Blackpool welcomed back a number of former players for a legends game at Bloomfield Road.
Blackpool’s play-off legends claimed a 6-5 victory over the North West All-Stars in the charity game at Bloomfield Road.
Mark Cullen was on hand with a brace for the team in Tangerine, while David Vaughan, Nathan Delfouneso, Neil Danns and Andy Morrell also found the back of the net.
As for the side donning the Seasiders’ away kit from last season, ex-Bournemouth winger Marc Pugh and former Southampton forward Rickie Lambert also claimed doubles, before Ross Wallace added his name to the scoresheet.
Proceeds from the fixture will go towards the Trinity Hospice, who are celebrating their 40th anniversary, alongside the Blackpool Community Trust.
Before kick off, the players got their first taste of life back on the Bloomfield Road pitch with a quick warm-up, and there were warm welcomes for a couple of players in particular.
In the opening exchanges, both Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Stephen Dobbie forced Nick Culkin into saves with shots from distance.
Down the other end, the first real testing moment for Matt Gilks was a strike from Lambert, with the 2010 play-off winning keeper getting a strong hand on the shot to push it over the crossbar.
The deadlock was broken by the team in Tangerine on the 20-minute mark. After an initial effort from Delfouneso was stopped from close-range, Vaughan arrived to finish on the rebound.
Shortly after, the All Stars levelled the scores through a deflected Pugh shot, just moments after Neal Eardley had been denied a second for the play-off legends by Culkin.
The scoreline didn’t remain level for long. After being denied earlier in the match, Delfouneso was hand from close-range to put Steve Thompson’s side back in front.
Inside the first 10 minutes of the second half, Lambert pulled the North West All Stars level again.
Once again, that was quickly rectified by the legends, courtesy of quick-fire goals from 2017 play-off winning pair Danns and Cullen.
The latter of the two claimed his second of the game shortly after, but only after Lambert had completed his brace as well.
Heading into the latter stages, the North West all stars pulled themselves level, with Pugh finding the back of the net once again, before Wallace made it 5-5.
In the final seconds of the match, a shot on the half volley from Morrell secured the victory for the play-off legends.
Blackpool play-off legends: Matt Gilks, Keith Southern, Neal Eardley, Ian Evatt, Brett Ormerod, David Vaughan, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Alex Baptiste, David Eyres, Nathan Delfouneso, Stephen Dobbie.
Substitutes: Paul Rachubka, Dany Coid, Keigan Parker, Stephen McPhee, Mark Cullen, Andy Gouck, Marc Joseph, Scott Vernon, Andy Morrell, Claus Jorgensen, Jamie Milligan, Niel Danns.
North West All-Stars: Nick Culkin, Nicky Hunt, Jason Lydiate, Peter Clarke, Steven Croft, Gavin McCann, Liam Feeney, Ross Wallace, David Lee, Marc Pugh, Rickie Lambert.
Substitutes: Carter Lambert, Ali Daggett, Jonathan Howard, James Caton, Danny Howard, Brandon Lee, Lee Pugh, Stephen Sama.
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