Harro-great For Shrimps 10 man Morecambe back to winning ways, as they take an early lead to see off Harrogate Town with a solid away performance.
Fresh from a rare week off in-between fixtures, a relatively well rested Shrimps side headed east to face in-form Yorkshire outfit Harrogate Town for an all-roses clash. With skipper Sam Lavelle suspended following an unsuccessful appeal against his red card last time out, Morecambe were glad to be able to call upon the services of fit again Nathaniel Knight- Percival. A surprise recall for Alex Kenyon in place of the influential Yann Songo’o, re- suspended for a further four games following the outcome of an elongated FA hearing, completed the enforced changes to the Shrimps starting line-up for the clubs first ever trip to Wetherby Road.
Stand-in Morecambe Captain Aaron Wildig elected to kick down the slope in the first half, and that looked to be an inspired decision when the Shrimps caught the hosts cold. A Liam Gibson through ball found its way to Carlos Mendes Gomes down the left and into the hosts’ box, with the resulting cross-come-shot bouncing over the sprawling Sulphurites goalkeeper and into the net to give the Shrimps a 1-0 lead. John O’Sullivan was in close attendance and attempted to claim a David Nugent-esque on the line tap-in, but the opener was adjudged to have been an own-goal by Will Smith with just 28 seconds on the clock.
The Lancastrians had a trio of chances to extend their early advantage around the 15 minute mark. A superb through pass by Cole Stockton from deep inside his own half dissected both Harrogate centre-backs to put John O’Sullivan through on goal, forcing James Belshaw into a fine save. A follow-up effort from Aaron Wildig was blocked on the line, before Carlos Mendes Gomes struck the upright with an effort from the edge of the box. Not long afterwards Cole Stockton had an opportunity of his own when he collected a through ball from Mendes Gomes, but saw his attempted lob tipped wide by a busy Harrogate keeper.
Although the Shrimps were neat and tidy on the ball in the opening stages, with Toumani Diagouraga looking particularly comfortable in possession, it was mostly long balls behind the Harrogate defence that had led to the best openings for the visitors. It took the hosts a while to adjust to the Shrimps bright start and counteract Morecambe’s ability to break forward quickly, but they gradually grew into the game as the half progressed. Their first noteworthy opportunity arrived after 30 minutes, courtesy of a Simon Power cross that was nodded over the bar by Aaron Martin from close range. Power was involved again down the Harrogate right on 38 minutes, forcing Nathaniel Knight-Percival to break-up an attack with a foul that saw the Morecambe defender booked. As half-time approached Aaron Martin missed the target for a second time, heading wide of the mark which enabled the Shrimps to take their 1-0 lead into the interval.
As the second stanza got underway it quickly descended into a scrappy affair, with both teams matching-up well in the middle of the pitch and finding it increasingly difficult to move the ball on a beach of a pitch that started to cut up badly. Morecambe squandered a promising opening after 50 minutes when Cole Stockton unselfishly tried to play the ball to Aaron Wildig, rather than shoot from just outside the box and Harrogate defenders backing-off. The Shrimps had another opening to kill the game off, when Carlos Mendes Gomes broke down the left and fired a low pacey cross pass towards the back post. The ball deflected into the path of John O’Sullivan, who ran out of real estate to sort his feet out and could only fire the ball into the side netting. Other chances from set pieces came and went for the visitors, with Harry Davis having a couple of half chances that he was unable to divert goalwards.
Disaster struck for Morecambe on 75 minutes as Knight-Percival collected his second yellow card of the game and was shown a red card for his troubles. A long clearance from Belshaw caught the Morecambe defence out and, perhaps unaware of a covering defender and fearing this may lead to a Harrogate chance on goal, Knight-Percival elected to deliberately handle the ball to divert it away from the onrushing Martin. For a second week in succession, Morecambe would play out the rest of the game with 10 men after seeing a centre-back dismissed. Things nearly got worse for the Shrimps in the immediate aftermath of the sending-off, as Harrogate hit the post and were unable to force home the rebound in the resulting goal-mouth scramble.
Throughout the game Harrogate had looked dangerous from set pieces, particularly via Dan Jones long throw-ins. The home side appeared to play for these as a tactic to utilise a narrow looking pitch, with Aaron Martin adding to earlier opportunities to make it a hat trick of missed headers for the hosts. Shrimps boss Derek Adams moved Alex Kenyon to centre-back and introduced Liam McAlinden, who held the ball up well for the remaining 10 minutes. Having got to 80 minutes unscathed, Morecambe were able to manage the remaining 15 minutes well without conceding any further chances to earn a 1-0 victory and register Kyle Letherens’ first clean sheet for the club.
A superb away performance from Morecambe, who had to ride their luck at times in this one but will point to earlier opportunities that they missed to put their hosts to bed earlier in the piece. Although the dismissal of Knight-Percival and pending suspension is not ideal, the Shrimps were able to manage the situation well within the game itself and can look to the return of Captain Sam Lavelle for the next game against league leaders Cheltenham Town. With just 10 league games remaining the Shrimps currently lie sixth in the table, just 2 points off the automatic promotion places and everything still to play for.
Shrimps: Letheren (GK), Mellor, Davis, Knight-Percival (sent off 75’), Gibson, Diagouraga, Kenyon, O’Sullivan, Wildig (C), Mendes Gomes (Sub 82’), Stockton (Sub 79’). Own Goal (Will Smith 1’) Subs: Halstead (GK), Cooney (79’), Denny, McAlinden (82’), Price, Pringle.
MOTM: Liam Gibson – assured performance at left-back, nullified attacks, got forward when required, and made a couple of intercepts high up the pitch. Also great to see Kenyon back involved and impacting games.