Alan Pardew said:

"I think it was a fair result. We got the goal, got ourselves in a great position, then unfortunately we were sloppy. We were a bit tired today, mentally and physically, after the Manchester United effort, and Blackpool were all over us. For 20 minutes of that first half we were hanging on, and really, just resilience and character kept us in it.

Newcastle duly advanced to 41 Premier League points at Bloomfield Road, but it was a far from convincing display against the relegation candidates, who made our lives more uncomfortable than the champions-elect had done so at Gallowgate in midweek.

A muddled opening on what seems to be the narrowest pitch in the division gave this Easter Saturday clash more of the air of a Shrove Tuesday kickabout, but those away fans who had managed to get themselves into the ground by the 17th minute soon had something to cheer. 

Despite taking the lead from that first attack of note, Alan Pardew's side failed to capitalise on that good start and allowed the Tangerines to threaten too often for comfort. That in turn boosted the morale of home supporters, who had started to turn on their heroes the previous weekend when fellow Lancastrian strugglers Wigan romped to a 3-1 away success here. 

Some jittery first half moments prompted penalty appeals of varying credence (Williamson's catching Campbell open to interpretation; Krul's dash to recover Enrique's loose pass and deny the same forward totally legal, Simpson's double handball lacking the necessary intent). 

When the equaliser duly arrived it was with an air of inevitability, although still something of a self- inflicted wound. Only Enrique will known why his starting position was behind the goal line and although not quite as bad as Kieron Dyer's infamous "leaning on a lamp post" episode against Barcelona, it was to be equally costly. In mitigation though, our left back did subsequently boot another effort off his own line before the interval that Krul may or may not have blocked.

Having managed 72 minutes on Tuesday, there were some concerns that Shola Ameobi's ongoing ailments may have precluded him playing twice in a week, but he duly appeared on the field in the starting XI. 

Unfortunately his pre-game warm up appeared to stretch until around 3.48pm, as he lolloped forward in fairly forgettable fashion and posed no threat whatsoever to the home defence. That did make his manager's recent positive comments look a little hollow - and even a change of footwear failed to improve what was a rotten display, or stop him ending up on his backside in good positions (Enrique also felt the need to replace his boots at half time, possibly due to their excess orangeness....)

Post-game reports spoke of home truths aired in the away dressing room at half time, but there would be previous little evidence of that permeating through to the visitors as Blackpool increased their pressure for what logic dictated would be a winning goal, despite their defence being the most porous in the division on their own ground. 

We simply didn't pose any sort of a goal threat, with only the very occasional burst into the box from Enrique to show for our efforts as we served up a second half attacking display that was uncomfortably reminiscent of the non-event at Villa Park last time out. 

In an attempt to alter things, Stephen Ireland was brought on just after the hour mark and once again showed some promise, scuffing a reasonable chance wide in a rare Magpies raid upfield (an obvious lack of match fitness means that he's some way off resembling the Wonga slogan of Blackpools' shirt sponsor - "little loans, lots of control"...)

A later replacement then saw James Perch arrive in place of Nolan with what looked like orders to shadow Charlie Adam, who by then was starting to run out of steam. With a point almost within our grasp that's an understandable ploy, but quite why it took us so long to implement was questionable - especially with Tiote looking on the verge of losing it in the aftermath of his booking.

For England's number one midfielder (self-described) though, it was an afternoon that he won't recall with any great relish. Notching up an assist for the goal proved to be his most valuable contribution -  while Gutierrez presumably spent most of the game loitering behind a pillar, meaning we failed to observe anything noteworthy that he did to boost the attack.

Thankfully the defence were up to the task of withstanding whatever Pool could muster - although the glowing praise that Danny Simpson continues to receive mystifies us, if only for his reluctance to get up close and personal with opponents. Aside from his first half rick, Enrique was again solid and prompted cynical comments as to whether any Anfield (or Allianz Arena) spies were present.    

Two points from this week's double bill is certainly twice what we expected, but the lines about tiredness and lethargy as a result of playing two games in five days are a little difficult to swallow. That time lag hardly measures up to some of the marathon games (and distances) that we were forced to undertake during our seasons of European participation - for example, winning at Feyenoord on a Wednesday night and beating Southampton the next Saturday

And while the rigours of keeping a clean sheet against the league's top scorers undoubtedly took their toll, Kevin Nolan at least was playing his first game in three weeks following a two game ban. That the rest of them couldn't be rotated is due to the shortcoming of a squad, where the "great character" that is Shefki Kuqi couldn't even be trusted with a cameo extending to ten minutes.

That the man of the match in a visit to the lowest home scorers was our 'keeper tells its own story, as an increase to our own points total came as a result of his agility and Blackpool's profligacy.

Thankfully it shouldn't matter in the short term at least, as we held on to ninth position and retain a healthy goal difference, we now look comfortable in mid-table. However, safety still isn't completely assured, with a seven point gap between us and the 18th placed side.

Like much of the rest of this season, this was a tale of what might have been. And ultimately wasn't.   
 
Biffa