Memory Lane: Morecambe v Stevenage Borough.
Well – who are we not playing today? Yes, it’s officially the only team in the entire EFL who are actually even more useless than Morecambe are: Stevenage Borough.
Borough started the season with the Welsh ex-England women’s football team coach Mark Sampson in charge and Assistant Alex Revell as his Right Hand Man. Allegations about `inappropriate behaviour’ by female players meant that Sampson left the England role under a cloud which darkened when he was accused of racist behaviour by former employees of Boro almost as soon as he arrived at the club. To be fair to him, he was cleared of the racist allegations at least by an FA tribunal a few short weeks ago. In the interim, the man who took Stevenage into the Football League – Graham Westley – returned (in his trade-mark Bentley) to the club as the New Messiah last Christmas.
In this neck of the woods, Mr Westley is remembered less than fondly by Preston North End fans as the man who took the club in a downward spiral which may well have led them to be playing Morecambe and Stevenage as equals before the PNE Board sacked him seven years ago. He left with a reputation for being a bit of a tyrant, on and off the pitch. Whether this was deserved or not, he also failed to live up to his role as Stevenage’s redeemer once he went back last December. In a strikingly similar record to his time at Preston, he won only one league game out of fifteen; drew three and obviously lost a quite phenomenal ten. They were bottom of the division after his initial match, just a point and a place behind Morecambe with a mere seventeen points on the board out of a possible sixty-six. Potentially crucially though, they had a game in hand over their nearest rival for relegation to the National League.
On the day when he departed last month, the effect The Westley Way had brought-about saw Boro still rock-bottom of the entire EFL; seven points adrift of nearest rival Macclesfield with just twenty-two points in the bag from a potential 102. The game in hand they once had over the Shrimps had gone and they had actually played a whole one match more than the Silkmen. With just twelve league games left to play, Borough’s hopes of remaining in the Football League next season had not so much Gone West as, er, Gone Westley.
In its brilliant satire of the ex-Stevenage Manager: Fake Tales of Broadhall Way, what is presumably a Boro fan offers diary entries which Graham might have made. It’s very funny:
https://iwouldloveitifwebeatthem.wordpress.com/tag/graham-westley/
Since he went, Mark Sampson and Alex Revell have done a role-reversal and been put back in charge with Alex at the helm this time. He has subsequently added his former boss Russell Slade to his Management staff. During the last four years, this man has been sacked by Charlton (after sixteen games in charge but just four wins); Coventry (sixteen played; three won) and Grimsby (twelve played, none won but eight lost). Perhaps not surprisingly given a record like this, Boro’s fortunes have not improved, though: since Graham Westley left, Stevenage have continued losing: eight League Two games in a row at the moment en further potential disasters were stopped in their tracks by Covid-19.
However, let’s end on a positive note. Stevenage has been one of the first – possibly the first -Football League club to reach out in this time of Corona Virus to the local community. Their own website announced earlier this week:
“In view of the reported government policy that will require all those over 70 years old to remain in their homes for up to four months due to COVID-19, Stevenage FC Chairman Phil Wallace has offered to help those most in need:
“Whilst I understand the logic behind flattening the peak curve, so that the NHS are able to treat more people with the limited ITU beds and equipment available, this will undoubtedly cause anguish for those folks that can’t use the internet, have no relatives and no way of ordering supplies or obtaining meals.
We have always prided ourselves on being a community club and now it’s time to show what that means. Starting immediately, we will start to work on the logistics of obtaining details of folks that will need help. We have kitchens we are not using, we have young players that can’t play football and we have an army of youngsters that, if asked and organized properly, would be willing to help distribute meals and obtain supplies.
I intend to work with CEO Alex Tunbridge to make this happen. To be honest, we have no idea how the club can survive for long whilst paying players and staff with no income, but some of these folks have nobody to help them and we will make sure we are there for them.
If that means we cook food and prepare snacks, that is what we’ll do. If it is getting essential supplies to them, that is what we’ll do. We will be there for these people and we would encourage all local businesses in the area to join with us. If we all work together, we can avoid serious hardship to people that need the most help.”
Kudos for that: a fantastic attitude which puts many much bigger clubs to shame.
In the week that no football was played anywhere in Britain, Morecambe found themselves dropping one place in League Two as the only balls that were kicked were the Shrimps’ own. In their always infallible wisdom, the League has decided that the six-point deduction applied to Macclesfield Town earlier this year was too harsh. (So why did they do it, then?) They thus reinstated two of the Silkmen’s deducted points. That put Macc a place above Morecambe in twenty-second position in League Two on account of their superior goal-difference. Stevenage remain marooned at the bottom of the table, ten points adrift of their two closest rivals for relegation to the National League. Their plunge into potential obscurity has emerged from a clear blue sky – there was no sign of this season’s disastrous campaign in their previous Football League history.
Let’s have a look at a few clashes between Morecambe and Borough from what for the latter at least were certainly happier times:
Morecambe 0:0 Stevenage Borough. Npower League Two. Saturday 23rd October 2010.
Was it Lawrie Wilson or Laurence Wilson?
Today was one for statistics. Stevenage Borough visited Morecambe’s new Globe Arena for the first time. After about three minutes, Mark Duffy cleverly played a dangerous cross into the visitors’ penalty area but Stewart Drummond just failed to connect with it. Today’s was the first-ever Football League meeting between the clubs. After 27 minutes, Laurence Wilson came out of his shell as left Full Back and, showing some fancy footwork first, took a shot from way outside the penalty area which flew harmlessly wide of visiting keeper Chris Day’s left-hand post. The two teams have met 28 times before; two dozen of these in the old Football Conference and four times in the FA Trophy. Boro’s Michael Bostwick had a shot after about half an hour which failed to trouble Morecambe goalkeeper Barry Roche. In the Trophy, Stevenage always came out victorious in the end, most notably in the two-legged semi-final of 2001-2. After almost 49 minutes referee Graham – who also has two legs – mercifully blew his whistle to end the utterly dreary proceedings.
At half time, I had a nice cup of tea and thought – `Umm – the pies look good!” You might not find that particularly interesting – but the pies were far more exciting than the football had been during the first period. I also thought: “This match must improve in the second half, surely!”
But it didn’t.
At the Shrimps’ old ground, Christie Park, Boro also had the Indian Sign over today’s rivals, beating Morecambe five times and only losing four (three were drawn). Garry Hunter – still playing out of position at Right Back for Morecambe – was booked for handball after four minutes of the restart. At Stevenage, however, matters worked out more evenly historically: both teams won four times and drew four times. Sadly from Morecambe’s point of view, Garry committed his offence in the Shrimps’ penalty area. Stevenage were only formed in 1976. Whether referee Mr Graham knew this or not, I do not know. I do know, however, that he proceeded to point to the penalty spot. Mr Graham’s first name is Fred and he comes from Essex. Boro’s Left Back, Scott Laird (whom some of the home supporters had been half-heartedly booing after an incident involving Mark Duffy – well, you have to do something to keep warm on a cold afternoon such as this one), stepped up to take the spot-kick. Stevenage’s home ground is called – very imaginatively in my humble opinion – the Stevenage Stadium. But Morecambe’s captain Barry Roche pulled off yet another fantastic penalty save, diving low to his left to push Mr Laird’s shot round the post. And talking about the post, Stevenage Stadium’s postcode is SG2 8RH. Lawrence Wilson needed prolonged treatment after a poor tackle some time into the second half – I’m not sure when because by this time, I was losing the will to live. Fred Graham claims that the most exciting game of football he has ever officiated at was Hereford’s 3-2 win over Morecambe in the decisive Conference Play-Off semi-final of 2006. I’m sure that was really appreciated by the home crowd today. He booked Stewart Drummond (who wasn’t playing in that game) after an hour for a foul on Chris Holroyd. Mr Graham’s favourite referee is Howard Webb. With less than ten minutes left, the visitors’ John Mousinho was booked by the man whose favourite referee is Howard Webb for a foul on Scott Brown, who had mysteriously been felled earlier in an off-the-ball incident that the man called Fred from Essex didn’t seem to notice: Scott needed treatment on the pitch. Today, the visitors played in a predominantly all-yellow kit which I think has a white and blue trim but our fashion editor could probably tell you more. The Fourth Official decided that the crowd of 2,254 had to endure another four minutes of this spectacle once the statutory ninety minutes were up.
The Globe’s public address announcer told us just before the end that Chris McCready had been voted Man of the Match by today’s sponsors. Good luck to the lad but I thought Barry Roche should have got the award – firstly for his fantastic penalty save and secondly (and far more importantly) for actually keeping awake throughout the entire one and a half hours of this utterly mind-numbingly boring League Two fixture. There is nothing else to say – this was a dreadful advert for Fourth Division football – or football at any level for that matter. So soporific was it that the crowd barely bothered even to jeer when the final whistle was eventually blown. On this evidence, Morecambe will have an even smaller crowd to watch them at home next time.
And if you’ve found this report boring, thank your lucky stars you weren’t at the Globe Arena today because believe me, it was much much worse…
Oh – and was it Lawrie Wilson or Laurence Wilson? You tell me because the game was literally so mind-numbing that I have forgotten the significance of the question I meant to ask in the first place…
Morecambe: 1 Barry Roche (Capt.); 8 Garry Hunter (Y); 19 Laurence Wilson; 15 Chris McCready; 22 Andy Parrish; 6 Craig Stanley; 16 Stewart Drummond (Y); 17 Andy Fleming (10 Phil Jevons 75 mins); 18 Mark Duffy; 29 Scott Brown (7 Adam Rundle 85 mins); 21 Paul Mullin.
Subs not used: 31 Laurie Walker; 5 Jim Bentley; 14 Jimmy Spencer; 9 Chris Shuker; 26 Tony Capaldi.
Stevenage: 16 Chris Day; 2 Lawrie Wilson; 3 Scott Laird; 5 Jon Ashton; 14 Mark Roberts (Capt.); 25 Ronnie Henry; 8 Stacy Long (18 David Bridges 46 mins/ 12 Ben May 80 mins); 21 John Mousinho (Y); 24 Michael Bostwick; 15 Chris Holroyd; 17 Peter Winn (4 Darius Charles 73 mins).
Subs not used: 1 Ashley Bayes; 9 Charlie Griffin; 11 Yemi Odubade; 27 Dino Maamria.
Stevenage 4:3 Morecambe Npower League Two. 28th November 2015
Shrimps Lose Again – but it Could Have Been Worse…
Morecambe travelled to Broadhall Way on Saturday in search of an improvement in their recent league form, having picked-up just one point in their previous four League Two matches.
They were behind with just six minutes played: Dean Wells volleyed home after a corner which Barry Roche had flapped at. But Kevin Ellison put the visitors level just six minutes later with a shot into the bottom corner of Chris Day’s net. Stevenage should have regained the lead when Alan Goodall fouled Ben Kennedy in the area but Roche made-up for his earlier error with an excellent stop in the seventeenth minute from the penalty spot to foil the player who had been fouled. Boro weren’t to be denied for long though – less than two minutes later, Chris Whelpdale scored with a deflected shot from outside the area which beat Roche low to his right. It could and should have got worse for the visitors in injury time during the first half: Goodall gave away another penalty but Roche again saved his side and Whelpdale’s shot.
Whelpdale atoned for his miss almost as soon as the game restarted when he beat Big Baz from open play with another long-range shot. After an hour, he completed his hat-trick with a shot from close range after a cross from Kennedy which Morecambe failed to clear. But the Shrimps didn’t give up. Just a few minutes after former captain Mark Hughes had appeared as a substitute to play against his previous club for the first time, he reminded everyone why the Shrimps let him go by fouling Ellison in the penalty area. Substitute Paul Mullin showed everyone how it was done and reduced the arrears to 4-2 from the spot with almost ten minutes still scheduled to play. The Shrimps still pushed forward and Ellison scored a second goal for himself in the third minute of injury time with a beautifully swerved shot. For Morecambe, though, it was too little too late.
“We have identified the problem” said Jim Bentley after the game “Two of our defensive players look like bad players. They are not bad players but their confidence is shot.”
He hopes to get loan signings in as soon as possible to stop the rot – ironically, it was loanee forward from Blackburn Rovers Anton Forrester who was introduced into the fray as a substitute today. As a result of their latest defeat, Morecambe fall further to seventeenth, just a point and a place above Terry Sheringham’s side.
Ref: Lee Collins.
2415
Morecambe 1:4 Stevenage. Npower League Two. Saturday 23rd April 2016.
Ninety Minutes Which Reflect A Whole Season.
Stevenage arrived at the Globe Arena on Saturday safe in the knowledge that last Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Bristol Rovers ensured the club’s Football League status for next season at least. They have had a torrid time and the sacking of Terry Sheringham on February 1st arguably has been the turning-point of Boro’s season. But Caretaker Manager Darren Sarll could have been speaking for either of the clubs who met today when he said before the game:
“It’s a little bit of pressure off us now. I think we can look with a longer-term view in the type of sides we put out in relation to what we want to achieve next year”.
Not a million miles from Stevenage on Tuesday night, Morecambe went down to their biggest hiding ever in the Football League, losing 7-0 to a fairly ordinary Cambridge side who even Shrimps’ Manager Jim Bentley admitted after the massacre could have scored even more goals on the night. By his own admission, this is the lowest point for Morecambe’s long-serving Manager and he must realise that at most other clubs in the League and elsewhere, he would probably already be looking for alternative employment after the string of poor results this calendar year and the occasional outburst live on the radio in recent times.
So today’s encounter was important to both teams – and both Managers – if only to make a statement of intent for next season.
This game was a reflection of Morecambe’s entire season so far: promising at the beginning; suicidal in the middle and eventually hopeless and disjointed at the end. It started well enough for the hosts, who went ahead after 20 minutes when a firm header by Chris Doyle from Jamie Devitt’s cross following a corner was apparently flicked over the Stevenage line by Tranmere loanee Cole Stockton. But signs of things to come followed shortly afterwards when returning goalkeeper Barry Roche did brilliantly to stop Fraser Franks’ header and even better to saved Luke Wilkinson’s follow-up shot. Despite this, the Shrimps’ lead didn’t last long and after 38 minutes, Alan Goodall inexplicably headed a corner from Stevenage past his own goalkeeper when under no pressure whatsoever from any Boro players. In due course, the visitors took the lead: goalkeeper Jamie Jones caught the ball from a Morecambe corner and swiftly and accurately threw it to out to Greg Luer who raced up the field on a classic counter-attack from which Dean Parratt shot past Roche from the centre of the penalty area. So the visitors went in at half time one goal to the good.
They should have gone further ahead after six minutes of the re-start when Luer found himself unmarked and ahead of the Shrimps’ defence only to miss the target quite badly when he should have done a lot better. Morecambe had a chance to equalise after 55 minutes when Tom Barkhuizen was cleverly played-in by Aaron Wildig but he was as wasteful with his chance as Luer had been earlier and blasted the ball high and wide. Things got worse for the home supporters when Parratt scored again after seventy minutes with a powerful shot from within the penalty area. And still the visitors weren’t finished: Boro hit Morecambe on the counter-attach again with just four minutes scheduled to play and Tom Pett slipped the ball to Ben Kennedy who unerringly placed it past Roche with his left foot.
Before the game, Stevenage and Newport were the only teams to lie between the Shrimps and the trapdoor to oblivion which penultimate and last place in League Two represent. After the game, only Newport remained to cushion them from relegated York and seemingly doomed Dagenham. Stevenage’s win propelled them into nineteenth position.
So the crisis at Morecambe continues without any sign of a solution. Fewer than 1300 supporters turned-up to watch this latest reversal at home – a gate which is lower than any other League club. This is almost a third of what it once was before the move to the Globe and – perhaps just as alarmingly – is exceeded by many teams in the National League. This New Blood is queuing-up to take the places of badly-run outfits who seemingly have no strategy for the present, let alone any plan for the future. Morecambe Football Club is in freefall and up for sale and most of the promises made when the move was made from Christie Park five years ago by the owner have come to nothing. Jim Bentley can’t help but be concerned for his own future as well as that of the club. Morecambe have got away with it this season – but if they play like they have done this year next term, there’s only one of two places they will end-up: relegated for the first time ever back into the Non-League World or – worse still – possibly even out of business altogether…
Ref: Oliver Langford. 1129 (92)
Morecambe 0:2 Stevenage. Npower League Two. Saturday 15th October 2016.
Morecambe: Stone Age; Winners: Steven Age
Stevenage visited the Globe Arena on Saturday having never been beaten by Morecambe in League Two after six previous attempts by the Shrimps to do so. The visitors have had a roller coaster ride of a season so far – last month, they walloped Hartlepool 6-1 at home and then lost 0-2 to struggling Exeter City, for example. They arrived in Lancashire twenty-first in the league and having lost both of the games they had already played during October. Morecambe, on the other hand, were seventh and had won their re-arranged game at Notts County on Tuesday 1-2: proof that the away form of Jim Bentley’s team is that of league leaders. Sadly, Morecambe’s home form in the league thus far has been dismal: they have lost all four of their previous matches and played some pretty dreadful stuff in so doing.
The first half an hour or so was pretty dreadful as well once the game got underway and the only action worth mentioning was when Lee Molyneux’s right-footed shot from 18 yards rattled the Stevenage bar with 25 minutes played after an excellent cross from Kevin Ellison. But Morecambe’s dire home defending came back to haunt them yet again after 37 minutes when men in red shirts were absent without leave as an unchallenged Dale Gorman found Matt Godden unmarked in the Shrimps’ penalty area with an accurate cross and Boro’s number 24 duly headed the ball past Barry Roche into the home net. Almost straight from kick-off, Godden could have doubled his team’s advantage as he was found unmarked again with a long ball by Jack King but found his attempt to find the bottom corner of the net pushed away by custodian Roche for a corner. Godden turned provider with just three minutes of the half still scheduled to play and although Henry Cowans claimed a penalty for the Shrimps’ goalkeeper’s block of his attempt, referee Richard Clark booked the Boro forward for diving. The visitors nevertheless finished the half the strongest, with Ben Kennedy trying his luck from 20 yards with a shot that only just missed the target.
Things soon went from bad to worse for Morecambe during the second half. King warmed Roche’s hands with just five minutes on the clock with a half-volley which the Morecambe keeper palmed back into the danger area but got away with. With the visitors playing some good stuff, though, Morecambe fell further behind after almost an hour had been played. Yet again, a Boro player found himself unmarked and this time it was Ben Kennedy who took advantage of no challenge from any Morecambe player to set his sights and score with a beautifully-placed shot from just outside the penalty area. Bringing back fond memories of his late (almost) namesake, who was one of the best players ever to wear a Morecambe shirt, Charlie Lee would have put Boro even further ahead with a header after 72 minutes were it not for a quite miraculous save from the Shrimps’ Irish goalkeeper. The fact that Lee was the smallest player on the field says everything that needs to be said both about Stevenage’s dominance at this point and the ineffectiveness of Morecambe ’s defending all afternoon. Charlie became potential villain with the game almost over when the referee perhaps harshly ruled handball against him when a cross seemed to hit him on the shoulder. Mr Clark pointed to the spot; Paul Mullin stepped forward to score – and hit the post instead. This summed-up Morecambe’s afternoon: off the pace, uncompetitive and not worthy of anything from the game.
So the Shrimps lost at home for a record fifth time in a row and Stevenage went back to Hertfordshire with all the points and an extension to their unbeaten run against Morecambe. The win propelled Darren Sarll’s team into eighteenth position. Their latest home reverse saw Morecambe fall out of the play-off positions again to tenth. If Jim Bentley can find a way to address his side’s hopeless home form, they could still return to the top of the league. But if he doesn’t, the season is already in danger of degenerating into yet another struggle for Morecambe to simply survive.
Morecambe: 1 Barry Roche; 2 Liam Wakefield; 5 Ryan Edwards; 16 Alex Whitmore (Y); 21 Jamie Jennings (14 Luke Conlan 60 mins); 24 Michael Rose (C) (8 Peter Murphy 74 mins); 10 Lee Molyneux (7 Paul Mullin 60 mins); 9 Tom Barkhuizen; 17 Andy Fleming; 11 Kevin Ellison (88 mins); 23 Cole Stockton (79 mins);
Subs not used: 12 Danijel Nizic; 3 Aaron McGowan; 19 Ntumba Massanka; 26 Steve Yawson.
Stevenage: 1 Jamie Jones; 4 Jack King; 5 Fraser Franks; 6 Luke Wilkinson; 14 Ben Kennedy (9 Roman Liburd 82 mins); 17 Dale Gorman; 22 Charlie Lee; 23 Henry Cowans (Y); 24 Matt Godden (15 Jake Hyde 82 mins); 25 Ronnie Henry (C) (Y); 33 Kgosi Ntlhe.
Subs not used: 16 Chris Day; 3 Andrew Fox; 8 Steven Schumacher; 11 Tom Pett; 18 Michael Tonge.
Ref: Richard Clark
Stevenage 2-1 Morecambe. League Two. Saturday 23/9/17.
SOS: Same Old Story at Stevenage…
Morecambe had never won a game against Stevenage in seven matches before they finally got that particular monkey off their backs last April with a one-nil victory at Broadhall Way. They returned there today to face a team that was eleventh in the League Two table, five places and three points better off than the Shrimps before the game. Darren Sarll’s side received a warning that the visitors meant business after just two minutes when Garry Thompson made progress down the Morecambe left and slipped a dangerous ball across the penalty area which Aaron Wildig was just unable to connect with. Michael Rose then split the Boro defence with a tremendous pass but Kevin Ellison was unable to take advantage of it and shot wide before the Morecambe Captain tried his own luck with a superb strike which went narrowly over the bar with barely ten minutes on the clock. Boro showed their own intent with four minutes played when Ben Kennedy played-in Matty Godden only for the latter to put his shot the wrong side of the post. Not a lot happened for the home team after that until the thirteenth minute, when the same two players combined again only for Godden to shoot over the bar this time. The nearest anyone came to scoring was after 21 minutes when Ellison chased a lost cause but managed to put in a savage shot from a tight angle which Joe Fryer in the home goal did very well to keep out. But it turned-out to be third time lucky for Matty Godden when he was played-in again (by Tom Pett this time) after 25 minutes to beat Barry Roche in the away goal with a well-placed shot on the run. Godden then turned provider four minutes later and fed Danny Newton who was unlucky to see his header bounce back off the Morecambe post only for Roche to pull off a fine save low to his right from the rebound. Having ridden their luck, though, the visitors hit back with just over a half an hour played when Steven Old registered his first-ever goal for the Shrimps with a fine header from Rose’s precise free-kick. With Adam McGurk having to come off due to what looked like it might be a hamstring injury after 42 minutes, Vadaine Oliver made a welcome return to Morecambe’s forward line following suspension due to the harsh red card against Accrington at the beginning of the month. It ended one each at half time and Boro had the first chance of the second period when Jonathan Smith tried but just failed to play-in Godden once more after four minutes. Home skipper Ronnie Henry burst into the Morecambe area after 55 minutes but the move came to nothing. As the home side started to increase the pressure, Godden forced Roche into another good save after an hour only for the visitors to rush up to the other end of the field and put the ball in the net only for Referee John Busby to rule it out for a foul on the goalkeeper. Kyle Wootton then made his first appearance for Boro as he came on as a substitute for Newton after 64 minutes and immediately made his mark by scoring a second for Stevenage with virtually his first touch of the ball. Although Pett had an effort cleared off the Morecambe line after 73 minutes, the team from Lancashire didn’t give up and Henry saved the day for Boro with a last-ditch tackle on Oliver as he was about to strike the ball at a virtually open goal with just fifteen minutes left and both Wildig and Rose sent efforts over the ball in the final ten minutes whilst Aaron McGowan forced a good save from Fryer from about 25 yards and the goalkeeper was forced into a miraculous save to keep out an Oliver header to keep Morecambe’s hopes alive during the closing stages. In injury time, the Boro defence somehow or other managed to keep the ball out of the net following a scramble on the line but they managed to withstand the Shrimps’ increasing onslaught at the end of the game.
So it turned out to be the same old story in the end: Stevenage beat Morecambe despite the best efforts of the New Zealand centre half of the same name. The loss means that the Shrimps fall to eighteenth in the division: Stevenage go up to ninth.
Stevenage: 1 Joe Fryer; 20 Terence Vancooten; 25 Ronnie Henry (C); 5 Fraser Franks; 3 Joe Martin; 10 Ben Kennedy; 17 Dale Gorman (Y); 2 Jonathan Smith; 11 Tom Pett; 24 Matthew Godden (15 Alex Samuel 84 mins); 19 Danny Newton (9 Kyle Wootton 64 mins).
Subs not used: 16 Chris Day; 22 Kevin Toner; 8 Harry Beautyman; Tom Conlon; 7 Chris Whelpdale.
Morecambe: 1 Barry Roche; 22 Max Muller; 5 Steven Old; 2 Aaron McGowan; 3 Patrick Brough; 4 Alex Kenyon (29 Callum Lang 60 mins); 24 Michael Rose (C); 15 Aaron Wildig; 7 Garry Thompson (Y); 11 Kevin Ellison; 28 Adam McGurk (9 Vadaine Oliver 42 mins).
Ref: John Busby
1996
Morecambe 1:1 Stevenage. League Two. 13th January 2018.
Kev Steals A Point For The Shrimps
Stevenage visited the Globe Arena today looking to complete a double over Morecambe this season, having won their previous League Two match 2-1 against the Shrimps last September at Broadhall Way. Darren Sarll`s men arrived fifteenth in the division and on the back of a 4-1 New Year’s Day victory over Cheltenham. Boro have an excellent record against today`s opponents, having won five and drawn three of their previous nine encounters.
As far as the hosts were concerned, Jim Bentley`s side were looking for their third win in a row with evergreen Kevin Ellison also seeking to score for the third time in three matches. The manager`s quip that he has `twenty-five quid` to spend on additions to his squad during January`s transfer window has so far been proved to be no joke with no signings – loan or otherwise – at the Lancashire seaside so far this year.
For the visitors, Ronnie Henry played his 469th match for his club, extending his all-time appearance record for Stevenage. Ben Kennedy also chalked-up his one-hundredth appearance for Boro as goalkeeper Tom King lined-up for his first on-loan game from Millwall for the Hertfordshire club. Rumours that eighteen-year-old central defender Ben Wilmot is interesting clubs such as Spurs and Liverpool continue to circulate strongly.
The match started under leaden but dry skies and the visitors had the best of the early chances. Matty Godden was fed by Danny Newton after just three minutes but his resultant shot went into the side netting. After six minutes, youngster Ben Wilmot rose the highest from a Stevenage corner but his header went over the Morecambe bar. The match was bogged-down on a heavy pitch after this for some time as attrition rather than art seemed to be the order of the day for both teams. Boro carved-out the next chance though, as Joe Martin hit the target with a shot which Barry Roche saved relatively easily after twenty-two minutes. Just two minutes later at the other end, there was some clever play between Vadaine Oliver and Luke Conlan, who crossed the ball perfectly to set-up Kevin Ellison to smash the ball past Tom King and put the Shrimps into the lead. In doing so, Kev again not only confounded his critics with his third goal in three games but also confirmed yet again his Manager`s rating of his as the best signing he has ever made for the club. After the goal, however, the visitors continued to shade things but Ben Kennedy`s effort from Jonathan Smith`s cross was too high again with just over half an hour played. With thirty-eight minutes on the clock, Stevenage came even closer to equalising when Godden headed another excellent cross from Smith against the post with Baz a mere spectator in the Morecambe net. But try as they might, the visitors could not find a way to get back on terms before half time. They trailed off to the Dressing Rooms having had the better chances and the best of the play. But as Morecambe themselves know from their own experiences recently – most notably at Mansfield – possession alone doesn`t win football matches: goals do.
Boro had the first good chance of the second half as well. Newton received the ball with his back to goal inside the Shrimps` penalty area after 51 minutes and rolled it back to Tom Pett only for the home defence to crowd him out before he could unleash a shot. Two minutes later, Pett played in Godden down the Stevenage left but his cross was just too far in front of Newton for his team-mate to connect with it. Kennedy had the next chance, heading over from a corner to the visitors after 54 minutes. Three minutes later, Morecambe had the first chance of the second period to increase their lead. Michael Rose plonked one of his speciality free-kicks into the Stevenage penalty area but his target – Steven Old – was just unable to reach the ball with an attempted header. As the Shrimps basically failed to get out of their own half, Jamie Gray was denied after 75 minutes when Roche brilliantly saved his shot with his legs when one-on-one with the Boro substitute. With just seven minutes scheduled to play, Oliver and substitute Andy Fleming combined well but Fleming`s attempt to play-in a well-placed Ellison was absolutely woeful. Darren Sarll`s final throw of the dice paid-off spectacularly, however, after 88 minutes. The newly-arrived central defender Fraser Franks controlled the ball with his thigh on the edge of the Morecambe box and then blasted an unstoppable volley high into the net to give the visitors the point that their domination of the play certainly merited. Jim Bentley must have been chewing his nails during the five minutes` extra time because there was only going to be one team which would pinch the game at the death. But his men managed to hang on to a very valuable point against the run of play particularly during the second half. Jim must be pleased with his team`s resilience today but also knows that his team has played better this season and lost.
Elsewhere, Chesterfield`s shock win against leaders Luton propelled them out of the relegation zone. Barnet lost again and are bottom of the EFL three points behind Forest Green, who also lost at Swindon. Crewe`s defeat at Carlisle means that Morecambe move above Dave Artell`s club into nineteenth position, six points above FGR and nine above the Bees. Despite the loss of a point, Stevenage remained in the same position they had been when they arrived in Lancashire earlier in the day: fifteenth.
Morecambe: 1 Barry Roche; 16 Sam Lavelle; 2 Aaron McGowan; 5 Steven Old (Y); 22 Max Muller;
4 Alex Kenyon ; 24 Michael Rose (C) (Y) (8 Andy Fleming 70 mins); 11 Kevin Ellison; 29 Callum Lang (15 Aaron Wildig (Y) 45 mins); 14 Luke Conlan; 9 Vadaine Oliver (28 Adam McGurk 89 mins).
Subs not used: 20 Niall Maher; 10 Adam Campbell; 7 Garry Thompson ; 17 Mitchell Lund.
Stevenage: 13 Tom King; 25 Ronnie Henry (C); 33 Ben Wilmot; 4 Jack King; 3 Joe Martin; 2 Jonathan Smith (Y) (5 Fraser Franks 80 mins); 17 Dale Gorman (18 Tom Conlon 65 mins); 11 Tom Pett; 10 Ben Kennedy; 24 Matthew Godden; 19 Danny Newton (Y) (31 Jamie Gray 68 mins).
Subs not used: 1 Joe Fryer; 6 Luke Wilkinson; 20 Terence Vancooten; 34 Andronicos Georgiou.
Star Player: Kevin Ellison
Ref: Tom Nield
Stevenage 1:0 Morecambe. League Two. 18th August 2018.
Stevenage – what IS Steven’s Age?
Under Dino Maamria, Stevenage Borough has enjoyed a decent start to the new season. Although the team frittered away a two-goal advantage to only draw with newly-promoted Tranmere at home in their first game; they won 1-3 at Crawley in their last league outing a week ago. They lost to a Championship side – Norwich City – during the week by the same score (which they shared with today’s opponents, who were also defeated in the League Cup by a club in the same division as Norwich). But there’s no disgrace to either side in being beaten by Championship clubs.
How we Morecambe fans envy the team from Hertfordshire. The Boro website points out that it is 125 days since the Shrimps last scored a league goal. It sounds a long time but this misleading statistic ignores the fact that very little football has been played during this period. A more meaningful fact, however, is that Jim Bentley’s team hasn’t registered a strike in their last six League Two games and have lost both of the two played so far this season. But – although the Shrimps fell at the first hurdle at Preston in the League Cup last Tuesday, they at least managed to find the back of the net for a welcome change. The question today was – could the team at the bottom of the EFL end their goal drought in the league?
The omens were not promising: in ten previous meetings, Morecambe have only won once against Stevenage; lost five times and drawn the rest. So not only current form but previous history would have to be stood on its head if the team from Lancashire was going to be able to go home with even a single point at the end of today’s encounter.
The weather was dry but overcast at the Lamex Stadium as the game kicked-off. Little of note happened during the early stages as both teams cancelled each other out. It was a quarter of an hour before anyone had a shot on target – on this occasion, Kurtis Guthrie tried his luck from a long way out but his shot was straight at Barry Roche, who saved easily.
Scott Cuthbert headed narrowly wide after about half an hour but the best chance of the half so far fell to Kevin Ellison after 37 minutes: he looked certain to score but Boro keeper Paul Farman pulled off a tremendous save low to his left to keep the ball out of his net. It looked as if the first period was destined to be goal-less but – with forty-four minutes on the clock – midfielder Michael Timlin picked up the ball on the edge of the Morecambe box and curled a sublime shot into the top right-hand corner of Big Baz’s net to put Stevenage one goal to the good. It was a tremendous effort out of keeping with the quality of the rest of the game and it gave Morecambe’s huge goalkeeper no chance at all of saving it.
So it turned-out to be a disappointing end to a half where the visitors had held their own most of the time. The question was – would the disappointment further dent the Shrimps’ collectively fragile confidence during the second half? Or would the setback serve to actually galvanise the team to get back into the game?
The visitors came out and actually started to dominate the match but yet again without creating any clear chances. They were unlucky, early doors, though when Josef Yarney clearly had his shirt pulled from a corner but Referee Matt Donohue gave nothing. With the match an hour old, Kev had another good chance but blazed his left-footed shot high and wide of the target when well placed. Although the visitors continued to dominate the game, Johnny Hunt had a chance on the counter-attack for the hosts after 68 minutes but missed the goal with a speculative shot from the edge of the penalty box. Jim Bentley shuffled his pack with fifteen minutes or so left with a triple substitution.
If anything, however, Morecambe lost momentum after the changes and Stevenage started to actually get on top again. Timlin slung a cross over in the seventy-fourth minute which Guthrie headed back across the goal from the far stick but the Shrimps’ defence managed to get to it first. Boro came close again after 81 minutes when, from a corner, ping-pong ensued in the opposition’s penalty area but the ball finally went harmlessly wide. Substitute Tutte had a shot which missed for the visitors before the end but the match ended with Timlin’s superb strike the decisive moment of the game.
Stevenage – eighth in the League Two table before the start of the match – found themselves in third place at the end of it. Morecambe remain rooted to the bottom with no points after three games, nine goals conceded and not even one scored. That’s seven league games now since the Shrimps managed to put the ball in the net and Jim Bentley’s biggest worry must be where any goals are going to come from. It’s still early days and – with both Cheltenham and Macclesfield also pointless at this stage of the campaign – no need to panic quite yet.
But at least fans could drown their sorrows more cheaply after the game: Stevenage have introduced a `Winner’s Hour’ after the game in their Broadhill Suite: all pints just a pound. I’ll have a couple to be going on with, please….
Oh – and by the way – Steven Old’s age is 32; he will be 33 on February 17th next…
Stevenage: 1 Paul Farman; 2 Luther Wildin (Y); 5 Scott Cuthbert; 31 Ben Nugent; 3 Johnny Hunt; 8 Joel Byrom; 4 Michael Timlin; 7 Jimmy Ball (14 James Ferry 64 mins); 11 Emmanuel Sonupe (10 Ben Kennedy 67 mins); 28 Kurtis Guthrie; 9 Alex Revell (C).
Subs not used: 27 Timothy Dieng; 6 Mark McKee; 22 Alex Reid; 25 Ronnie Henry; 30 Luke Wilkinson.
Morecambe : 1 Barry Roche (C); 2 Zak Mills; 3 Luke Conlan; 5 Steven Old; 8 Andy Fleming (Y) (6 Andrew Tutte 74 mins); 14 Josef Yarney (Y); 15 Aaron Wildig; 17 Liam Mandeville; 9 Vadaine Oliver (12 Jason Oswell 74 mins); 28 A-Jay Leitch-Smith; 11 Kevin Ellison (18 Rhys Oates 74 mins).
Subs not used: 21 Mark Halstead; 27 Jordan Cranston; 4 Alex Kenyon; 25 Ben Hedley.
Ref: Matt Donohue.
Morecambe 1:2 Stevenage 2. League Two. 20th January 2019.
Does Fortune Really Favour the Brave?
Dino Maamria brought his Stevenage team all the way from Hertfordshire today to face Morecambe within sight of the snow-topped Lakeland hills on the far side of the Bay after which the club and the town are named. Well – that’s if you could actually see them: today, a murky, thin wet haze lay low over the water not too far from the shoreline on the Morecambe side of things.
The Boro were tenth in League Two prior to kick-off and probably buoyed by their 2-1 win against Crawley last Saturday. The previous week, however, they had gone down two-nil to struggling Cambridge so Shrimps’ fans would be hoping for a similar slip-up by their visitors in today’s contest. In previous meetings, the Boro have the Indian Sign over today’s opponents: they have won six of eleven matches in the past and lost to Morecambe only once ever.
For the visitors, ex-Manchester United and Cardiff City goalkeeper Oliver Byrne warmed the bench for the first time on-loan from Blackburn Rovers. For the Shrimps, 27-year-old forward Richie Bennett was signed on-loan from Carlisle United until the end of the season earlier in the week. He went straight onto the bench today, so desperate was Manager Jim Bentley for forward players given injuries and the failure of Jason Oswell – sold to Wrexham two weeks ago – to live up to the expectations Jim had for him in League Two. There was a milestone for a Morecambe player as well: Luke Conlan would be making his one-hundredth appearance for the Shrimps today.
It would seem that the Boro won the toss at the start of the game, given that they elected to defend the home end during the first half. Given what was about to unfold, this seems to be their philosophy: take the rules and conventions as far as you dare without actually crossing the line. Four minutes had been played when Morecambe showed some deft approach play down the left followed by a cross which was deflected for a corner. The visitors forced the first save of the game, however, when West Ham loanee Moses Makasi tested Mark Halstead after six minutes with a shot which the Morecambe goalkeeper fielded easily. A minute later, Stevenage’s Michael Timlin lost the ball and then committed a very physical challenge on Luke Conlan for which he was lucky not to receive at least a yellow card. In the eleventh minute, Jimmy Ball had an excellent chance to open the scoring for the visitors but he headed a superb cross from the Boro left straight at Halstead when well placed and totally unmarked. After this, the visitors enjoyed a purple patch, forcing two corners in rapid succession and provoking a number of blocks from a Shrimps team increasingly clearly playing on the back foot. Boro were playing with a purpose which Morecambe never came close to matching during the first half.
Young Rhys Oates played with his usual sometimes guile-less enthusiasm and Kevin Ellison occasionally with the wiliness for which he is rightly well-known. But Liam Mandeville – as is his wont – drifted in and out of the action like a ghost. A fine pass here, a clever feint there. But far too little of either. Is it a lack of confidence – or a lack of commitment? Only he could really tell you. Jordan Cranston’s delivery from corners was consistently poor: sending the ball in at too low a trajectory or overhitting it altogether. In fact, the only time Morecambe even vaguely looked like troubling Boro’s defence was when Andrew Tutte’s free-kick from a central position hit the defending wall and spun away for a corner just before the end of the half.
Whatever, Stevenage’s control of the game brought them what they deserved from their domination of play so far: a penalty clearly given by the linesman after 25 minutes. Steven Old was judged to have tripped Makasi and leading scorer Ben Kennedy converted the spot-kick with aplomb to put the visitors one-nil up. By half time, they could have been even further ahead. With thirty-three minutes on the clock, Morecambe completely wasted a corner kick to set-up the visitors for a rapid counter-attack. If James Ball at the far post had taken more care with his header from a fantastic cross by Johnny Hunt on the Boro left, the hosts would have been two-nil down. Towards the end of the first period, Stevenage keeper Paul Farman went down when nobody was anywhere near him and needed prolonged treatment on the pitch only to apparently miraculously recover straight afterwards. This set a precedent for the second half: two more visiting players received treatment for ages as the visitors took every opportunity which arose to waste time at throw-ins, dead ball kicks and whatever else they could contrive to do.
Clearly, Dino the Manager was only too happy to hold onto what his team had during the second half. It wasn’t long before Timlim launched himself into another late challenge – from behind this time – as Cranston was showing him a clean pair of heels. But yet again, Referee Graham Salisbury did nothing. It was only when the man with the Number Four on his back committed another bad tackle that the Referee belatedly booked Stevenage’s most obviously feral player. His Manager quickly took him off after that, probably mindful that this gentleman was already lucky to be still the pitch. Morecambe’s Manager also quickly changed things early in the second half. Mandeville was taken off and Bennett made his debut. It may have been coincidence, but from this time on, the balance of the game seemed to swing increasingly towards the hosts. Morecambe suddenly started shading the possession and Ritchie Sutton had an effort blocked before Oates just missed with a fierce shot in the early part of the fiftieth minutes. Bennett had a perfect chance to mark his debut with a goal after 57 minutes but blazed his effort when well placed high over the bar. Farman was finally forced into action a minute later, scrabbling on all fours as he managed to deal with a scuffed effort from Kev as Boro struggled to clear the ball. But he was finally beaten with seventy minutes played when Kev’s deflected shot eluded him and ended-up in the back of the net. Then, with his fellow defenders gradually playing deeper and deeper in their own half, he played his own part in keeping the score down. This involved taking every conceivable chance to slow things down as his team tried to shut up shop and escape to Hertfordshire with at least a point. His heart must have been in his mouth when Zak Mills seemed to be the recipient of a far more obvious foul in the same penalty area than had been given against Steven Old in the first half: this time, the linesman kept his flag down.
Maamria himself was shown a yellow card by the Ref late on in the game. I hope it was for encouraging his team to cheat but I don’t know. The upshot of this was that Mr Salisbury added-on a very conservative eight minutes of extra time at the end to make up for the negative tactics of a team clearly happy to settle for a draw. This is the absolute irony of this game. If the Ref had ignored the gamesmanship of the visitors, the match could have ended in the ninety-third minute. But in the fourth minute of added time, substitute Luke Wilkinson headed a winner for the visitors from a corner which was the first strike they had made on the Morecambe goal during the entire second half.
They say that Fortune Favours The Brave: in this case, that was absolutely not true. Stevenage aren’t a good team. The arguments which went on between themselves – a heated but clearly frank exchange of views between Captain Cuthbert and Bad Boy Timlin during the first half, for instance – didn’t look good. The tendency of goalkeeper and defenders to exchange expletives when calls weren’t made by the former and the latter didn’t shut-down opponents quickly enough didn’t help. Add to this the petulant response to being offered a training top by his Manager when Kennedy was substituted (he snatched the garment out of his Boss’ hand and threw it onto the ground). Even at the moment of victory, what looked like a general argument by the team against one of their own number ensued as they made their way ever so slowly back into their own half. All this makes you wonder what the state of camaraderie at this club actually is.
But a win is a win when all is said and done. Stevenage will probably end the season in mid-table mediocrity. The win today saw them rise to ninth position. But Morecambe found themselves just one point above old adversaries Macclesfield (winners against Oldham today) and a single place above the relegation positions. This is a very worrying time for Jim Bentley and a team which didn’t turn-up until the second half today: how long can they collectively get away with doing this?
Morecambe: 21 Mark Halstead; 2 Zak Mills (24 Paul McKay 91 mins); 6 Andrew Tutte(C); 14 Sam Lavelle; 3 Luke Conlan; 5 Steven Old; 12 Ritchie Sutton; 11 Kevin Ellison; 18 Rhys Oates (4 Alex Kenyon 85 mins); 17 Liam Mandeville (7 Richard Bennett 53 mins); 27 Jordan Cranston.
Subs not used: 13 Dawid Szczepaniak; 23 Tyler Brownsword; 25 Ben Hedley.
Stevenage: 1 Paul Farman; 2 Luther Wildin; 5 Scott Cuthbert; 31 Ben Nugent (30 Luke Wilkinson 67 mins); 3 Johnny Hunt; 24 Moses Makasi ; 4 Michael Timlin (Y) (16 Arthur Iontton 67 mins); 10 Ben Kennedy (22 Alex Reid 62 mins); 8 Joel Byrom; 7 James Ball; 19 Danny Newton.
Subs not used: 27 Oliver Byrne; 11 Emmanuel Sonupe; 25 Ronnie Henry; 29 Liam Smyth.
Ref: Graham Salisbury
1422
Stevenage 1:0 Morecambe. League Two, Saturday 26th October 2019.
Lame; Lamex; Lamest…
It’s still only October but today’s clash at Broadhall Way – or Lamex Stadium if you prefer – between Stevenage and Morecambe already had something quite doom-laden about it. Here we have the two worst teams in the EFL about to slug it out to see which one of them would be wearing the Dunce’s cap by the end of play; who could be the Lamest at the Lamex if you like. Before kick-off, Boro – under the tutelage of Mark Sampson (who left his previous job as the coach of the England women’s football team under something of a cloud, to put it mildly) – were absolutely bottom of the pile with just one win in fifteen games so far and nine points on the board. Their recent record was that solitary win, two draws and two losses from their last five League Two games. The Shrimps, on the other hand, had two wins to show for their efforts so far this season. They came into this game on the back of one win, one draw and three defeats during their last five contests. They have a worse goal difference than anyone else in the division and the historical omens as far as this fixture is concerned were also against them. In twelve previous encounters, Morecambe have only won one and lost a whole seven. Last season, the team from Hertfordshire also did the double over today’s opponents.
Last Saturday, whilst Morecambe were winning at Colchester, Stevenage managed to claw-back a point at Port Vale from a losing position. On Tuesday, as the Shrimps lost tamely at home against Forest Green, Boro also lost to a last-gasp goal at Swindon. Morecambe suffered a further setback when leading marksman Lewis Allesandra was very harshly sent off and was thus unavailable for today’s game. Stevenage were also without their first-choice goalkeeper – Paul Farman – due to suspension.
The hosts had made efforts to build-up the atmosphere before the game – such as a fancy dress Halloween competition and the `Boro Busker’ – one Blake Baker; `a singer/songwriter from Hertford’ serenading fans next to the ticket office. Given that the new North Stand at the ground would not be open as expected, the club offered all season ticket holders for that part of the ground replacement tickets elsewhere plus a complimentary ticket to bring a friend for free to help boost the attendance and thus atmosphere within the stadium.
It was grey, occasionally wet and soggy underfoot in Hertfordshire before and during the game. Shaun Miller had the first chance of the match, drawing a fairly routine save from stand-in goalkeeper Sacha Bastien after just two minutes. Alex Kenyon followed this up with a shot for the Shrimps after seven minutes which missed the target. Ten minutes had been played when Bastien’s opposite number was first forced into action. On this occasion, Barry Roche fielded Kelland Watt’s header relatively easily. Up the other end, Cole Stockton’s shot a minute later was deflected just over the Stevenage bar with their goalkeeper flat-footed but the corner came to nothing. Watts had a better chance for the hosts after fourteen minutes but Kenyon was in the right place at the right time to clear his effort away from the danger area. There were half-chances for each side after this but the closest Morecambe came to opening the scoring is when Bastien did brilliantly to deny a Miller shot into his top corner after the latter had been set-up by a header from John O’Sullivan. So the half ended all-square and goal-less at half time with things pretty even.
The home team stepped up the pace and the pressure right from the start of the second period and the visitors found themselves under the cosh for the first twenty minutes or so. Jason Cowley, Dean Parrett and Terence Vancooten all had shots blocked during the first quarter of an hour from the re-start. Having said that, however, Morecambe got the ball in the net after 49 minutes. Stockton’s shot beat Bastien but Shaun Miller was flagged as being in an offside position even though he was clearly not interfering with play. On such small margins can success or failure hinge…
Kelland had another excellent chance for Boro with sixty-six minutes played after being set-up by a combination of Cowley and Parrett but his shot was again deflected wide by a resolute Shrimps defence. Just twelve minutes were still scheduled to be played when unmarked substitute Charlie Carter was found at the far post by Parrett but his shot was straight at Big Baz who dealt with it without too much trouble. However, the key moment of the match arrived after 82 minutes. Carter slung over a corner which found its way to that man Parrett who returned the ball for Stevenage Skipper Scott Cuthbert to head powerfully home unchallenged. Referee Kevin Johnson added-on a massive eight minutes at the end but it made no difference to the final result: substitute Jordan Cranston missed narrowly with a long-range effort after six extra minutes but the home team remained on the front foot most of the time to further improve their impressive record against the sorry Shrimps.
The significance of this defeat cannot be overstated. Morecambe found themselves two points behind Stevenage this evening and four points adrift of the pack at the end of play and right at the bottom of the EFL. The clocks go back tonight but for Morecambe Football Club, the darker days of a long Winter have already arrived…
Stevenage: 13 Sacha Bastien; 15 Terence Vancooten (Y); 5 (C); 31 Ben Nugent (7 Charlie Carter 36’); 3 Chris Stokes; 33 Tyler Denton; 18 Dean Parrett (35 Craig Mackail-Smith 89’); 32 Charlie Lakin (44 Michael Timlin 69’); 20 Kelland Watts (Y); 28 Kurtis Guthrie; 9 Jason Cowley.
Subs not used: 36 Sam French; 8 Joel Byrom; 11 Emmanuel Sonupe; 16 Arthur Iontton.
Morecambe: 1 Barry Roche (C); 27 George Tanner; 16 Sam Lavelle (Y); 5 Steven Old; 3 Luke Conlan (2 Adam Buxton 84’); 7 John O’Sullivan; 14 Tom Brewitt (Y); 4 Alex Kenyon; 11 Kevin Ellison (33 Jordan Cranston 64’); 24 Shaun Miller; 9 Cole Stockton (15 Aaron Wildig 64’).
Subs not used: 21 Mark Halstead; 6 Andrew Tutte; 25 Ibrahim Bakare.
Ref: Kevin Johnson. 2288.
