Ironside sinks Shrimps at Cambridge.
Morecambe made the long journey southwards today to face a Cambridge United team which – following promotion last season – have established themselves quite nicely in thirteenth position in the League One table. They have won only two of their last five league games, though and lost three, most recently at home last Saturday where Wycombe Wanderers swept them aside by four goals to one. Morecambe, on the other hand, arrived with an identical record in League One over their last five games but their last two victories – crucially – have come in a row. These wins have propelled the Shrimps out of the Dead Zone at the bottom of the Division for the first time this year. The overall statistics as far as former meetings are concerned are almost equal, with Cambridge edging things on seven victories as opposed to the Shrimps’ six and three other games drawn. In the reverse fixture last November, United won all too easily 0-2 against a truly pathetic Morecambe team led by the man who has taken St Mirren to the very brink of relegation in the Scottish Premier League since abandoning SS Shrimps as it was sinking towards a watery grave last February. Since then, Derek Adams has totally rejuvenated the players left behind as Robbo sought Pastures New.
Whilst Aaron Wildig is performing regularly again and leading by example as Captain; Adam Phillips has shown the form he did when he was such a key part of the Shrimps’ early promotion campaign last term. Rhys Bennett is a rock at the heart of the Reds’ defence; Liam Gibson is showing the promise he has always clearly possessed with first-rate performances in recent games and players such as Arthur Gnahoua and Dylan Connolly have flourished under the new regime. At the back, Trevor Carson and Jacob Bedeau in particular are proving that not all Stephen Robinson’s signings were duds. So – from being all but doomed just two short months ago, Morecambe suddenly look like a team which might just conceivably yet be able to avoid an immediate return to League Two.
Cambridge United Assistant Manager Mark Gary Waddock came out with the following insightful analysis of the opposition prior to the match:
“Morecambe have had a positive upturn on results recently, so they’ll arrive at the Abbey on Saturday in a real good frame of mind and in high spirits. Derek has gone in there and has got them winning games. They’re in a better mental space now, and Derek will demand that of them if they are to get over the line this season. Stockton’s done an incredible job there in terms of his goal return, but goals haven’t really been a problem for the club. They’re stronger now in defence than they were in the first part of the season. Morecambe have played and beat a team on Tuesday who were fighting for promotion. It just shows that anything can happen in this league. There’s still so much to play for and they’ve shown a lot of fight and desire to pick up the points to keep themselves out the bottom four. We know how hard of a game it is going to be against a team that have picked up two wins on the bounce, so we’ll have to be at our best, which we will be.”
Derek Adams himself had these thoughts about his own players:
“There is a togetherness in the squad and that has shone through, I think they have stuck together and I have made changes which have helped us in certain aspects. I just think the players are seeing an avenue now for us to be safe, that is what we are trying to do – the other promoted teams are safe and that is what we have to do as well. We have got some really good characters in that dressing room, some of them who I have had before, some I haven’t, and they are rising to the challenge now.”
As far as the opposition specifically are concerned, he added:
“Cambridge obviously come into this game on the back of a defeat in midweek, but they had a magnificent result away from home against Ipswich Town, they have done really well this season. They are on 51 points and are 13th in the league; they are safe in League One for another season. They have been outstanding and we will have to be ready for it.”
Ryan McLaughlin was injured in last Tuesday’s game against Oxford and his place was taken in the starting eleven by Greg Leigh, who played Right instead of Left Back this afternoon. Other than that change, Derek started with the same men who have basically changed the fortunes of the club altogether during the last two weeks.
The weather was dry and quite sunny at the Abbey Stadium although deceptively both windy and cold as the match kicked-off. The Shrimps won a free-kick almost immediately which came to nothing. The first clear chance of the game, though, fell to the hosts after eight minutes when Sam Smith’s header from James Brophy’s cross was well-held by Trevor Carson in the away goal. The visiting goalkeeper did even better after thirteen minutes when he managed to prevent what looked to be a certain tap-in for United’s Joe Ironside with another tremendous reaction save with his foot as he rushed from his line to narrow the angle. Two minutes later, Arthur Gnahoua tried his luck with a shot so wild that it went for a throw instead of a goal kick. He did better as he ran at the Cambridge defence after 23 minutes. He passed to Aaron Wildig whose brilliant reverse pass was played on to Dylan Connolly who stole forward and found Cole the Goal. His shot beat Dmitar Mitov but was cleared off the line by Liam Bennett only for the goalkeeper to brilliantly stop Gnahoua’s follow-up shot with Bennett offering him cover again on the line. Lloyd Jones headed over the bar for United from a corner after twenty-eight minutes. Liam Gibson then found Adam Phillips in the home penalty area with a superb ball after half an hour but Adam hurried his shot and Mitov this time had an easy save to make. There were a couple more chances for Ironside who missed with two fairly routine headers and then Cole was caught offside after forty minutes. But the home side finally took the lead with 42 minutes on the clock when Lewis Simper’s attempt was saved by the visiting goalkeeper only for the ball to land perfectly in leading scorer Smith’s path on the Cambridge left and even Trevor Carson was unable to keep his fierce close-range shot out of the net this time.
So Morecambe went in one goal in arrears but with hopes still high that they might yet get something out of the game.
The second period started with United on the front foot. They won a free kick after five minutes of the re-start after a crude challenge by Ousmane Fané for which the Shrimps’ defender was booked. Subsequent shots and a header by the home team during the opening ten minutes or so either missed or caused Carson no problems. For Morecambe, Cole the Goal tried an overhead kick after 55 minutes which came to nothing. Then Connolly made good progress into the home half only to waste the final attempted pass to his Centre Forward. Adam Phillips then had another shot blocked before Knibbs set-up a chance for Morecambe after an hour with a bad foul, However, Phillips wasted the free kick by putting it too close to the home goalkeeper. Morecambe nevertheless were applying a little bit of concerted pressure on the home team at this point. Stockton forced Mitov into another excellent save low to his right after 62 minutes. A couple of minutes earlier, Phillips had done well to capitalise on a mistake by the home goalkeeper but his shot went agonisingly wide of the post. The game changed, though, when Cole came up with another phenomenal strike to equalise for the visitors. His instant volley following a United clearance from about thirty years out beat Mitov all ends up and slammed into the top corner of his net after sixty-eight minutes.
Almost immediately, though, Harvey Knibbs went down under what Referee Carl Boyeson deemed to be challenge from Leigh and he duly pointed to the penalty spot. Joe Ironside scored with an assured finish to restore Cambridge’s lead. As light rain began to fall, substitute Jonah Ayunga then latched on to a quick free-kick from Phillips after 75 minutes but his shot-come-cross went across the home penalty area with no man in red shirt anywhere near it. Wildig then missed the target with a shot before Carson made a routine save from Smith after 78 minutes. Derek shook things up with a double substitution with just over eighty minutes played. In injury time, Mitov shovelled another effort from Cole over his bar. But that was as close as the visitors came to clawing things back again this afternoon.
So Cambridge completed a double over the Shrimps this season and remained in thirteenth position as a result. Morecambe’s fate was very much in the hands of the others down in the realm of the Dead Men this afternoon. Doomed Crewe lost yet again – this time 2-0 – to another of the Dead Men Walking in the shape of Doncaster Rovers. But AFC Wimbledon were unable to beat the club which stole its identity at Plough Lane in a game which ended 1-1. That was the same score by which the game at Priestfield between Gillingham and Wycombe finished. At Highbury, Fleetwood went ahead against Accrington but lost 1-2 after their goalkeeper was sent off. So – despite today’s defeat – Morecambe remain one place above the Drop Zone in League One tonight. They are level on points and matches played with the Gills but they have a single goal advantage in terms of goal difference. By such fine margins are ultimate success and failure decided. Fleetwood remain ahead of them only because of their superior goal record but with one fewer game played. So it could be worse…
After that match, Derek Adams insisted that his team were the better side today. He said of Cambridge:
“They got one opportunity from the Referee when he gave a penalty kick. My players say that it wasn’t a penalty. The player got across our defender and fell to the ground. Our player was then going across him but there was no contact. It might have looked (like) that from the position the Referee was in but there was no contact on it. Today, if they don’t score a penalty kick, they don’t score again in the game and we get another point. That’s hard to take. Today, we didn’t get the big decisions in the game. You just feel over the ninety minutes, we deserved to win. I didn’t think they deserved three points today.”
Cambridge United: 1 Dmitar Mitov; 3 Jack Iredale (11 Harrison Dunk 81’) ; 4 Paul Digby (C); 6 Lloyd Jones; 7 James Brophy (14 Wes Hoolahan 63’); 9 Joe Ironside; 10 Sam Smith; 22 Lewis Simper; 24 Sam Sherring (15 Jubril Okedina 72’); 26 Harvey Knibbs; 28 Liam Bennett.
Subs Not Used: 25 William Mannion; 18 Shilow Tracey; 19 Adam May; 23 Jack Lankester.
Morecambe: 30 Trevor Carson; 3 Greg Leigh; 5 Jacob Bedeau; 9 Cole Stockton; 10 Aaron Wildig (C) (14 Jonathan Obika 81’); 11 Dylan Connolly; 18 Adam Phillips; 22 Liam Gibson; 24 Arthur Gnahoua (17 Jonah Ayunga 67’); 27 Ousmane Fané (Y); 31 Rhys Bennett (19 Shane McLoughlin 81’).
Subs Not Used: 41 Adam Smith; 8 Toumani Diagouraga; 16 Jacob Mensah; 21 Ryan Cooney.
Ref: Carl Boyeson.
Att: 5,813 (217 from Morecambe).
