Fleetwood Town extend their unbeaten run to 11 after a hard fought 0-0 draw against local rivals Blackpool at Highbury on Saturday.
In a game of two halves, Blackpool edged the first period but didn’t make their chances count as Fleetwood came fighting in the second half.
Blackpool’s best effort came in the first five minutes when Matty Virtue tried to fire his shot into the top corner, but Alex Cairns was alert to prevent the Seasiders taking an early lead.
Paddy Madden went close with a header after the break, but the deadlock couldn't be broken and the points were shared.
The game began with Fleetwood having to defend their own goal on a number of occasions, as Neil Critchley’s Blackpool tried to unsettle the hosts on his first match in charge of The Seasiders.
Within the first five minutes, Vitrue had a chance to turn and strike the ball, but his effort was saved comfortably by Cairns.
Soon after, Conor Ronan tried his luck from distance, and with the wind’s help his ambitious attempt dipped just over Town’s crossbar.
Fleetwood did have a good amount of possession in the opening half an hour, but struggled to create chances in front of the travelling away fans.
After the half hour mark, Blackpool had another chance to take the lead. Delfouneso this time could not keep his strike on target, as he fired over from Callum MacDonald’s cut-back.
Just before half-time, Fleetwood began to get on top and had claims for a spot kick when Swansea loanee Barrie McKay ran post two defenders in the penalty area, got touched but the referee waved away the shouts from the players and the home crowd.
The second half began in a complete different temperament as it was Town who were on the backfoot from the restart. Callum Connolly - who has been on good form of recent weeks - looked to add to his goal tally, but his effort was saved well by former Fleetwood man, Chris Maxwell.
With the hosts looking to main their attacks, the next opportunity came when McKay and Lewie Coyle linked up on the right hand side, and with the cross finding Paddy Madden, the Irishman couldn’t direct his header goal wards.
As the game approached the hour mark, Town again threatened their opponents’ goal. Danny Andrew stepped up to take the free-kick, but it hit the wall before McKay’s wild effort spun over the crossbar.
Madden – who worked tirelessly all game - held the ball up and laid it off to Ched Evans, whose strike from inside the area went agonisingly wide.
With the clock ticking and time running out, Fleetwood did have the ball in the back of the net. Josh Morris – a second half substitute - was adjudged by the assistant referee to be offside, as he nutmegged Maxwell.
With four minutes of added on time announced, both sides looked to dig deep and push for the all-important winning goal. Neither side could get the ball into dangerous areas, and it was up to referee John Busby to blow the full-time whistle.
This result now leaves Fleetwood two points of second place Rotherham United, with a trip to fellow promotion hopefuls Portsmouth on Tuesday night.
Fleetwood XI: Cairns (GK), Coyle, Andrew, Connolly (Evans 66’), Souttar, Burns (Morris 78’), Whelan, Coutts (C), Madden, Gibson, McKay (Sowerby 86’).
Subs not used: Crellin (GK), Thorvaldsson, Biggins, Saunders.
Blackpool XI: Maxwell (GK), Heneghan, Deflouneso (Gnanduillet 80’), Feeney, Dewsbury-Hall, Virtue, Husband (C), MacDonald, Madine (Nuttall 47’), Ronan, Moore,
Subs not used: Simms (GK), Edwards, Spearing, Garrity, Ward.
Attendance: 4,884