Morecambe Not At The Races On Grand National Day
Let’s start – by popular request – with a quiz. What has the team which was once expelled from the Football League altogether got in common with the only club currently to have played every other club in the top four tiers of English football?
Want a clue? – it’s the same club.
Time’s up.
It is Morecambe’s hosts today: Port Vale of Burslem in the Potteries. My long-lost nephew and Head Honcho of the Shrimpsvoices fan forum, Keith Fitton, has established that only one club exists which has played all the other members of the top divisions of English football currently. When Vale won 0-2 at Harrogate on Easter Monday, they ticked the final box of the full EFL and current Premiership complement of clubs which it would be possible to have faced at some time.
I personally have a soft spot for the Valiants for the same reason I want our nearest neighbours Barrow to stay in the EFL. And that is: I’m old enough to appreciate that they have both been appallingly treated by The Powers That Be in the English Game. Barrer were kicked out of the Football League decades ago when there were two far worse teams in the Closed Shop up for re-election along with them. Port Vale were also expelled from the Football League – when they were a relatively big club in the second tier – for offences which other member clubs such as Manchester United were subsequently found to be equally guilty of within twelve months of the Burslem club being consigned to outer darkness. This happened in 1968. But sanctioning a big club like United – with their superstars; their monetary clout and their huge fanbase – could have hurt the league bosses at the time: they feared that the Manchester club might retaliate in some way. They knew, though, that booting-out the much smaller and less powerful Port Vale wouldn’t provoke a similar reaction. So the dinosaurs who ran the Football League took the easy option and expelled them. They were immediately re-elected by other clubs – who probably felt guilty because they were nearly all culpable of similar breaches of football rules – but Port Vale had to start all over again in the bottom tier of the Football League – and they have never really recovered.
But before I cry any further into my beer, my sympathy ran out at three o’clock this afternoon…
The Valiants started this match on the best run of form of any club in League Two. Well, not just League Two but the whole EFL. And the known universe as well, probably: five games played; five won. Before they lured Manager Darrell Clarke away from neighbours Walsall just over a month ago, though, Vale had been struggling at the wrong end of League Two. Even with fifteen points out of fifteen, Port found themselves – very appropriately – in Position Fifteen in League Two at the start of play today. In a sense, they had nothing to play for: they won’t get relegated but with just six games left to play, they are too far off the leaders of the division to have anything but a theoretical chance of being promoted this term. Prior to the game, Mr Clarke praised his opposite number but made it very plain that he was expecting nothing less than a win today when he told Vale’s website:
“Derek deserves all the plaudits he gets with Morecambe being in the top seven. We expect a difficult game, but nonetheless one that I think we can win.”
Last October, Morecambe got the better of previous PV manager John Askey’s team by the only goal of the game at the Maz. In other meetings, the Shrimps have won nine of nineteen previous fixtures in all competitions and lost six.
Morecambe’s own run of form is not great. Prior to a disappointing draw at home last Tuesday against apparently doomed Southend, they had lost to leaders Cambridge in their previous game. They won both league matches before that but they also lost the one they played five fixtures ago. So they could do with a bit of a tonic today to get their promotion train back on track. Derek Adams shook things up a bit after the draw against the Shrimpers. Yann Songo’o returned from his ban; Ryan Cooney and Brad Lyons started as well and Stephen Hendrie, Harry Davis and Toumani Diagouraga were all relegated to the bench.
It was cold, wet and dark as the game kicked-off in heavy sleet which swept across a blustery Vale Park and soon became fully grown-up snow. Not just one but two minutes’ silence preceded the referee’s whistle. Black armbands were also worn by both sets of players. Some of us no doubt used this time to think about an elderly gent with a privileged life-style and Greek roots with no association I am aware of to football in any of its guises. But I suspect that most of our thoughts were with a young man who once played for the Valiants and is suddenly no longer with us. Lee Collins was here last week. Now he isn’t anymore at the tender age of thirty-two. This is truly tragic. How dreadful for his friends and family who have to make whatever sense they can of what’s happened. I make no apology for repeating the Mantra expressed by Port Vale, our old pal Kevin Ellison and many others: you are not on your own. If you are struggling for whatever reason – speak to somebody. Remember – it’s all right not to be all right. The Samaritans are just a phone-call away on 116 123.
In the increasing whiteness, both teams were slithering about in no time at all. Referee Antony Coggins cut both sides some slack and there were a few over-zealous fouls – mostly by the home team it has to be said – which led to both Shaun Brisley and Manny Oyeleke soon being booked. Oyeleke was lucky to stay on the pitch in my opinion after a number of bad challenges. Vale also regularly kicked the ball away when they had conceded free-kicks – and the Referee indulged them by not booking anyone. The visitors were the liveliest early on and Cole Stockton forced a good save low to his right from Scott Brown in the second minute, turning and shooting from the edge of the penalty area on the Morecambe right. Cole got away again a minute later on the right and slipped a low pass across the home penalty area towards Brad Lyons only for Leon Legge to clear the ball – and possibly the man as well. The Referee insisted that yellow and orange balls were introduced as from the fourth minute. Shortly after this, a free-kick was headed away from danger by the Port Vale rearguard to Stockton, who totally mis-hit the ball as it fell towards him. Ryan Cooney was making good progress down the right after ten minutes only for his progress to be stopped by a tremendous tackle by David Worrall. Carlos Mendes-Gomes fouled Devante Rodney on the half way line after twelve minutes and the free-kick was headed clear only to be returned for Kyle Letheren to take the ball confidently in the snow. At the other end, Brown had to slide along the ground and grab the ball to stop another free-kick from reaching Carlos with almost a quarter of an hour played. It was becoming difficult to see the markings on the pitch and the ball was no longer running true before Referee Coggins consulted both Managers at the side of the pitch after 26 minutes. They all went off and the Vale groundstaff spent the next thirty-odd minutes shovelling snow off the pitch before play could start again at twenty past four: a truly fantastic effort by them.
Oyeleke was probably sensibly withdrawn before the match restarted and replaced by Kurtis Guthrie. The break seemed to do the home team good because they seemed to step-up a gear once the game got going again. Morecambe Skipper Sam Lavelle gave away a foul for which he was booked on the Vale left after 32 minutes. Vale Captain Tom Conlon took the free kick and placed a perfect ball on the unmarked head of Nathan Smith to score with a sharp header. The home team were on top at this juncture but the visitors had a spell leading up to half time when they were pressing in the Vale half and keeping the ball quite well. But there was no end product and – more worryingly from Morecambe’s point of view – there never really looked as if there was going to be.
The second half ambled along in a similar fashion. Vale headed away anything in the air; Morecambe had a lot of the possession but neither goalkeeper had a save to make. There were a lot of stoppages partially because of the scrappy nature of the game; partially because fussy little referee Coggins liked blowing his whistle. He was good at telling the players to use the ball which had just gone out of play rather than the one nearest to them. He penalised players who tried to kick a rolling ball from a set-piece. But he completely missed the potentially key moment of the second half. After 54 minutes, John O’Sullivan nipped in behind Shaun Brisley in the Vale penalty area as the ball was played in. The PV defender clearly didn’t realise he was there initially but when he did, Brisley simply scythed him down from behind; going right through him with a really crude lunge. If this wasn’t a penalty, I really don’t know what is. But it wasn’t given. This was an appalling decision by a man who had a truly dreadful game all afternoon. Cole had headed over Carlos’ excellent cross when well placed a few minutes earlier but all in all, this was the sum total of Morecambe’s efforts today. Vale did just enough to extend their winning streak to six in a row in a match memorable mostly for the weather. For the visitors, that’s just one point out of a potential nine at this crucial point of the season. Very disappointingly, they simply weren’t good enough today.
Vale’s win saw them move up to lucky thirteenth in the table. With other promotion hopefuls also slipping-up elsewhere, the Shrimps remained in fifth place in League Two.
Port Vale: 1 Scott Brown; 6 Nathan Smith; 16 Shaun Brisley (Y); 5 Leon Legge; 2 James Gibbons (33 Mustapha Olagunju 94’); 10 Tom Conlon (C); 8 Manny Oyeleke (Y) (14 Kurtis Guthrie 28’); 4 Luke Joyce (19 David Amoo 72’); 7 David Worrall; 12 Theo Robinson (17 Jake Taylor 45’); 21 Devante Rodney (Y).
Subs not used: 13 Mark Cullen; 27 Alex Hurst; 32 Tom Scott.
Morecambe: 1 Kyle Letheren; 21 Ryan Cooney (3 Stephen Hendrie 72’); 4 Nathaniel Knight-Percival (23 Freddie Price 82’); 5 Sam Lavelle (C) (Y); 22 Liam Gibson; 24 Yann Songo’o (8 Toumani Diagouraga 72’); 9 Cole Stockton; 10 Aaron Wildig; 15 Brad Lyons (19 Liam McAlinden60’); 11 Carlos Mendes-Gomes; 16 John O’Sullivan.
Subs not used: 12 Mark Halstead; 6 Harry Davis; 2 Kelvin Mellor.
Ref: Antony Coggins.
