Layer Road wonder boy Lomana Tresor Lua Lua was the undisputed king of the Bloomfield Road sand castle.

But the exciting French Zairos whizz-kid could not prevent a youthful-looking U's outfit - including six teenagers - from falling to an unlucky last-day defeat at second division rivals Blackpool.

The U's were eventually undone by a goal from Phil Clarkson in the final two minutes after big Stephane Pounewatchy had cancelled out Brett Ormerod's quickfire opener inside the first 30 seconds.

Unpredictable bag of tricks Lua Lua was a constant target of the Blackpool bully boys as he tied the home defence in knots with his unbelievable body swerves and intricate ball skills.

The only thing missing from the Sorcerer's Apprentice's magical repertoire was the goal his crowd-pleasing wizardry so richly deserved.

But this day was not just about Lua Lua. French teenage striker Steve Germain made his first league start after a handful of substitute appearances.

And U's boss Mick Wadsworth also handed League debuts to promising young goalkeeper Andy Walker and second half substitutes Sam Okafor and Kelechi "KK" Opara. Youth team colleague Sean Hillier also enjoyed an outing on the subs bench.

Walker caught the eye with a solid performance which included a couple of super saves when the scores stood at one-all, despite getting his League career off to the worst possible start by conceding a goal in the opening 30 seconds.

The former Charlton Athletic schoolboy stood no chance as Ormerod, in oceans of space on the edge of the U's penatly box, collected a Steve Garvey pass and swept a left-foot shot into the net after Warren Aspinall had needlessly given the ball away straight from the kick-off.

It was Ormerod's ninth goal of the season and it meant Walker's first touch in League football was to pick the ball out of the net.

Another piece of sloppy play by Aspinall almost set up a second goal for the Tangerines five minutes later, but Walker brilliantly tipped over David Bardsley's long range free-kick.

But the U's hit back with a vengeance and they were back on terms just before the half-hour mark.

Lua Lua was fouled 35 yards out by the left touchline and Pounewatchy rose well to head Aspinall's superbly directed free-kick out of home keeper Tony Caig's reach.

It was Pounewatchy's first goal for the club.

Walker then reacted smartly to smother a shot from Clarkson and U's player-of-the-year David Greene was only just off target with a header from an Aspinall corner as the visitors finished the first half strongley.

Okafor was introduced for the second period in place of the injured David Gregory, but the rest of the show belonged to Lua Lua and his magic.

He won a succession of free-kicks as the Blackpool defenders struggled to contain him and after skipper Richard Wilkins had tested Caig in the home goal with a vicious 25-yard dipper he was only inches too high with a 20-yarder of his own.

Ormerod forced another great full-length save out of Walker by the foot of his right-hand post as the game moved into its final quarter.

And the young keeper excelled again seconds later when he blocked a point-blank Clarkson shot with his legs following a great run by Junior Bent on the right.

With a point and a 1-1 draw seemingly in the bag, new boy Opara replaced Germain in the 82nd minute, but disaster struck just two minutes from fulltime as Blackpool snatched a flattering winner.

Greene was caught napping deep inside his own penalty area as former England international Bardsley swung a telling cross into the edge of the six-yard box where Clarkson swept the ball past Walker from close range.

Pounewatchy should have grabbed a last ditch equaliser, but his close range injury-time header from an inch-perfect Aspinall cross went ogonisingly wide - a sad end to what promised to be a very memorable day for the U's babes.

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