, with Dollin slotting over the penalty to give the visitors a two point advantage, which soon became four as from the restart Chester kicked the ball dead, which allowed Dollin to slam over another penalty goal, this time from the half way line. With the clock counting down excellent runs from Emery and Lane released Wayne Dollin, who drew in the defence before sending Dean Dollin racing in under the posts, with the stand off’s sixth goal of the day bringing up a final score 32 -22 in favour of the visitors.

This was truly fantastic team performance with every one of the thirteen Blackpool players displaying a never say die attitude and giving everything they had a secure a fantastic win. A number of players could have took the man of the match honours, but in the end the award fittingly went to Dean Dollin, whose ability with the ball in hand and prowess with the boot, created a number tries for his team-mates and bagged the classy stand off a twenty point individual total. The Sea Eagles will be looking to build on this superb victory when they travel to face Rochdale Cobras next Saturday.

Team: 1. Tom Sanderson 2. Johnny Lane 3. Wayne Dollin 4. Antony Clark 5. John Iddon 6. Dean Dollin 7. Paul Carmody 8. Gary Prescott 9. Ste Galvin 10. Chris Lane 11. Jack Emery 12. Nathan Gemmell 13. Danny Gee

Tries: Dean Dollin (2), Wayne Dollin (2), Antony Clark

Goals: Dean Dollin 6/8

Walkabout Blackpool Man of the Match: Dean Dollin