BLACKPOOL crashed out of the Auto Windscreens Shield to a Burnett goal for Grimsby in the 77th minute on Tuesday night (Feb 17).

The Mariners kept a tight back four and often kept the visitors out of the game with frustrating tactics in the second half - which saw them simply keeping possession and playing Pool out of the game.

The Tangerines' best chance came from a spectacular Brett Ormerod free kick that sliced over the bar after just 12 minutes.

Blackpool's other chances were few and far between due to the home side keeping tight and stopping most attacking runs down the wings by Junior Bent and John Hills.

That's not to say the Seasiders didn't perform well.

They were simply closed down on too many occasions by the team vying for automatic promotion to the first division.

Hills was put to the test with many a Grimsby attack coming down the right.

Grimsby's goal started on the right with a long ball from Donovan which Smith retrieved and crossed for Burnett to head home.

If not for the usual excellent display from Banks, who pulled off crucial saves in both halves, it could have been a bigger defeat.

Blackpool's team spirit showed through, with no lull in their attempts to break down the Mariners' back four.

And all Pool's attacking players cropped up in defence to stop Grimsby - notably Bent on several occasions.

Quinn played the whole of the second half and it was obvious from his classy display why he's attracting interest from the likes of Bolton Wanderers.

His first touch allowed him to run through Grimsby's defence as though it wasn't there, but he put his shot just wide of the mark.

The Tangerines may be out of the cup, but they still looked impressive and should maintain confidence to concentrate on pushing up the table in the league.

Blackpool will get the chance for revenge when they travel back to Grimsby for a league clash on Tuesday (Feb 24).

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