Pirates Run Out of Gaz at the Maz.
Following their 4-0 humiliation at Ipswich last Tuesday night, Morecambe sought to get their League One campaign back on track today against Bristol Rovers at the Mazuma Stadium. Historically, they have a poor record against The Gas: only two wins in nine previous meetings but five defeats. Last September, they managed a 2-2 draw at the Memorial Stadium against a Joey Barton team which was struggling at the time. Today, Rovers arrived in north Lancashire with a record of two wins and three losses in their last five League One games. They lost the latest of these not too far away in East Lancashire against Accrington last Saturday by two goals to nil. As Shrimps’ fans, we would all have wanted the Pirates to win at the Crown Ground – particularly as Stanley are struggling themselves currently – but this disappointing result saw them drop into eleventh place in the table.
Morecambe’s loss at Portman Road earlier in the week saw their sparkling 100% 2023 record from their three prior games go up in smoke as they stayed in the dreaded Drop Zone of League One in twenty-first place. So they have now lost two but won three of their last five league matches. But a win today – depending on results elsewhere – could see them escape from the dead hand of relegation altogether.
Morecambe’s outstanding defender Jacob Bedeau has this to say before the game:
“The support we get here is top notch. The fans always get behind us and it obviously always helps. Even last year, some of the games here, they were behind us then and they’re still behind us now. It’s massive for us. If you’re (winning) 2-1 like we were against Cheltenham, it’s almost like they’re blowing the ball away from our goal when we’re defending that side, so it’s always really helpful. We’ve got to think this is our fortress and we can beat anyone here. They’ve had a good season, their first season back in League One, so they’re going to be a tough test. But we have to come through these tests to stay in this league and that’s what we want to do. They’re a good team; they’ve got really good players so it’s going to be a tough one. But we’d like to think (that) at home, that’s where we’re going to make it count.”
Rovers’ new signings goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe and Jarell Quansah started for the Pirates and their third new face – Grant Ward – was introduced with just over an hour played.
It would be easy – given Manager Joey Barton’s generally unsavoury reputation – to assume that the appearance of himself and his team reflects his own skinhead-like persona. Not so. The squad and their Manager all had their heads shaved on 16th January as a tribute to – and to show support for – team-mate Nick Anderton. The unlucky young man – who played against us at Bristol last September – has been diagnosed with bone cancer at the tender age of 26 and will be involuntarily losing his own hair as a result of the chemotherapy he is currently enduring. Good luck to the lad; let’s hope he’s able to fight this affliction off – for his own sake obviously but also for that of the people who care about him as well. One of these is Morecambe goalkeeper Connor Ripley, who wore a shirt with his friend’s name on the back and also shaved his head especially for the occasion.
The Gas have also pioneered an admirable development off the field this week. Their website tells us:
“Bristol Rovers is the first UK football club to support the Plastic Free Pint campaign, spearheaded by A Plastic Planet, and is calling for a ban on plastic cups at all grounds.
We estimate this swap will mean over a tonne of plastic waste will be saved from being sent to landfills every season. Commenting on the campaign, Head of Catering Iain Paterson said: “We are delighted to be working with A Plastic Planet and leading the way in working towards a plastic ban in sports stadia. Bristol is renowned for being a green city and was the UK’s first-ever Green Capital in 2015.”
(Why is one of Rovers’ nicknames `The Gas’? They used to play at a decrepit old Greyhound track at Eastleigh, next door to some Gasometers. If you don’t know what a Gasometer is, ask one of your parents or an older person. Do not ask Energy Secretary Grant Shapps because he apparently doesn’t know either…)
For Morecambe, Shane McLoughlin signed for Salford City on an 18 month deal this week. I’m sure we all wish him well too – I thought he was a better player than some who have featured for us in the last two seasons – but what do I know? Today, Morecambe Manager Derek Adams shook-up the formation which started so poorly against Ipswich earlier in the week. He dropped Ryan Cooney and Adam Mayor to the bench and Caleb Watts altogether. Dynel Simeu, Michael Mellon and Daniel Crowley were put straight into the starting eleven in their places.
It had been drizzly in north west Lancashire prior to the game and the mist thickened as time went by and it was pretty wet by the end of the contest. The first thing that struck you about the Gas was how physically large so many of their players were. I was personally expecting them to lump things forward at Aaron Collins and the giant Josh Coburn. But they didn’t. They enjoyed a lot of possession – particularly during the second half – but it was frankly difficult to work out how they actually intended to play because their control of things seemed to simply stop in midfield more often than not as they seemed to run out of ideas and options. Morecambe played nearly all the football early doors and newcomer and finally Man of the Match Daniel Crowley caught the eye right from the start.
Michael Mellon was denied a first goal for the Shrimps after nine minutes by a tremendous block by James Connolly. Jason Weir then put a shot out of the ground two minutes later as the home team continued to ask most of the questions. Cole Stockton then had a decent chance but fired narrowly wide with a quarter of an hour played. Twenty minutes were on the clock when the hosts took the lead. Daniel Crowley ran purposefully from deep towards the away goal and unleashed a peach of a shot from a long way out which beat debutant Ellery Balcombe all ends up as it bounced in front of him and flew low into the net. It was a really tremendous strike but the goalkeeper will probably be disappointed that he didn’t make a better attempt to keep it out. Four minutes later, the new Gas goalie was forced to make a brave save at Cole the Goal’s feet to stop another Shrimps’ goal. All Pirates hearts must have been in their mouths after 32 minutes too, when the player they call `Beefy’ – James Connolly – could have given away two penalties in the space of a few seconds. First of all, he performed what looked to me like a scissors tackle on Stockton and then – from the ground – seemed to clearly trip Mellon as he went for the loose ball. But Referee Will Finney wasn’t impressed and that’s all that matters after all.
Rovers huffed and puffed but by about half an hour in, all they had to show for it were over-hit dead ball kicks and shots which went way off target. This all changed in the fortieth minute though. For the first time, they actually showed some real bite when Antony Evans’ strike from the edge of the penalty area towards his own fans was brilliantly saved by a Connor Ripley leap high to his right. At the other end, it seemed certain that the Shrimps had extended their lead two minutes later. Crowley’s pass into the away danger area seemed to be heading for the net as a wall of red descended on it but the ball hit Balcombe’s right-hand post apparently from Mellon’s head with the goalkeeper a mere spectator and somehow or other bounced away into safety from Rovers’ point of view. The play quickly swept to the other end of the field and Morecambe again had their goalkeeper to thank as Connor pushed Shrimps’ Old Boy Aaron Collins‘s phenomenal strike up and onto the bar and over for Bristol’s first corner of the match.
That was just about it for the first period. I thought that Morecambe were the better team at half time – but there wasn’t a lot in it and nothing to indicate what was about to happen in the second part of the match.
The unchanged Morecambe team poured forward right from the first moment and were three goals to nil up within four minutes of the restart. First, the Gas conceded a free-kick on the Morecambe right and Mellon was the quickest to react as the ball reached him from this although his shot may have hit Connolly on its way into the Rovers’ net. Then Crowley found Donald Love a couple of minutes later with a superb pass to allow the team Captain to score his first goal for the club in the 49th minute with a fierce strike. Crowley then tried his own luck after 54 minutes but his attempt went over the crossbar. With an hour played, the visitors squandered a decent chance as substitute Harry Anderson rose highest to get his head to a corner but completely mis-directed his effort well away from the target right in front of him. The visitors must have regretted this as Morecambe caught them on the break after 61 minutes and Crowley again put a sublime pass on a plate to Cole, who confidently netted his second league goal of the season and the fourth for Morecambe of the afternoon.
Almost immediately after this, though, Bristol should have reduced the arrears. The challenge on Josh Coburn didn’t look any more like a penalty than Beefy Connolly’s had been in the first half to me but the Referee again took a different view. Scott Sinclair stepped forward to take the resultant spot-kick and placed his shot high to Ripley’s right. But the Morecambe stopper – for the fourth time in a row – was equal to it and Connor saved it with a phenomenal leap to claw it away.
I think this summed-up Rovers’ afternoon.
In the eightieth minute, Ripley confounded the Gas striker again with a strong hand to repel a tremendous strike from Sinclair. But it got even worse for the Pirates. During the 85th minute, substitute Adam Mayor’s cross into the box was cleared by a fantastic last-ditch clearance by James Gibbons. But three minutes later, the hosts had a fifth. Young Adam got away for a clear run on goal on the Shrimps’ right’ took the ball on and ever on and then slipped it cleverly past the away goalkeeper. Ellery Balcombe must have wished he’d stayed in Bristol today: letting-in five goals on your debut for anyone can’t be a good feeling. But as Morecambe collectively were still celebrating at least in their heads, Collins managed to reduce the arrears and ruin the home side’s Clean Sheet with an excellent strike just before the end of play.
It was scant consolation. The defeat saw Bristol drop to twelfth in League One. Elsewhere, Accrington were being dumped out of the FA Cup at home by Leeds United, 1-3. The Plastic People from Milton Keynes lost again too, this time 0-2 at home to Exeter but remain one place below the Shrimps in twentieth position, just above the Drop Zone. Forest Green had Duncan `Disorderly’ Ferguson at the helm today for the first time. They were winning away from home at Shrewsbury by the only goal of the game in the ninetieth minute. But then they contrived to ship two more during injury time and lose to remain rock bottom of the table, four points from safety and having played more matches than any other club in the division.
I don’t know what Gasheads’ boss Joey Barton said before the game but he did put this slant on the fixture before disappearing at speed into the wet darkness in his great big car shortly afterwards – and whilst his team were still warming-down within the Stadium:
“Probably the worst 60-70-minute performance, if not 90-minute performance, since I’ve been here. It was really poor and I can only apologise to the fans who have paid their hard-earned cash and given up their time on Saturday to follow us here. If anyone was in any doubt, today has been another rude awakening about the standard of where our group’s at and if we don’t improve it we’ll no longer be able to keep pace with the teams that are chasing promotion. I wouldn’t pay you if you turned up and did a job in my house to the standard some of our boys did today. I’d be chucking you out of the house and never allowing you back in. That is not acceptable and all you can do is apologise to them. It was embarrassing, actually.”
King Derek looked very pleased with himself – as well he might be – after the match. He said:
“It was a great win for us today. Overall, it was a fabulous performance from us to beat a team who are 11th in the league 5-1 at home. The way we scored, the way we took them, it was a great day for the players and the staff.”
Morecambe: 1 Connor Ripley; 2 Donald Love (C); 4 Liam Gibson (Y) (21 Ryan Cooney 88’); 5 Farrend Rawson (6 Ryan Delaney 64’); 8 Daniel Crowley (10 Ash Hunter 72’); 9 Cole Stockton; 11 Michael Mellon (Y) (25 Adam Mayor 72’); 15 Jensen Weir; 16 Jacob Bedeau; 20 Liam Shaw; 29 Dynel Simeu.
Subs not used: 12 Adam Smith; 14 Arthur Gnahoua; 19 Jon Obika.
Bristol Rovers: 35 Ellery Balcombe; 2 James Connolly (Y); 5 Jarell Quansah; 6 Sam Finley (23 Luke McCormick 68’); 7 Scott Sinclair; 10 Aaron Collins; 15 Paul Coutts (C) (8 Grant Ward 67’); 21 Antony Evans; 28 James Gibbons; 30 Luca Hoole (19 Harry Anderson 67’); 40 Josh Coburn (9 John Marquis 68’).
Subs not used: 1 James Belshaw; 25 Glenn Whelan.
Ref: Will Finney.
Att: 4,259 (612 Gasheads. They supported their team even in adversity and are a credit to their club.)
