Snap Shot: Cardiff were denied three early Saturday points at a windy Bloomfield Road as Paul Parry's eighty first minute was denied by an injury time smash from Alan Gow.

The first half had seen plenty of Cardiff chances which were close to giving the long travelled and freezing 903 strong Bluebirds support something to celebrate. But despite the silky touches and impressive approach play, the deadlocked remained - much no doubt to the annoyance of Joe Ledley who threw away two massive chances to take the lead.

Blackpool were at the races also however, and despite not showing the same style going forward were unlucky not to go ahead themselves as Kabba's shot hit the arm of Burgess, which then fell to his feet to cue the shot past Heaton. Celebrations were short however due to the linesman's flag.

The second half was similar in that Cardiff held the better of the ball, while Blackpool for their industry were limited going forward. In the last ten minutes the match exploded into life, as first substitute Paul Parry looked to have given the Bluebirds three deserved points, but with five minutes of added time coming, the match was turned on another substitute - this time Alan Gow with a well taken strike as City switched off.

Team News: Cardiff were completely unchanged from the sixteen who had taken three points against Coventry last time out. Team news for Blackpool introduced a single change as Adam Hammill came in for the injured Claus Jorgensen, also opening a place on the bench for Stephen McPhee.

Cardiff: Heaton, McNaughton, Purse, R. Johnson, Kennedy, Whittingham, Rae, McPhail, Ledley, McCormack, Bothroyd. Subs: Enckelman, Gyepes, E. Johnson, Parry, Comminges.

Blackpool: Rachubka, Southern, Evatt, Hammill, Vaughan, Taylor-Fletcher, Kabba, Camara, Edwards, Barker, Burgess. Subs: Coid, Broomes, McPhee, Fox, Gow.

Chronological Report: Bitterly cold and windy conditions welcomed us to Bloomfield Road, in a match that Blackpool kicked off facing the car-park and their yet to be built away stand. There was little to report in the opening ten minutes, though Cardiff did show flare in their approach play with some neat passing in bold weather conditions (bold nice for freezing, wet and windy).

Cardiff were temporarily reduced to ten men as McPhail took attention for a blood injury. The minutes he was away from the action ended with a Taylor-Fletcher shot, low and comfortable for Heaton to collect.

Blackpool looked an interesting prospect - and certainly better than we had seen last season. Most dangerous in the opening exchanges were Hammill on the right of midfield and welsh International David Vaughan.

A few early half scares aside, we had to wait until the fourteenth minute for solid pressure on the Seasiders. McCormack was the instigator bursting forward, but the ball he excellently fed into the box for the onrushing Rae was cut out at the last for Cardiff's first corner. The corner was cleared, but led to the second knock to a Cardiff player - this time Roger Johnson who collided heads with a Blackpool defender in the box and needed attention due to the impact.

City found ways to spend more time in the Blackpool half as the half progressed, restricting their hosts to chances on the counter. A great chance to open the scoring came as we reached twenty four minutes as Peter Whittingham obliged Joe Ledley's request to send him the ball on the left edge of the area. On receiving the ball Joe saw an opportunity and drilled the ball low towards the right corner of goal, only for Rachubka to parry to safety.

While Cardiff were growing in confidence, the Seasiders were still dangerous and were unlucky not to go ahead themselves on the half hour. Some clever play in the build up saw Kabba fire a shot from outside the area, which en-route to goal hit Burgess in the arm. The ball obligingly then fell to his path to shoot past Heaton - but the Blackpool celebrations were cut short on the realisation that the flag for hand-ball was already in the air.

Despite the let off causing a brief scare, Cardiff continued to impress going forward and in the following five minutes to the forty minute mark should have really one ahead.

First up was Bothroyd who jinked forward when presented with the impressive combination of Whittingham and Kennedy, only to see his well struck effort narrowly fly over the bar.

Minutes later Cardiff were firing forward again, creating two close chances for Joe Ledley via the industry of McCormack and Whittingham. On both occasions the ball was well held on the right by Ross, with Whittingham then providing chances on a plate for Joe on the edge of the box. The first was a blocked shot from hits, while the second chance was a solid pass, but on both occasions when Joe was gifted the ball he somehow shot wide over the bar.

Cardiff closed out the half on the front foot and would have gone into the interval happy to have been looking the better of the two, but frustrated not to have capitalised on some great chances to take the lead.

HALF TIME: BLACKPOOL 0 - 0 CARDIFF

A single change came to the Cardiff eleven after the break, with McNaughton having to step aside with an injury to allow forty five minutes for Comminges.

A member of the local press had confirmed that the home side preferred playing towards the main stand, which was confirmed early on. Blackpool opened the half strongly, coming close though Taylor-Fletcher's close range shot which was blocked by Purse.

Two minutes later the Seasiders were getting forward again, this time with Hammill crossing to Kabba from the left - Kabba's resulting header soft and easily held by Heaton. Cardiff responded without being able to test the Blackpool 'keeper as McCormack showed pace to get forward, but the unwillingness to pass at the last - instead trying to do everything himself.

Cardiff continued to impress with some deft touches and creative, flowing football in the opening two thirds - Whittingham in particular with some lovely passing to frustrate the home support. What was lacking however was the ability to turn the style into product, which all the while left the door open for Blackpool to counter. On one such occasion after fifty seven minutes, Miguel was booked for his first challenge, taking out Kabba (ball first so the yellow was harsh even with Blackpool asking for the red) to deny the counter-attack from building momentum.

We reached the hour with matters even, only for Cardiff to come close minutes later through Darren Purse of all people. City had done well to get forward, and with the ball cleared from the box in a move that had seen a penalty shout as Bothroyd went down, the clearance came to Purse on the edge of the area. With bodies in the way Darren fired a low shot through themix and was unlucky to see it go wide after beating all concerned.

A booking came for Vaughan for a challenge on Whittingham, while changes to personnel came on both sides as Joe Ledley left the field with what looked a groin strain, bringing Paul Parry into the fray. For Blackpool we saw the introduction of McPhee Ben Burgess.

Cardiff pressed, while Blackpool supporters groaned at their team continually for wasting the ball. Hoping to shake things up, the home side replaced Kabba with the tall frame of Rangers loanee Alan Gow. His early touches made him look a handful for the pairing of Purse and Roger Johnson.

The prospect of a goalless draw drew ever closer, but it all changed inside the last ten minutes. Blackpool were surging forward and came massively close through Gow and Taylor-Fletcher's deflected shots. With McPhail down from the last attempt Cardiff broke forward through McCormack and Rae, seeing the ball eventually set to the path of Parry on the left. With work to do Parry impressed as he cut in and despatched the ball across the Blackpool keeper and into the bottom right corner.

GOAL: BLACKPOOL 0 - 1 CARDIFF. Parry. 81 mins

The celebrations were tempered as the dust settled due to McPhail's incapacity proved worse than thought as he hobbled off the field injured. In his place came Eddie Johnson.

Cardiff looked comfortable towards the end of proceedings, but with five minutes of injury time added Blackpool always had a chance. We had thought that the three points were a formality, but in the final minute of added time Alan Gow fired home when City had criminally switched off to offer the opportunity.

GOAL: BLACKPOOL 1 - 1 CARDIFF. Gow. 90 (+5)

FULL TIME: BLACKPOOL 1 - 1 CARDIFF

Gutted