Owen Garvan seals FA Cup victory for Ipswich against nine-man Blackpool

Ipswich progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a hard-fought victory over nine-man Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.

On-loan Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback opened the scoring for the visitors in the third minute, with a right-footed shot from the edge of the area, but Blackpool were unfortunate not to be level at the break after they hit the woodwork three times.

Gary Taylor-Fletcher saw two long-range efforts cannon off the crossbar, while Charlie Adam hit a post with a first-half penalty.

The home team did equalise early in the second half through Brett Ormerod's header, but their hard work was soon undone when Ian Evatt and Rob Edwards were shown straight red cards.

Evatt got his marching orders in the 55th minute after hauling down Colback as the youngster burst clear and, with 15 minutes remaining, Edwards - who had replaced David Vaughan on the hour mark - saw red for a foul on Jon Walters.

Ipswich capitalised on the dismissals, with the substitute Garvan firing home the winner from a free-kick with 13 minutes remaining.

The substitute Connor Wickham twice went close to extending Ipswich's lead in the closing stages as the visitors made the most of their numerical advantage.

Press Association