It never rains but it pours: Robbo’s defection overshadows Rotherham fixture.
Morecambe made the wet and windy journey over the Pennines tonight to face Rotherham United in the White Rose County without a Manager.
Stephen Robinson and his Assistant, Diarmuid O’Carroll have both left to take over at Scottish Premiership club St Mirren in Paisley. Sinking Ship? Rats? Did they jump? Or were they pushed? Who knows? I’d like to be a Fly On The Wall in the Morecambe Board Room to hear what they collectively think about this development.
Anyway, long-term stalwart Barry Roche has taken temporary charge of the team. Again. Will Kevin Ellison be invited back to help him long-term? Or will the Chairman be on the blower to previous Manager Derek Adams, who is currently unemployed? Derek remains the best Manager Morecambe FC has ever had by a country mile despite being sacked by Bradford City last week. I wonder if he would be prepared to come back – or if the Powers That Be at the club would even welcome his return in the first place…
Whatever, the club visited the New York Stadium tonight facing an uncertain future. They went by coach – as usual. But anyone who wanted to travel to the town by train today would be sadly disappointed: Rotherham Central Station was still closed due to flooding caused by the successions of storms – Dudley; Eunice and Franklin – which have wracked the British Isles during the last few days.
Blimey! – six named episodes of wild weather already this year and it’s still only February…
United, however, had ridden-out all the literal and figurative storms that have been thrown at them so far this season and were proudly sitting right at the pinnacle of League One prior to the match. United had won four of their last five games and came from behind to draw their most recent match 1-1 against rivals for the title Wigan Athletic last Friday in South Yorkshire.
As far as tonight’s opponents are concerned, the Millers have met the Shrimps on sixteen previous occasions; losing five games and winning seven, most recently at the Maz last August. There, Paul Warne’s overly negative approach to the Beautiful Game was plain for all to see: once his men went ahead, they shut-up shop instead of looking for the more emphatic win which the quality of their squad would probably have guaranteed them. Instead – as weak Referee David Web indulged them – Rotherham applied the Book of Dark Football Arts and dived; feigned injury and constantly time-wasted in the way that clubs with philosophies like Mr Warne’s invariably do.
What a shame. Unlike people such as the currently unemployed former Manger of Salford City from the last time we met them and the present incumbent at Bolton Wanderers, Paul Warne is a bright and multi-dimensional individual. But giving in to The Dark Side has clearly worked for him – his club are top of the pile after all.
Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp have shown one and all of us that the Ugly Game doesn’t win in the long run. What – if anything – does this tell us? Is cheating an admirable trait in any sphere of life? (No more than 3000 word answers please; your time starts now…) .
Morecambe would be hoping to do rather better tonight than they managed to last August.
They didn’t play on Saturday because of waterlogging of the the Shrewsbury pitch. Results elsewhere then – Donny losing at home yet again and AFC Wimbledon being thrashed by the appalling Bolton Wanderers away – saw them remain in the same place in the table which they have occupied for most of this year: twenty-first position. They have now lost two of their last five League One games and drawn three of them. But just one win could well push them out of the relegation positions at the bottom of the Division. Stephen Robinson’s parting gift to the club was to fail to live-up to his own calculation as to what is needed in terms of form to stay in League One: at least two wins out of every five league games according to him. The Shrimps won only seven out of 32 and lost half of them under his leadership. According to his own calculation, they should have won at least eleven games altogether at the precise moment that he chose to leave the club. This, we must remember – along with a goal Difference of Minus Eighteen – is the Northern Irishman’s legacy as far as Morecambe is concerned. Would the elusive next win arrive tonight in his absence?
Whatever, Assistant Coach Diarmuid O’Carroll fronted-up to say the following about tonight’s game before leaving the club altogether:
“They don’t come much harder than Rotherham to be honest. We are a big fan of the way that they play and they impressed us when they came to the Mazuma earlier on in the season. They are well coached. They play with a lot of intensity. They are well organised and have a clear style. It is a big test for us but we back ourselves against anybody in this division. Regardless of where we are in the league; regardless of form; regardless of what people externally think, we feel like we are playing well. We will go into the game and attack it.”
Rotherham native and assistant First Team Coach Matt Hamshaw said this before the game prior to Robbo’s move North of the Border:
“It will be tough, first and foremost. I think you’ve only got to look at their results – although I know they’re having a little bit of a bad run at the minute. We’ve got huge respect for Stephen Robinson and the players they’ve got. Cole Stockton has been a massive threat for them. Diagouraga has had a good career and a lot goes through him. We ended up winning 1-0 up there but it was tough. A wind-assisted goal by Smudge (Michael Smith) did it. There’s been a lot of teams played them and struggled against them and they do like to play football.”
Baz – with Academy Coach Neil Wainwright assisting him on the touch-line tonight – started with a different line-up to that which might have been expected under the former regime. Robbo’s favourite – Adam Phillips – was relegated to the bench and both Ousmane Fané and Rhys Bennett promoted to the starting eleven.
The match kicked-off after a minute’s applause to remember former Millers’ players Billy McEwan and Trevor Swift. It had been wet at times in South Yorkshire at times today following the drenching the town has received over the last few days. So the pitch was understandably soft underfoot as a result.
Morecambe started lively enough but were behind almost before they knew it. Just three minutes were on the clock when Freddie Ladapo was found on the left side of the Morecambe penalty area from his point of view by a nice lofted pass from Ollie Rathbone in the centre. He had his back to goal but found the composure to chest the ball down; step back and then swivel to hit an unstoppable shot into the top of the net to Trevor Carson’s right. The visiting goalkeeper was given absolutely no chance. His opposite number – Josh Vickers – had to play Sweeper two minutes later when a long ball down the centre was being chased down by Jonah Ayunga. Jonah was hurt after seven minutes and – following a very promising start – offered little after this during the first half. Cole Stockton, though, looked sharp throughout. He had an early pop at goal after about ten minutes which was blocked but Morecambe played cleverly on their left after eleven minutes as Carson passed the ball to Jacob Bedeau who fed it to the yet again impressive Shane McLoughlin. Shane played the ball to the Goal Machine who set himself up for a shot which had the sting taken out of it by a defender’s challenge and allowed Vickers to field it without too much trouble. The Shrimps then came close to equalising with fourteen minutes played. McLoughlin anticipated a pass out of defence brilliantly on the Morecambe right; took the ball up the wing and played a perfect low cross to Cole whose instant, powerful volley was absolutely brilliantly saved by the home goalkeeper at the cost of a corner. But the hosts came close to extending their lead two minutes later when Michael Ihiekwe headed a long ball against the underside of Carson’s crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten. Down the other end, good play on the Morecambe right after nineteen minutes led to Ayunga playing a cross right across the home goal but nobody was there to take advantage of it. Rotherham were then lucky when a long cross by Greg Leigh was caught by Vickers only for one of his own defenders to head the ball out of his hands. On another occasion, the ball would have gone into the home net or fallen for an attacking player – but not tonight. The game swung from one end to the other but after 29 minutes, a simple low pass from the half-way line by Dan Barlaser fell perfectly for Ladapo to score his second of the night with a low shot which went into the net off Carson’s left-hand post. Shane Ferguson then tried his luck with a blockbuster from the United left which only just missed the far post with thirty-seven minutes played. The next excellent chance then fell to the visitors. McLoughlin was instrumental again on the right, setting-up Cole for a clever cross which Ayunga back-heeled right on the goal-line only for Vickers to make another phenomenally good stop. Rotherham’s leading scorer – Michael Smith – then narrowly missed with a powerful shot from the left flank. So a match played in a good spirit and which was always entertaining to watch saw the league leaders return to their Dressing Rooms two goals to the good.
They almost made it three right at the start of the second half. Barlaser and Ben Wiles combined well before Smith tried his luck from the Rotherham right. The ball just missed Carson’s right-hand post but Rathbone was a mere fraction away from turning it in as it blasted across the goal mouth. After 50 minutes, Leigh went on a run down the Morecambe left and found The Goal Machine. His initial and follow-up efforts were both blocked but Greg won the ball back, made space for himself and tested Vickers with a decent effort of his own. Then Stockton blasted the ball over the bar from the tightest of angles after 53 minutes when McLoughlin again found him with an excellent cross from the Shrimps’ left to the far post. Two minutes later, another strike by The Goal Machine had the sting taken out of it by a Millers’ defender to make an easy save for the home goalkeeper. But Ladapo could have completed his hat-trick after turning the left side of the away defence inside-out and following it up with a powerful shot which Carson somehow managed to deflect onto his right post and away. This was just before the hour. On it, substitute Jon Obika made good progress on the left flank and sent in a low cross which McLoughlin would have connected with were it not for a fine interception by Vickers, who pushed the ball towards Cole. The goalkeeper then bravely launched himself forward and managed to scoop the ball away from the onrushing centre forward just in the nick of time. He pulled-off perhaps an even better save in the 62nd minute when he managed to push Obika’s thunderbolt from the Morecambe right away from a corner after a mistake by one of his own defenders which set Jon up for a perfect strike. At this stage of the game, the visitors were asking all the questions and the ground had fallen silent apart from the loud chanting of the 183 away fans. Rhys Bennett thought he had scored his first goal for the Shrimps after about 65 minutes but his header at the far post was ruled-out by the Referee for an earlier foul in the centre of the home penalty area. Vickers earned his corn yet again with another fine save from Obika’s header after good play on the left had led to Anthony O’Connor finding him with a perfect cross from just right of centre after 77 minutes. The final chance of the game fell to Ryan Cooney in injury time. Having had a long-throw from the right returned to him by the home defence, he cut in not just once but twice to give himself space for a shot which finally beat the home goalkeeper. But as Vickers lay on the ground and looked behind him, the ball hit his right-hand post and bounced straight back into his gloves. To be fair to him, he had probably earned this large slice of luck by his outstanding display throughout the ninety minutes.
This was a good game in which both sides were totally committed and there was no play-acting or cheating at any time by either side. Part of this was due to the performance of the Referee, Simon Mather, who had an excellent game tonight. For the hosts, goalkeeper Josh Vickers was the difference between the two sides with a truly inspired performance. Morecambe may have lost again but if they continue to play like they did this evening, their League One status doesn’t have to written-off just yet. The players were clearly giving their all for their new interim Manager. Nobody could ask for more. At the end of the evening, Morecambe found themselves still stuck in that pesky twenty-first position in the League One table.
Elsewhere, Crewe and Lincoln both lost and AFC Wimbledon drew their match at Gillingham – the best possible result for the Shrimps. Doncaster surprisingly beat Accrington though to narrow the gap between themselves and the north Lancashire club to just two points. Meanwhile, Rotherham stretched their lead at the top of the pack to six points, albeit with two more games played than second-placed Wigan Athletic.
Rotherham United: 31 Josh Vickers; 2 Wes Harding; 4 Dan Barlaser (22 Hakeem Odoffin 70’); 6 Richard Wood (C); 7 Jordi Osei-Tutu (11 Chiedozie Ogbene 58’); 8 Ben Wiles (Y); 10 Freddie Ladapo; 17 Shane Ferguson (21 Angus MacDonald 83’); 18 Oliver Rathbone; 20 Michael Ihiekwe; 24 Michael Smith.
Subs not used: 1 Viktor Johansson; 15 Tolaji Bola; 16 Jamie Lindsay; 19 Joshua Kayode.
Morecambe: 30 Trevor Carson; 3 Greg Leigh; 4 Anthony O’Connor (C): 5 Jacob Bedeau (Y); 8 Toumani Diagouraga (28 Courtney Duffus 80’); 9 Cole Stockton; 17 Jonah Ayunga (14 Jonathan Obika 60’); 19 Shane McLoughlin; 21 Ryan Cooney; 27 Ousmane Fané (10 Aaron Wildig 68’); 31 Rhys Bennett.
Subs Not Used: 41 Adam Smith; 11 Dylan Connolly 18 Adam Phillips; 22 Liam Gibson.
Ref: Simon Mather.
Att: 8,376 (183 from Morecambe)
