Play-Off Dreams Blown Away as Morecambe are Grabbed By the Gills.
Morecambe’s hopes for a Play-Off surge towards the end of the season have gone right off the boil in recent times with three straight defeats in a row. Last Sunday, when they were easily beaten by a weak Salford team in Prestwich, the performance was unacceptably bad even in the terms of Manager Ged Brannan after the event. Despite this, the Shrimps found themselves in twelfth position in the League Two table this morning. Things are very tight at the top of the Division and if today’s visitors to the Mazuma Mobile Stadium – tenth-placed Gillingham – could be beaten, the team from north Lancashire could leap-frog them into a place just outside the Play-Off places. The Gills themselves haven’t won for five games; drawing and losing two of both of their last four.
There have been a lot of changes at the perennially under-achieving Kent club since the two teams last met in September. Neil Harris – their boss at the time – has been sacked and is now back at his spiritual home – Millwall – after a brief and undistinguished spell at Cambridge United. In September, Gillingham beat the Shrimps 2-1. They usually do: Morecambe’s record against them is absolutely dire: eleven matches played in which they have managed just a single victory and endured six defeats.
Neil Harris’ replacement manager Stephen Clemence assessed the Shrimps’ challenge to his team in these terms:
“It will be tough. They’ve had a good season. Their results have obviously not been quite as good lately but they had a really good run just after Christmas. They’ve got some good players, but so have we. I know our boys will be really looking forward to it. (We are) one point off the play-offs: if you can’t be looking forward to a game like this, there’s something wrong with you. We’ll be right up for it, it’s about us and how we take our game to them.”
Opposite Number Ged Brannan said the following about today’s game prior to the match:
“They’ll be fighting for their lives. They’re really good at set-pieces at both ends so we’re going to have to watch that. We’re going to have to be at the top of our game to get anything from the game. We know we’re going to be in for a fight. If we’re not up to it, we will get beat. But if we go into it the way we can play – the way we have been playing at home – we’ll be all right.”
It had been unseasonably cold with occasional showers in north Lancashire today. Throughout the game, a bitingly cold veritable gale blew the length of the ground from the home end nearest to the sea.
Morecambe kicked off, playing with the gale at their backs against a Gillingham team which looked like it was wearing the Notts County home strip: a striped black & white shirt; black shorts and socks. The first chance of the game fell to the visitors: after seven minutes, a corner from Connor Mahoney was cleared before being returned towards Oliver Hawkins, who found the net from very close in. To the relief of the home crowd, though, the lineman’s flag ruled the goal out for off-side. It was a let-off for the hosts which they took advantage of in the twelfth minute. Morecambe stretched the away defence as they attacked from their own half; Charlie Brown advanced down the right flank and dribbled his way forwards before picking-out that man Jordan Slew with a perfect pass into the centre which Jordan instantly swerved past veteran goalkeeper Glenn Morris to his left into the bottom corner of the net. It was a great move and a tremendous finish. But five minutes later, the Gills were level. They were attacking down their right; the ball found its way to Remeao Hutton and he fired it into the middle to nobody in particular. Sadly for him, Morecambe goalkeeper Archie Mair was totally caught-out by it; made a frankly pathetic attempt to palm the ball away as he dived towards it and succeeded only in setting-up Hawkins to sweep the ball home for one of the easiest goals he will ever score. In the twenty- third minute, Charlie Brown was fouled just outside the Gillingham box by Jonny Williams and Referee Paul Howard blew his whistle. And then booked Charlie for diving. Later, Slew was manhandled on the touchline and – when he resisted – was forcefully thrown to the ground by Hutton. Mr Howard wagged his finger for some time in Jordan’s face – and booked him as well. Diving again, perhaps? How does that work? Later, Joel Senior also found himself on the ground after he had also been clearly pushed over by a visiting player. But again, the Referee didn’t do anything. Why? It happens regularly – and it simply doesn’t make any sense.
Anyway, Slew came close again near the end of the half when a cross-come-shot from way out on the Morecambe left beat Morris all ends up and seemed to tickle the angle of bar and post as it bounced harmlessly away for a goal-kick.
Jake Taylor set-up Slew for another attempt on goal after 56 minutes as Jordan ghosted in from the Shrimps’ left. But Morris was equal to his attempt and blocked it for a corner. Then Ged Garner was well found by David Tutonda – playing against his former employers – on the Shrimps’ left again with 62 minutes on the clock and took the ball from almost his own half deep into away territory. He then played a superlative ball to Brown at the far post. The visiting keeper again did well to keep out Charlie’s effort – but the Morecambe forward really should have buried it. He atoned somewhat, however, just two minutes later. The visitors’ defence repeatedly struggled to clear their lines and when the ball finally arrived at his feet on the right hand side of the penalty area from his point of view, Charlie made no mistake this time. At this period – and for another short time later in the second half – Morecambe were well on top and passing the ball around well as Gillingham played on the back foot.
But the Shrimps were undone – yet again – by a poor piece of defending. In the seventy-third minute, Timothee Dieng found himself with the ball at his feet and totally unmarked about thirty yards out from the home goal and just to the left of centre from his point of view. With nobody in a red shirt anywhere near him, he tried his luck with a shot which Archie should have saved. Instead, he totally misjudged the flight of the ball and it looped over his head into the net for a second equaliser.
Worse was to come for young Mr Mair. He has been a very safe pair of hands ever since he arrived from Gateshead earlier in the season and had made very few major errors prior to today. But he completed a hat-trick of blunders this afternoon in the eighty-sixth minute when – instead of booting the ball long or passing it to one of his own defenders, he played it straight to Connor Mahoney who – probably not believing his luck – took it past the Morecambe rearguard as if it wasn’t there and walloped the ball back past Archie to steal the game for the men from Kent with what proved to be the winning goal.
Morecambe threw this game away today. They had enough good chances to be out of sight before Gillingham levelled things for the second time. Worryingly, though, I got the impression this afternoon that whereas the Gills were never going to give up; Morecambe were: and they actually did. Once they had fallen behind in the game, there was only one team going to win it.
This latest defeat to what must be one of Morecambe’s all time bogey teams saw their dreams of a Play-Off spot receding ever further away. Their recent form – four matches played; no points gained – is relegation, not promotion form. Tonight, they were still twelfth in the table but Gillingham pushed themselves into eighth place, level on points with the lowest of the Play-Off contenders, Crawley. They are suddenly the club with all the momentum as Morecambe seem to have simply lost their way altogether.
What did Our Ged have to say about this latest kick in the teeth?:
“We went on to lose a game which we should have won. I said to the lads in the Changing Rooms: “Listen – if you put performances in like that, we won’t be far off and we’ve got seven games to go. Dig In! We are a good team.” We can win seven games on the bounce and get in them Play-Offs. We’re not going to give up until it’s over. We didn’t get the rub of the green again. Today was just mad – I don’t know how we didn’t win that game today.“
Morecambe: 30 Archie Mair; 3 David Tutonda; 4 Jacob Bedeau (C); 8 Joe Adams (Y) (19 Gwion Edwards 75’); 9 Ged Garner; 12 Joel Senior; 14 Jordan Slew (Y); 15 Chris Stokes; 18 Jake Taylor; 20 Charlie Brown (39 Jordy Hiwula 88’); 38 Nelson Khumbeni (Y).
Substitutes not used: 21 Adam Smith; 6 Yann Songo’o; 11 Julian Larsson 17 Cammy Smith 22 Kayden Harrack.
Gillingham: 1 Glenn Morris; 3 Max Clark (13 Scott Malone (Y) 67’); 5 Max Ehmer; 7 George Lapslie (17 Jayden Clarke 78’); 8 Jonny Williams (47 Josh Walker 59’); 12 Oliver Hawkins (9 Josh Andrews 78’); 14 Robbie McKenzie (18 Ethan Coleman 67’); 22 Shadrach Ogie; 23 Connor Mahoney; 24 Remeao Hutton; 38 Timothee Dieng (Y).
Substitutes not used: 25 Jake Turner; 4 Conor Masterton.
Ref: Paul Howard.
Att: 3,408 (208 from Gillingham.)
