sport

Blackpool deny Eagles in dour draw

Sinclair: Penalty claims waved away

Palace boss Neil Warnock was infuriated by referee Anthony Taylor after two first-half penalty decisions went against his side - the second resulting in a booking for a dive by Scott Sinclair.

But Blackpool, still not safe from the drop, deserved a share of the spoils and could have taken all three points after creating excellent chances for Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Claus Jorgensen and the impressive Wes Hoolahan.

Warnock handed a debut to on-loan Chelsea winger Sinclair, who arrived on Thursday via an unhappy stint at Charlton - and the 18-year-old provided most of Palace's creative spark.

One powerful run, exchanging one-twos with Ben Watson and Clinton Morrison, culminated in Tom Soares spurning Palace's first effort on goal when his lob was easily dealt with by Paul Rachubka.

Warnock was screaming in vain for a penalty in the 13th minute when another debutant, on-loan Fulham full-back Nathan Ashton, came off second best in a collision with burly centre-half Ian Evatt.

But Blackpool gradually took hold of the game and should have gone ahead just after the half-hour when Taylor-Fletcher took advantage of some ponderous Palace defending and burst clear, only for Julian Speroni to keep out his shot.

Jorgensen fired wastefully into the side-netting when Stephen Crainey was screaming for a cross - and Hoolahan shot over, before Speroni was nearly embarrassed by Steve McPhee's angled drive.

Speroni kept out the shot but spilled the ball behind himself and took an age to find it, with Taylor-Fletcher sliding in only to be denied by the grateful goalkeeper.

Warnock's mood was not helped when Sinclair was booked for a dive in the area, with the hosts expecting a spot-kick as the interval approached.

Jorgensen squandered another fine chance for the visitors when he blazed high and wide before the interval.

Warnock hauled off Ashton at the break and also replaced striker James Scowcroft with another new loan signing, West Ham youngster Kyel Reid.

The nippy winger's first touch was a shot on the run which flew over, before Danny Butterfield curled an effort just too high.

A clever short-corner move nearly gave Palace the lead on the hour, Ben Watson feeding Sinclair who turned and raced to the byline only for his low cross to be deflected wide.

At the other end, Speroni flapped at McPhee's cross - but again Taylor-Fletcher could not tuck away the loose ball, before referee Taylor's popularity rating improved as he denied the visitors a penalty when Hoolahan tumbled in the box.

Hoolahan was then frustrated by a fingertip save from Speroni, with a minute remaining.

Teenager Ashley Robinson could have won the game for Palace in stoppage time but headed Reid's cross straight at Rachubka.