Blackpool boss Neil Critchley delighted as Seasiders breeze past Barrow

Blackpool thumped Barrow 5-0 at Holker Street on Saturday as they ramp up preparations for their upcoming League One season. The Tangerines played two separate starting XI’s in both halves as their players continue to get back up to speed.

Matty Virtue and Shayne Lavery scored in the first-half to give the Seasiders a 2-0 lead at the interval. Jake Beesley then added a third before Sonny Carey bagged twice.

Blackpool were backed by 736 supporters in Cumbria. Their boss Neil Critchley was satisfied with the afternoon’s work and told the club website: “I was very pleased with the performance from everyone. Thanks to Barrow for hosting the game and coming here in the torrential rain you feared the worst a little bit, but the pitch was brilliant. They gave us a different test to what we’ve faced recently so it was really good for us.

“You could see in the first five or ten minutes we had to get used to the type of game it was and we had to settle a little bit into the problem that they were giving us - we had to find a solution. Once we started doing that, we had some really good moments, scored some really good goals, played with energy and aggression, passed the ball well and I think we looked like a good team.”

He added: “There were lots of signs of positive play, with things we’ve been working on in training.

“That’s why it’s good to play these games because you can do it all in training but then you’ve got to replicate it within a game. It’s not easy to play against the way Barrow set up, it’s nearly a man-for-man system, so you have to be patient and try and find space on the pitch.”

Blackpool gave more game time to new signings such as Matthew Pennington, Albie Morgan, Richard O’Donnell and Ollie Norburn. They return to pre-season friendly action on Tuesday away at Morecambe.

First Half XI: Grimshaw, Pennington, Ekpiteta, Husband, Moore, Virtue, Trybull, Morgan, Thompson, Dale, Lavery

Second Half XI: O’Donnell, Connolly, Casey, Tharme, Lyons, Dougall, Norburn, Carey, Lankshear, Apter, Beesley