Late goals from Harrison Rice and Daeshon Lawrence gave Wanderers the Lancashire FA Youth Cup as the young Whites put their first trophy in the cupboard, writes Pete Oliver.
Julian Darby’s side is fighting on three fronts as they top the table in the EFL Youth Alliance with an unbeaten record and are also in the northern final of the Alliance League Cup.
And they know at least one piece of silverware is theirs after Rice and Lawrence struck inside the last quarter of an hour to make Wanderers county champions for the first time since 1998.
The Whites had lost in last season’s final but went one better this time thanks to a third win this season over the Seasiders.
A strong wind at the LFA’s Leyland HQ never made good football easy but Wanderers controlled the tie for long periods and deserved their victory once Rice finally broke the deadlock with 12 minutes to go.
A corner struck deep by Conor Lewis reached Rice beyond the far post and the wing-back took a touch before drilling an angled drive through a crowd of players into the back of the net.
The goal had been coming and even though Blackpool briefly threatened an equaliser when striker Terry Bondo nodded wide from a rare second-half chance Wanderers made sure of victory six minutes from the end when Lawrence doublerd the lead.
The frontman had been a threat all night and got his reward when he followed up after Xander Taylor’s shot wasn’t held by Blackpool keeper Charlie Brier and Lawrence slotted home from a tight angle to make sure the Whites’ name went on the trophy.
Wanderers finished with 10 men when David Abimbola was harshly dismissed in stoppage time for a high challenge but with a job well done, they can now look forward to trying to add to their honours in the final weeks of what could be a memorable season.
Darby’s side has swept aside most before them but having beaten Blackpool by a only a single goal in their previous two meetings they knew this would be no pushover.
A first-half lead would have made life more comfortable but despite a couple of decent openings Wanderers couldn’t find the breakthrough.
Lawrence went closest as he side-footed just wide from Jamie Grayson’s low cross, while an early knock influential midfielder Harry Leigh took a while to shake off didn’t help the Whites’ cause.
Blackpool had their best moments with two chances on the break as Gabriel Schluter was denied by George Barlow’s fine save and James Butterworth shot just wide.
But that – and a couple of late free-kicks dealt with by Barlow – was as near as the Seasiders got and with Wanderers’ captain Harley Irwin a guiding light in the middle of the park Darby’s boys gradually increased the pressure after the break.
Irwin fired just wide from distance and Brier blocked from Abimbola but Wanderers were determined to put their name on the trophy and got the inscriber busy once Rice had killed off Blackpool’s resistance and Lawrence provided the final blow.
Wanderers: Barlow; Smith, Grayson, Oliver; Taylor, Leigh (Mawditt 93), Irwin, Rice (Thomas 86); Lewis; Lawrence (Ritchie 90), Abimbola. Substitutes: Lomax, O’Neill, Mawditt, Nuttall, Lewis.
Blackpool: Brier, Leliendal (Cox 85), Oshodi (Hunter 85), Upton, Nwankwo, Elder, Mannix, Knight, Bondo, Butterworth (Wylezol 79), Schluter (Williamson 90). Substitutes: McVeigh, Crowe, Williamson, Madu.
Watch post-match interviews with youth boss Julian Darby and goalscorer Harrison Rice later on Wanderers TV