A finely taken goal from Blackpool striker Daniel Nardiello ended Crewe Alexandra's Carling cup involvement at the first hurdle. The former Manchester United trainee finished off a fine run from substitute Ishmel Demontagnac to snatch an 80th minute winner for Ian Holloway side.
Crewe had got themselves back into the cup-tie thanks to Calvin Zola's close range finish on 72 minutes. The Congolese striker drilled his shot off of Blackpool goalkeeper Matt Gilks and into the roof of the net for his first goal since hitting a winning goal at Colchester back in March.
Blackpool had taken the lead five minutes into the second half and from a familiar face too. The former Preston and Nottingham Forest midfield player Adam Nowland had been on trial with us in the summer, and featured in our pre-season friendly at Nantwich Town. He recently signed a non-contract at Blackpool and curled home a wonderful free-kick past debutant Adam Legzdins to give the Seasiders the advantage.
Following the opening day defeat to Dagenham and Redbridge, Gudjon Thordarson promised changes for this evening's Carling Cup tie with Blackpool and he was as true to his word. He made five changes to the side that lost 2-1 to The Daggers, handing full debuts to Adam Legzdins and Ashley Westwood.
Following their impact as second half substitutes on Saturday, James Bailey and Byron Moore were also handed starts against Championship opposition. Luke Murphy also started on the right hand side of midfield. Danny O'Donnell's absence with a hip injury meant a reshuffle at the back with the versatile Mat Mitchel-King dropping back into the four.
On the substitutes bench was Crewe latest loan signing Aman Verma from Leicester City and Academy graduate Harry Davis.
Early on the match, Zola challenged Gilks in the air before the vibrant Byron Moore shot just over the bar after some promising build up play after Zola had headed a long ball from Patrick Ada into the path of Grant.
Blackpool soon conjured up some half chances of their own with Ian Evatt heading just over and Nardiello shooting straight down the throat of Legzdins.
James Bailey had a terrific first half in the centre of the Alex midfield. He continuously pinched possession from the opposition, covered the back four with real intelligent and was hardly wasteful in possession. One probing run from deep after 16 minutes saw the Academy graduate whistle a shot just wide. Although his second half replacement Aman Verma did well on his senior debut, Crewe missed Bailey in this kind of form.
Billy Clarke had a snap shot over the bar for the visitors before Zola went close with another two efforts for the Alex. He couldn't quite generate enough power or direction onto a Brayford cross and then he dragged a shot just wide of the target after Billy Jones had stolen possession from Clarke.
Bailey was everywhere and popped up in our box blocking a shot from Gary Taylor-Fletcher. Moore was also a constant menace with his pace and he always looked the most likely attacker to unlock the Blackpool defence.
A fairly even first period ended with Billy Jones drilling a low free-kick into the mid-drift of Mat Gilks after Nowland had tripped the hard working Westwood on the edge of the box.
Bailey failed to reappear for the second half due to a hip injury. His replacement Aman Verma looked tidy and composed in possession and looks like being an asset for us. The on-loan youngster's first contribution though was to concede the free-kick that would result in the opening goal for the visitors. It was a soft concede on the edge of our box, with Nowland punishing us with a superbly struck free-kick around the Crewe wall and into the bottom left hand corner. One of our former summer trialists certainly wanted the Blackpool fans to know his name by holding the back of his shirt up to celebrate his first goal for the club.
Crewe may have suffered an early blow in the second period, but to their credit they continued to play their football and our possession game was a vast improvement on Saturday's performance. More good work from Murphy saw Moore stretching to direct his shot on goal.
Verma also got into the action and after a lovely piece of skill to evade his marker; the confident youngster drilled a shot just wide.
Just after the hour mark, Zola had a great chance to equalise after Grant had flicked on a cross from Jones - but again the Crewe striker didn't register enough power or direction to take his shot past Gilks. Either side of the Blackpool goalkeeper and he would have been beaten. A minute later, Moore whistled another long-range effort just wide of the target after he had drifted form his wing position. Crewe were certainly on the front foot at this stage of the game.
Grant looked to be carrying a knock and was replaced for Elding with 25 minutes remaining. Ada was also booked for a reckless lunge into the back of Nardiello.
Debutant Legzinds produced the save of the match to deny Nardiello a goal on 66 minutes. The former Barnsley man must have thought he had scored after he had evaded a couple of challenges inside the Crewe penalty area, but the Crewe keeper positioned himself perfectly to push his fierce effort over the bar. The save kept Crewe in the League Cup at that stage.
Five minutes later and Crewe levelled the score. Murphy clipped a ball into the box and following a slip by one of the Blackpool defenders in front of him, Zola was able to pounce and drilled a shot off of Gilks and into the roof of the net. Over the balance of play, a draw and extra-time was probably a fair reflection of how the match had gone.
Crewe went looking for a winner though, with Moore having a shot deflected behind for a corner after Zola had played him in. Moore also nearly reached a low cross from Murphy as we tried to settle the tie in 90 minutes.
As it was, it was Blackpool who would be celebrating a passage into round two of the League Cup. Their pacy sub Ishmel Demontagnac, who had replaced Brett Ormerod, raced at the Crewe defence from deep before playing in Nardiello for the winning goal. He calmly slotted his shot past the diving Legzdins with a little over 10 minutes left.
With time running out, Crewe threw on Donaldson for Murphy but that real clear-cut chance to force extra-time never materialised and the Championship club held on to reach Round Two.
Crewe: Legzdins, Brayford, Jones, Ada, Murphy (Donaldson), Mitchel-King, Moore, Bailey (Verma), Grant (Elding), Westwood, Zola
Blackpool: Gilks, Evatt, Clarke, Ormerod (Demontagnac), Taylor-Fletcher (Almond), Martin, Baptiste, Nardiello, Edwards, Nowland, Hudson
Att: 2,991
