TEDIOUS is the only way to describe Blackpool's half-hearted match as the Tangerines finished the season off with a tiresome 1-1 draw on Saturday (May 2) away to Chesterfield.

The first half was, in actual fact, dreadful.

Chesterfield defended by pumping the ball forward by any means possible, leaving the teams at stalemate.

The travelling Seasiders managed to fumble any of their chances, leaving the result looking like a 0-0 draw.

Pool's best chance fell to top goalscorer Phil Clarkson.

After some deft footwork from Marvin Bryan, Clarkson rose to meet his cross only to see his attempt go over the bar.

The second half was a more upbeat period for both teams, mainly due to the fact that the Seasiders had to come from behind to rescue the point.

Just four minutes into the second period, Chesterfield put together what was possibly the best move of the match.

Their move on the break, after Mercer cleared Philpott's free kick, was solid and always looked like resulting in a goal.

Mercer punched the ball out to Curtis, who in turn passed to Beaumont, who put the ball through for Howard to shoot into the top right hand corner of the net.

But rather than fight back, the Seasiders were left reeling by increased pressure from the home side.

John Hills prevented Chesterfield getting a second within minutes of the first, with a strong challenge inside his own six-yard box.

But after the hour mark, the visitors took a firm grip of the match.

Madcap midfielder Gary Brabin had shown some of his comedy talents before the match - sporting a training top with Gazza written on it to answer his boss's claims that he acted like him - but he certainly wasn't left in a good humour when Clark Carlisle blocked his rocket of a free kick from the edge of the area on 61 minutes.

Then with just four minutes left on the clock Clark Carlisle finally scored for the Seasiders with a glorious header from a Philpott corner.

It was a shame that Blackpool's departing stars Dave Linighan and Andy Preece could not have been present for the last game of the season.

Five first team players have departed the Tangerines this season, leaving the club a lot of strengthening work to do before the start of next season's campaign.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.