Down at Ply-mouth…
Last Tuesday, an idiot whose name I will not dignify with a mention on these pages appeared in front of Lancaster Magistrates charged with disorder when he ran onto the field at the Mazuma Stadium during Bolton Wanderers’ recent visit to Morecambe. I mention this here because – if you relied for your information about what happens in our region of the local TV news – you would have heard nothing about this latest development in the ongoing saga as far as the things that happened on the day is concerned. Finding out what happened to this moron and what sentence he received has proved impossible to discover: local papers in both Bolton and north Lancashire haven’t mentioned the trial; I can’t find the result in the local Court Records and local media have equally ignored it. In the greater scheme of things – and we need to look no further than the appalling situation in Ukraine – this may seem like a trivial matter. But the fact remains that – whilst the media in general were quick to pick-up on the Bolton Manager’s totally unsupported allegations of racist abuse by Shrimps’ fans on the day – the disorder caused by visiting hooligans which occurred inside and outside the stadium in January has barely merited a mention. But let’s move on…
Morecambe made the longest League One trip of their season to Devon today to face a Plymouth Argyle team which was at the top of League One earlier in the season. Then, their Manager was Ryan Lowe, who returned to the North when Preston offered him the vacant Boss’ position in early December of last year. Mr Lowe’s greatest achievement whilst in Devon was to take Argyle from the bottom Division of the EFL to League One for the second time in three years.
Since he left, this has been a topsy-turvy season for the Pilgrims. Today, the man who had taken them into the old Third Division before Ryan Lowe replaced him – Derek Adams – returned to his former club. Most of their fans still love the Scotsman and I think it’s true to say that nearly all Morecambe fans do too. Derek left the club only when he had succeeded in the `project’ he had committed himself to – promotion – was achieved last season. He could have left earlier in exactly the same way that his successor – Stephen Robinson – actually has done. Dundee would have taken him shortly after he arrived in north Lancashire. Bradford City wanted him to abandon Morecambe months before he actually left. So I am personally delighted – for what it’s worth – that Derek chose to return to a club where he has been the most successful Manager ever rather than take opportunities elsewhere.
As for today’s opponents, Plymouth have suffered a dip in form during recent times. In their last five League One matches, they have lost their last two – last Saturday at home against leaders Rotherham United and the one before that at Cambridge. Prior to that, they were on a tremendous run of form which saw them win three games in a row. Today, they had fallen out of the Play-Off positions to eighth place in the table.
In previous encounters, Morecambe have struggled against the Devon club. They have lost seven of fourteen EFL matches and won only three. In October, the Pilgrims escaped from the Mazuma Stadium with a 1-1 draw against Stephen Robinson’s men. Now – with Derek Adams saddled with his predecessor’s squad until the end of the season whether he likes it or not – The Shrimps really could not afford to lose. Derek said before the game about this particular issue:
“We’ve got to assess the squad and, though I know some of the players already here, some of them weren’t here before. I think it’s important, when you come to a club, that you don’t make early judgements on players because it’s important every player is given that opportunity and I’ll be looking at what I’ve got.”
As far as his previous employers are concerned, he added:
“Plymouth have done very well this season. They are an excellent football club, who are run very well, and they are trying to push into the promotion places. They have got a lot of good players in their squad but we have to approach the game by going to try and win it. We need the win as much as Plymouth need the win at this moment in time, so it should be a game where it’s quite open and end-to-end at times. At this stage of the season, you’re trying to get the three points whether, in Plymouth’s case, they’re trying to reach the play-offs or, in our case, trying to get away from the bottom four to climb the table.”
Because of an unspecified illness within the camp, Derek had Toumani Diagouraga, Greg Leigh and Aaron Wildig all missing from the line-up from his first game back in Morecambe last Saturday. He chose Liam Gibson, Dylan Connelly and Alfie McCalmont – who have presumably impressed him in training this week – to start today instead and added Arthur Gnahoua to a substitutes’ bench to which Jonah Ayunga was relegated.
His Opposite Number, Steven Schumacher – who rejected the offer to join PNE with his previous boss in order to take up the Managerial reins at Home Park – said about today’s clash:
“We’re really looking forward to it. It’s a good chance for us to hopefully pick up some points. I felt the performance last week against Rotherham was really good; we just didn’t get the result we wanted. But the players are excited for the challenge against Morecambe. Hopefully, it’s a big crowd again and we put on a good performance.
They’re always a tough team to face. We had a real tough game earlier in the season when Steven Robinson was in charge. Now Derek’s gone back there, it’ll be no different. They had a good result at the weekend against Ipswich. We know what they’re all about, when Derek had them in League Two they were well organised. They were quite direct as a team with structure behind it and were good on the counterattack so we’re expecting something of the same. We need to be on our best with the ball and not be careless with it to stop those counter-attacks and try and be patient and break them down. If we get an opportunity – if we get as many opportunities as we did last Saturday – then hopefully we’ll take one.”
It was sunny on the south coast of Britain today although deceptively cold in the shadows. Both sides Took the Knee as the game kicked-off on an immaculate Home Park surface. Argyle were soon on the attack and won the first corner of the game after four minutes. The ball was played short to Conor Grant, whose cross was struck sweetly on the volley by Pilgrims’ Captain Joe Edwards only for the visiting goalkeeper to deny him with a superb save with his fists. Then Cole Stockton tried his luck with a lob which missed the target after seven minutes but the Referee pulled play back for a foul by Morecambe’s leading scorer earlier in the move. Only fourteen minutes had been played when Broom got away on the Plymouth right and sent over a perfect cross which Grant headed home by guiding the ball back across the goal. Trevor Carson – playing on his thirty-fourth birthday today – had no chance. Almost straight from kick-off, Dylan Connolly was fed by Cole the Goal – who, in turn, had received a lovely weighted ball from Shane McLoughlin – and would have equalised were it not for a really good save by Michael Cooper. Plymouth were asking nearly all the questions, though and using the full width of the pitch throughout the first period. They were noticeably trying to play the ball on the deck rather than hoofing it up the field and Connolly got a ticking-off from the Referee after a late, clumsy challenge on the impressive Broom with about twenty-four minutes on the clock. As the wind started to gust quite strongly at times, the visitors were offering little offensively and even when they did, the Pilgrims continued to play constructively every time they won the ball back and constantly sought to probe on both flanks. However, Cole set-up Dylan with just over half an hour played but Plymouth managed to clear the ball for a corner which came to nothing. Almost forty minutes had been played when good play from Adam Phillips set-up a chance for Stockton – who had his back to goal – to make one of his trade-mark turns and send a ball across the Plymouth box which nobody in a red shirt was quite able to get on the end of – despite the best efforts of Alfie McCalmont at full stretch. . It looked as if the Shrimps might be able to hold on to a one-goal deficit until half time but with just four minutes left to the break, a cross from Mayor on the Plymouth left received the slightest touch from leading scorer Ryan Hardie’s head, caught Carson completely flat-footed and settled in the corner of the Birthday Bay’s net.
It was thus a familiar story at half time as far as this season has been concerned: Morecambe struggling away from home and looking lightweight up-front into the bargain.
They upped their game in the second half, though. The visitors started to press the home defence right at the beginning of the second period and after 56 minutes, Phillips forced a tremendous save from home custodian Michael Cooper in response to a powerful strike from about 25 yards. But it wasn’t one-way traffic. With 64 minutes on the clock, Hardie only just missed the target with a Cole Stockton-like turn and shot which went just over the bar. But Morecambe could have reduced the arrears after sixty-seven minutes when Connolly found substitute Jon Obika whose instant shot was only just too high. They came even closer eleven minutes later when Cooper excelled himself to keep out a header from Morecambe Skipper Anthony O’Connor, who had arrived on the end of a Phillips’ cross after a corner kick had been cleared by the home defence. But – try as they might – the visitors were just unable to penetrate the Argyle defence today and ended-up losing the game two-nil.
Having said that, Morecambe upped their game considerably in the second half and at least made a match of it by the end. Plymouth are a good side and to lose to them is no disgrace. Results elsewhere – with Fleetwood, Crewe and Gillingham all being defeated at home and AFC Wimbledon losing and Doncaster being hammered away – meant that the Shrimps remained stubbornly in twenty-first place in League One tonight. Despite their victory, Argyle remained in eighth position in the table.
It could be worse though: we could be fans of St Mirren instead. Today, they lost their third game in a row in the Scottish Premiership – and their third successive game under Stephen Robinson’s Management as well. This time, another of our current Manager’s former clubs – Ross County – beat them by the only goal of the game. Before Robbo arrived, the club had lost only seven of 28 games – a loss rate of 25%. Now it’s 100% with three games played and not a single goal scored. This is the transformation that Mr Robinson has brought to his new club.
Anybody missing him?
Plymouth Argyle: 1 Michael Cooper; 2 James Bolton; 3 Macaulay Gillesphey; 4 Jordan Houghton (20 Adam Randell 82’); 5 James Wilson; 7 Ryan Broom; 8 Joe Edwards (C); 9 Ryan Hardie (14 Jordon Garrick 79’); 10 Danny Mayor; 15 Conor Grant; 31 Luke Jephcott (11 Niall Ennis 65’).
Subs Not Used: 25 Callum Burton; 17 Steven Sessegnon; 25 Callum Burton; 28 Panutche Pereira Camará; 33 Romoney Crichlow.
Morecambe: 30 Trevor Carson; 4 Anthony O’Connor (C) (Y); 5 Jacob Bedeau; 9 Cole Stockton (14 Jonathan Obika 59’); 11 Dylan Connolly (Y) (17 Jonah Ayunga 88’); 18 Adam Phillips; 19 Shane McLoughlin; 21 Ryan Cooney; 22 Liam Gibson; 25 Alfie McCalmont; 31 Rhys Bennett.
Subs Not Used: 41 Adam Smith; 24 Arthur Gnahoua; 28 Courtney Duffus; 27 Ousmane Fané.
Ref: Alan Young.
Att: 12,288 (122 from Morecambe).
