Harrogate Town bowed out of this seasons F A Cup after conceding four second half goals to League 1, Blackpool.
Injuries to Ryan Fallowfield and Dan Jones forced Simon Weaver to rejig his defence with Warren Burrell and Conor Hall having to fill in as full backs.
At first,Hall in particular,struggled againsr the pace of C J Hamilton,but the Town defence soon overcame the problem.
Town’s first chance came when Jack Muldoon broke down the middle,only to be stopped by an excellent covering tackle by Ekpiteta.
The Seasiders best chance of a scrappy first half came when Gary Medine turned an Hamilton cross past James Belshaw’s upright,but otherwise, neither side could fashion a scoring opportunity.
An early break and shot from Calvin Miller sailed over visiting keeper,Maxwell’s bar,but on 50 minutes Blackpool took the lead,after local lad Luke Garbutt scored direct from an inswinging corner.
Town almost hit back when Burrell played in Muldoon,who could only hit his attempt straight at Maxwell.
On the hour,Belshaw made a fantastic double save to keep his goal intact,but from Garbutt’s corner,Grant Ward shot home through a crowded area to make it two.
Harrogate desperately needed a goal to have any chance of progressing in the competition and sub Brendan Kiernan,who had replaced Miller,forced Maxwell into a fine diving save.
Lloyd Kerry tried his luck with a long range lob that drifted wide,but a disasterous last five minutes put any faint hopes of a recovery beyond firmly to bed.
Firstly,Dougall hit the post and Jordan Gabriel followed up to tap in the rebound,and in added time Lokko slipped and accidently brought down an attacker,which earned him an harsh red card and Dan Kemp scored from close range following the resulting free kick.
Town,
Belshaw,Burrell,Hall,Lawlor,Lokko,Thomson,Falkingham(Kirby 88),Kerry,Miller(Kiernan 63),Beck,Muldoon.
Unused subs,Cracknell,Fallowfield,Martin,Stead
Booked,Miller 45,Falkingham 47,Burrell 52,Kerry 90. Sent off Lokko 90.
Blackpool,
Maxwell,Woodburn(Lubala 62),Gabriel,Anderson(Kemp 79),Madine,Ward,Dougall,Hamiltom(Mitchell 83),Ballard,Garbutt,Ekpiteta.
Unused subs,Yates,Husband,Turton,Sims.
Scorers,Garbutt 50,Ward 60,Gabriel 86,Kemp 90.
Referee,James Oldham
By John Harrison.
