Jammy Dodgers Dodged in Posh Nosh Clash.
Morecambe made the long journey to Essex today in order to face Isthmian League North team Maldon & Tiptree in the FA Cup First Round. This was played at their tidy little Park Lane ground on the fringe of an industrial estate in the town. Last season, the minnows made the headlines by taking-on Morecambe’s fellow-League Two club Leyton Orient in the same round of this competition – and beating them within ordinary time away at Brisbane Road. Tiptree won by the odd goal in three, with one of the winning goals being scored by Jordan Slew of Morecambe’s younger brother, Jorome. Orient’s next game was against the Shrimps – and they lost that as well to see Manager Carl Fletcher sacked. M&T’s next Cup game was against Newport County at home: a tie they lost narrowly by the only goal of the game.
So – if any warning was needed that the Jammers (named after the nearby posh Jam Factory) would be a pushover – the club from Lancashire (home of luxury brand Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimps) should have been sufficiently forewarned. In case they hadn’t got the message, though, Maldon were also to be found in third position in their own league but with games in hand over the two leaders. In terms of form, they have played eight league games so far and lost none of them as well as being obviously undefeated so far since the First Qualifying Round of this competition.
Morecambe’s record in the FA Cup has been poor in recent times. They have been humiliated by non-leaguers Dover Athletic and AFC Halifax in the last few years and usually fail to progress even to the Second Round of the competition. But today was the first time that Derek Adams has been in charge of the club on this particular route to Wembley. Would they do any better under his guidance than they have done over the thirteen years they have been an EFL club? His Opposite Number – Wayne Brown – masterminded Maldon & Tiptree’s victory over Orient a year ago. Could he work the same magic again today?
If he could, the Shrimps would suffer the indignity of being beaten in front of a live national television audience: this game was available on the Red Button on the BBC as well as live on BT Sport.
There was a nice gesture by Morecambe Sponsors Mazuma for this game. The company paid for special St John’s Hospice shirts for the team to both wear today and auction-off afterwards to help fund the local institution in Lancaster.
After a rendition of the Last Post and a minute’s silence, both sides Took the Knee and Maldon Centre Forward Shomari Barnwell at least made the Black Power salute – and good luck to him. It was bright and unseasonably warm as well as the match kicked-off on a bobbly pitch. There were also a surprisingly large number of people in the green seats in one of the stands in a game which was supposed to be played behind closed doors – good luck to them as well. Appropriately to the pitch, the day of the week and some of the surroundings, this was much like a Sunday League game for much of the time. The League Two team were usually quicker to the ball and dominated the possession for most of the entire match. Between the home sticks, Australian goalkeeper Ben McNamara really caught the eye with some first-rate saves as the game unfolded. In front of him, Tiptree Skipper Martyn Stokes also wouldn’t have looked out of place in the opposition side. In truth, the home team had the first really good chance of the contest. This happened after a quarter of an hour when the tall, lithe Barnwell was too quick for the visitors’ defence and forced Jake Turner to rush from his goal and save with his feet. Four minutes later though, McNamara pulled-off an even better save to keep out Adam Phillips’s fierce shot from about twenty-five yards. Shortly afterwards, the big Aussie was in the right place at the right time and again managed to save Aaron Wildig’s shot from closer in: it was a relatively tame effort struck straight at him. Half an hour was on the clock when Jordan Slew was found in acres of space in the centre of the pitch and played-in Wildig on the right of the Maldon penalty area but McNamara was again equal to his shot when Aaron really ought to have buried the ball in the back of the net. The home goalkeeper made an even better save a couple of minutes later but Slew had drifted off-side so the effort was wasted. The decisive moment in the game arrived after 32 minutes when Carlos Mendes-Gomes was found unmarked in the home penalty area by a fine ball, played it around the opposing goalkeeper and was brought down by him. McNamara was booked for this and Adam Phillips scored convincingly from the resulting spot-kick. Not much happened after that until half time as the game continued to be scrappy with not a lot of skill on show.
And so it continued during the second half. Tiptree conceded lots of free kicks; Morecambe still tended to be quicker to the ball; Ben McNamara continued to excel in the home game; the home team had one shot on goal from substitute Adam Vyse which only just missed after eighty minutes – and the visitors scored a second. This was after fifty-four minutes when Skipper Sam Lavelle was given the freedom of the pitch to take the ball from the back and play-in Carlos to score. Sadly, the linesman flagged for offside and Referee Will Finnie (who I thought had a good game today) disallowed it even though TV replays showed that Mendes-Gomes was at least level when the ball was played to him. Substitute Carl Stockton then spurned another excellent chance to seal the win for the visitors when he headed well wide when unmarked and found by Carlos with a perfect cross quite near the end of proceedings.
Morecambe thus did just about enough to inflict the first defeat of the season on Maldon & Tiptree. According to the BBC commentary, there are 84 places between today’s opponents so this result was hardly a surprise. But the publicity and the winner’s prize money as the Shrimps march on to the Second Round will not do the club any harm at all. Today’s game was worth £32,500 to Morecambe in broadcast fees alone.
I was surprised to learn that Tesco actually sells Tiptree Marmalade and Strawberry jam (I assumed this would be the sole, er, preserve of Waitrose and suchlike.) But they definitely don’t sell Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimps, which are certainly far too posh for them. However, we can still borrow Tesco’s slogan in these COVID income-inhibited times at least as far as the match fee is concerned:
Every Little Helps…
Maldon & Tiptree: 1 Ben McNamara (Y); 2 Niran Butler; 5 Billy Cracknell;. 6 Martyn Stokes (C) (Y); 9 Shomari Barnwell; 3 Makhosini Ryan-Khanye; 7 Aaron Williams-Bushell (17 Andre Hasanally 65’); 19 Hamza Kaid; 11 Scott Kemp (16 Adam Vyse 79’); 8 Bradley McCleneghan (20 Tom Stagg 82’); 4 Sam Coombes.
Subs not used: 19 James Conway; 12 Rhamar Garrett-Douglas; 14 Sam Cornish; 15 Kraig Noel-Mcleod.
Morecambe: 1 Jake Turner; 4 Nathaniel Knight-Percival; 2 Kelvin Mellor (21 Ryan Cooney 20’); 3 Stephen Hendrie; 5 Sam Lavelle (C); 7 Jordan Slew (8 Cole Stockton 69’); 24 Yann Songo’o; 18 Ben Pringle (16 John O’Sullivan (Y) 69’); 11 Carlos Mendes-Gomes; 20 Adam Phillips; 15 Aaron Wildig.
Subs not used: 12 Mark Halstead; 6 Harry Davis; 23 Freddie Price; 14 Alex Kenyon; 8 Toumani Diagouraga.
Ref: Will Finnie.
