2001 Football League Third Division play-off Final
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| Date | 26 May 2001 | ||||||
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| Venue | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | ||||||
| Referee | David Pugh | ||||||
| Attendance | 23,600 | ||||||
The 2001 Football League Division Three play-off Final was contested by Blackpool and Leyton Orient. It was the first season that the play-off Finals were contested in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium following the demolition of Wembley.
Background
Route to the Final
- Blackpool: Blackpool beat Hartlepool United 5-1 on aggregate after a 3-1 win in the first leg and 2-0 at home in the second leg.
- Leyton Orient: Leyton Orient beat Hull City 2-0 at home in the second leg, and went through 2-1 on aggregate despite losing 1-0 at Hull's Boothferry Park in the first leg.
Match Summary
Leyton Orient scored the opening goal after goalkeeper Phil Barnes slipped attempting to control a backpass from Brian Reid which allowed Chris Tate to tap in after 27 seconds. On 34 minutes, Ian Hughes scored the equaliser for Blackpool unmarked from a corner 8 yards out.
2 minutes later, Leyton Orient went back in front when Scott Houghton struck from 20 yards out into the bottom right hand corner of Barnes' net. Just before half-time, Blackpool were again level when Brian Reid scrambled the ball in from Gary Parkinson's cross past Bayes.
On 77 minutes, Paul Simpson gave Blackpool the lead for the first time in the match as he was set up by Brett Ormerod to slot past Bayes. Ormerod then wrapped the game up with 2 minutes of normal time left when he slotted home John Hills' cross from 6 yards.[1]
Match details
      Blackpool
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Leyton Orient
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MATCH RULES
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