A limp performance by City's reserves, after a promising beginning, sees the Tigers' Carling Cup run end at the first hurdle amid the swirling gales of a Blackpool summer.

It started off OK. City began brightly and within three minutes a smart move from left to right deep in the Blackpool half found Green in space, his powerful shot from wide right was tipped over the bar. From the resulting corner a half clearance was swung back in by Green to the far post and Price rose to comfortably nod home the opening goal. For a few more minutes after that City generally stroked the ball around imperiously and the game had a genuine "men and boys" feel about it. It soon became apparent, however, that the men were City's reserves in the main, and they wear that badge for a reason. They're not as good as the first team.

They lined up thus:

Steve Milk
Wiseman Joseph Delaney Edge
Green Welsh Woodhouse
Price  Ellison
Burgess

I wonder how many times this arrow formation has to fail before Taylor finally rejects it for good. To be fair it was kind of forced on him, Burgess was the only fully fit striker (Fagan was on the bench but nursing a knock, resting Elliott for the League cup makes eminently good sense, McPhee was injured, Ellison was deployed on the left).

On ten minutes Blackpool got their passing going for the first time, and a low shot from the inside right channel was deflected wide by Edge's outstretched leg. There was a bit of head tennis in the City box from the corner before the ball fell to ex-Donc Doolan - a 21st century Jon Schofield - who skied a shot from 12 yards. A minute later Delaney's pass into midfield was easily intercepted, the ball reached Parker via Murphy and Milk's hands were warmed by a powerful shot on this mild but blustery evening by the sea. Three chances in three minutes, City's reserves wilted perceptibly and Blackpool gained in confidence. The Tigers still played the nicer passing and Burgess was able to hold the ball well up front when it came to him, but too often the lone man up front was unable to close down the Blackpool defence and, with little resistance offered from the half-paced Price and the oft-bizarrely-positioned Ellison, the Tangerine backline launched countless attacks with some well crafted balls into giant Murphy's head and feet. The game was drifting away from the Tigers and no-one seemed capable of chucking a rope towards dry land, not even the useful Welsh who scurried around and was constantly involved, but clearly needs time to suss out his teammates movements, strengths and weaknesses.

On 17 Milk flapped horribly at a right wing cross and the left winger Pendergast stooped to head wide of an open goal. It was a brief respite. City had won a couple of corners and exerted a modicum of pressure including a low Welsh shot turned away by Pogliacomi, but just before the half hour a low pass from the Seasiders' right back, unchallenged as he was by any of our front three, found space for Parker to run into behind Edge. The nippy forward looked ready to unleash a shot when Edge lunged in and felled him quite blatantly. The ball had been played from back to front quickly by Blackpool and referee Ilderton was well behind play on halfway, but the linesman on Edge's wing was happy to flag for a very obvious penalty that drew no protest at all from the Tigers. Clarke stepped up and sent Steve Milk the wrong way. Past your eyes-ed, you might say. 1-1.

This briefly ignited the Tigers in action, which culminated in Burgess flicking on a defence clearance plum into the path of the onrushing Ellison down the left channel. The bald wide-man advanced pacily into the box before unleashing an unstoppable rising drive that ripped into the goal, burst the net and killed outright the pillock behind the goal that was beating that damned drum all the time. Err, no. He advanced into the box then scuffed a horrible shot yards wide of the far post with only Pogliacomi to beat. Not good. It got worse.

Five minutes before half-time Blackpool again enjoyed some possession. Obligingly unencumbered as they were by any City tackles, they decided to sweep the ball pleasantly from left to right via the impressive Doolan in the midfield engine room. The ball reached ex-Villian Simon Grayson - Bedale's most famous son - on the right wing, he stepped inside Edge's lazy challenge and curled a delightful shot over Milk and into the far top corner of the net from a full 30 yards out. A splendid strike utterly out of character for a journeyman like Grayson, but nonetheless one that was destined to be enough to send Blackpool into the Carling Cup Second Round hat.

As with the first goal, City immediately tried to strike back. This time Welsh pinged a lovely ball in behind the Blackpool defence and the willing Ellison again bounded towards goal unimpeded. This time his run was from wide left towards the penalty spot and his trajectory meant that he arrived at the ball, which itself was arcing from left to right, on the edge of box with it on his right foot ready to be lashed past the haplessly exposed Pogliacomi into the net. But no. Ellison instead attempted the sort of shuffle favoured by six year old kids who can only kick with one foot, and he dithered sideways so that he could shoot with his left. This utterly unnecessary manouevre rendered Ellison hopelessly off-balance, and when the shot eventually came it bobbled along with such feeble pace that the keeper was able to pouch it easily - if he had had a hat, a gentle toss of said garment onto the ball would have effected a comfortable save. I'd like to think that at that exact moment Peter Taylor mentally dispensed his final drink to Ellison in his role as landlord of the Last Chance Saloon. He was replaced at half-time by Elliott, who formed a powerhouse City bench along with Fagan, Myhill, Coles and France.

A couple of minutes later, on the stroke of half-time, Wiseman eased the ball away from a couple of challenges in the City half before feeding Burgess on halfway. As Burgess and Price exchanged one-touch passes young Scottie continued to hurtle forward and as the ball was played to him he was presented with City's third one-on-one of the half. Wiseman showed good composure but his shot was perhaps struck too well and it curled over the keeper's grasp but also a foot over the crossbar. Alas the ball didn't strike the goal stanchion and rebound at a crazy angle into the City fans sitting on halfway, thumping flush in the mouth the small child behind me that spent the whole half screaming piercingly in my right ear. Half time. 2-1.

Elliott on for Ellison but still only Ben deployed at the spearhead of the attack. Neither Price or Elliott were able to support Ben regularly enough and as Blackpool's centre backs started stepping gracefully up into midfield the game descended into a chanceless series of defensive clearances. On the hour Fagan replaced the anonymous Woodhouse (chance to impress impressively wasted there, Curtis) and City finally gave some full time support to Burgess, a move which immediately swung the game in the Tigers' favour. Alas the lack of a decent final ball, the strange unwillingness of Elliott to shoot and an increasingly driving wind directly into the Tigers' faces all conspired to keep the scoreline at 2-1. Donnelly wasted a great opportunity to close the game out just after Fagan came on, as Parker drew three defenders before feeding Blackpool's right midfielder who curled wastefully over the bar. City had a few chances - Green struck a close range shot feebly into Pogliacomi's hands after a brief stramash in the six yard box, then the increasingly infuriating Cumbrian had two shots blocked when he could (and should) have done better after Pogliacomi failed to punch away a France cross. Finally the fish-lipped Whitehovian gimpoid headed over the crossbar from 12 yards as Pogliacomi lay prone on the floor in front of a gaping open goal, as a result of an Elliott shot that was blocked when he himself should have equalised.

As the game reached its end City pressed forward in increasing numbers, but Blackpool were empowered by their defensive success (and modicum of luck) during the half and carved out two one-on-one chances for Parker, both of which were driven wastefully straight at Milk. The final act involved an Elliott cross and a Burgess header that was steered, in common with most of the previous chances, straight at the chest of grateful Auusie keeper Poglia-chuffing-comi.

General lessons. Not good enough - Ellison. Not always interested enough - Price. Not influential enough nor composed enough when it mattered - Green, Joseph. Not doing anything at all enough - Woodhouse. Put in a decent if not entirely faultless shift in difficult circumstances - Burgess, Delaney. Bit dodgy at times - Edge. Hugely promising - Wiseman, Welsh. Good kicks, dodgy keeper - Steve Milk. Nearly did enough to turn the game late on - France. Overall - it's like this ....

I don't think Taylor sets out deliberately to lose cup ties. It's just that his selection of reserves and his obvious instructions to not fly into too many tackles generates an atmosphere of caution and uncaring in the team. We showed in the first ten or fifteen minutes that we had clearly moved on greatly as a team since last season as we passed crisply and imaginatively and sent Blackpool into a dizzy spin. But once the home side assumed some sort of foothold in the game, City fell away alarmingly and for all their huff and puff they rarely looked like they seriously wanted to score, and were unwilling to stake the integrity of their tibs and fibs to prove how much they wanted the win. We just sort of blurtled our way out of the Cup in the fashion of a saggy over-inflated balloon being let down slowly. Th-pp-th-pp-th-pp-th-pp. Flupp.

We picked Ellison again as well. That hardly helps.

HULL CITY (4-3-2-1): Leite; Wiseman, Joseph, Delaney, Edge; Green, Welsh, Woodhouse; Price, Ellison; Burgess.  Subs: Elliott (for Ellison, 45), Fagan (for Woodhouse, 59), France (for Price, 69), Coles, Myhill.

Goals: Price 4

Booked: Wiseman

Sent Off: None

BLACKPOOL: Pogliacomi, Coid, McGregor, Clarke, Edwards, Donnelly, Doolan, Grayson, Prendergast, Parker, Murphy.  Subs: Southern (for Grayson, 89), Edge, Butler, Vernon, Wiles.

Goals: Clarke 29 (pen); Grayson 39

Booked: None

Sent Off: None

REFEREE: E Ilderton

ATTENDANCE: 3,819