LONDON, February 23 – Blackpool dealt a blow to Tottenham's hopes of securing Champions League qualification on Tuesday, scoring their first win in seven matches with a 3-1 victory at Bloomfield Road.
First half goals from Charlie Adam and DJ Campbell and a late Brett Ormerod strike secured three precious points for Ian Holloway’s side, who had slipped close to the relegation zone after losing five of their six previous matches.
The win saw Blackpool advance to 12th spot, five points clear of the relegation places.
Spurs, who could have moved into third place with a victory, remain in fourth, two points ahead of champions Chelsea who have a game in hand.
Blackpool took the lead from the penalty spot after 18 minutes, when a clumsy challenge from Sebastien Bassong sent Campbell crashing to the turf.
Adam stepped up to dispatch the spot-kick, giving Heurelho Gomes no chance with a clinical left-foot finish.
Blackpool’s goal sparked the visitors into life thereafter, and Jermain Defoe almost levelled for Spurs when he broke clear and clipped a shot over the advancing Richard Kingson.
Defoe was denied an equaliser however as Blackpool defender Craig Cathcart scrambled back to head clear off his own line.
Sensing Blackpool’s frailty, Tottenham went for the kill and soon had the Seasiders scrambling again. A cross to the back post found Defoe, whose shot was cleared off the line by Alex Baptiste.
But just as it seemed as if a Tottenham goal was on the cards, Blackpool doubled their lead on 44 minutes with a superb counter-attack.
Campbell surged forward and passed to debutant Sergei Kornilenko, who found James Beattie with a deft backheel. Beattie’s cross then found Campbell at the far post, who slotted the ball away calmly to make it 2-0.
Tottenham dominated long periods of the second half but were unable to break down a resolute Blackpool side.
And 10 minutes from time, Ormerod slid in Blackpool’s third after confusion in the Tottenham defence before Roman Pavlyuchenko grabbed a late consolation for Spurs in injury time.
