The season seems to be flying by and it is becoming clearer which teams will struggle and which will be challenging. The D3D4 correspondent offer their take on the matches they watched this weekend. Read their match reports below:
MATCH REPORT: Morecambe 0-1 Swindon Town
Morecambe Are Increasingly Blue At The Globe.
Morecambe’s record against Swindon Town is Spartan indeed. Phil Brown brought the latest incarnation of the club once known simply as the Spartans right in control of an appalling record as far as the Shrimps are concerned: five games played; none won; four lost.
Oh dear.
But the spray-tanned Medallion Man in charge of the Robins personally has an equally appalling record against today’s opponents. So appalling, in truth, that I can’t get the internet to cough-up the facts and figures without clearance from at least MI5½ – and I personally can’t be bothered to work them out for myself.
But something had to give somewhere today. Would the immovable force of Swindon overcome the Monkey their Manager has on his back as far as the Shrimps are concerned from his time as Manager of Southend United? His team arrived in eight position in League Two, having harvested twelve points from the seven matches they have played so far. With Swindon’s first choice goalkeeper away on International duty with Chile, today was the day 35-year old Luke McCormick had a rare opportunity to make his presence felt between the sticks.
It was wet and windy at the North Lancashire seaside when the game kicked-off. Both teams fashioned some decent moves during the opening twenty minutes or so but neither of the goalkeepers was tested during this period. Vadaine Oliver headed a cross from Aaron Wildig over the bar with almost a quarter of an hour played and Steven Old was busy at the back for Morecambe, making a couple of key tackles and blocking a shot from Keshi Anderson as well. But the visitors went ahead with their first meaningful attack after 25 minutes. Marc Richards held the ball up intelligently before slipping it past Luke Conlan to the incoming Jak McCourt, who slipped it coolly past Barry Roche in the home goal. The Shrimps got straight back at the visitors and Town struggled to clear the ball from a corner just a minute after going ahead. A key moment of the match arrived after 32 minutes. Kyle Knoyle slid into a tackle with Wildig with his studs showing and was issued with a straight red card by referee Paul Marsdale. It wasn’t a particularly malicious foul by the Swindon man but off he went to cause his manager to re-shuffle his pack. Phil Brown brought on defender Oliver Lancashire to replace forward Anderson and his approach to the rest of the match – to try and hang on to what they already had – was established at this point. It was All Hands To The Pump after 38 minutes when Nelson did brilliantly to cover some ground in order to block a shot from the well-placed A-Jay Leitch-Smith. Right on half-time, McCormick pulled-off a truly miraculous stop by somehow or other keeping Liam Mandevill out from point-blank range. So the visitors went in at half time a goal up but a man down.
Morecambe came out with a different strip for the second half: blue instead of red. The referee also changed from a blue to a yellow strip. Would this also change the outcome of the match? A-Jay had the first chance of the second period, forcing McCormick into a low save with just two minutes played. The Robins’ goalkeeper also had to save a header from Oliver after 51 minutes – the Shrimps’ striker had the chance to bury the ball but headed it tamely straight at the man between the posts. As the match grew older, the visitors increasingly started to dominate the play. Elijah Adebayo had the best chance since Town’s goal after 71 minutes when he appeared in an unmarked position behind the Shrimps’ defence but Roche did well to save his attempt. Shortly afterwards, substitute Jermaine McGlashan caught Old in possession but Big Baz again did well to smother the ball before the Robins’ man could do anything with it. There was a belated effort from the home team towards the end of the contest and the Swindon defence were required to regularly head the ball away in the dying moments. In injury time, McCormick again did well to keep out a header – as Jason Oswell seemed certain to knock the rebound home, Nelson produced a brilliant block literally at the last moment to ensure his team took all three points back to Wiltshire.
This was Town’s first win away from home this term. Given that they had only ten men for most of the game, they must be commended for hanging onto the lead they established in the first half. As for Morecambe, this was another disappointing display by any measure. They won’t got many better chances to beat a weakened team but a goal rarely looked a certainty as far as the hosts were concerned. They’re not hopeless and they play some decent stuff at times but you do wonder yet again both where the goals will come from and when they can expect to keep a clean sheet. With Notts County being hammered at Exeter and Macclesfield losing again as well, the Shrimps still find themselves out of the relegation positions. But they can’t keep on relying on other teams’ poor form. Today’s win pushes Swindon Town into the very enviable position of a Play-Off position in seventh place in the table.
Morecambe: 1 Barry Roche; 2 Zak Mills; 5 Steven Old (Y); 3 Luke Conlan; 14 Josef Yarney; 15 Aaron Wildig; 8 Andy Fleming; 19 Carlos Mendes-Gomes; 14 Liam Mandeville; 28 A-Jay Leitch-Smith (11 Kevin Ellison 76 mins); 18 Rhys Oates (24 Joe Piggott 69 mins); 9 Vadaine Oliver.
Subs not used: 13 Dawid Szczepaniak; 25 Ben Hedley; 16 Sam Lavelle; 12 Jason Oswell; 27 Jordan Cranston.
Swindon Town: 23 Luke McCormick; 2 Kyle Knoyle (R); 5 Sid Nelson; 32 Luke Woolfenden; 31 Matt Taylor; 3 Michael Doughty; 4 Jak McCourt (Y); 11 Steven Alzate (14 Ellis Iandolo 78 mins); 10 Keshi Anderson (6 Oliver Lancashire 37 mins); 9 Marc Richards (7 Jermaine McGlashan 70 mins); 17 Elijah Adebayo.
Subs not used: 12 Will Henry; 16 Martin Smith; 24 Scott Twine; 25 Joe Romanski.
Referee: Paul Marsden.
Attendance: 1559.
words Roger Fitton, D3D4 Morecambe correspondent
MATCH REPORT: Oldham Athletic 0-1 Newport County
Newport County came out as slim victors in what was a dull affair on wet day in Lancashire.
Oldham started the game on top, starting with 3 attacking players in O’Grady, Lang and Surridge. Lang in particular looked to test the County defence and was unlucky not to win a penalty when he was bundled down in the penalty area in the 15th minute.
Taylor had another impressive performance for the Latics and created a number of chances down the left wing. In the 20th minute his dangerous cross only failed to meet an attacker’s head thanks to astute goalkeeping from Joe Day, who punched the ball away.
Newport had been quiet for much of the game but came close in the 33rd minute. Butler put the ball into the box and Sheehan headed low to De La Paz’s left who pushed the ball out for a corner. A minute later Franks got the better of the Latics defence and smashed the ball towards the top corner only for De La Paz to pull off a magnificent save – the Curaçaoan making a claim for the number 1 shirt whilst Iversen is on international duty.
In the 41st minute, Gardner very nearly wormed a shot into the goal, but Day was there to stop the shot.
HALF TIME: Oldham Athletic 0- 0 Newport County
Oldham’s best chance of the game came in the 51st minute when Lang skipped past several Newport defenders. He found Surridge who hit a weak shot (or was it a pass?) across goal.
In the 69th minute, Newport managed to break the deadlock. Butler played a long ball over the top of the defence and Bakinson’s pace helped him latch onto the ball and slotted coolly to the right of De La Paz – the Bristol City loanee will be pleased with that finish.
The final 10 minutes of the game was all Oldham, but Newport proved a tough side to break down. Branger should have scored in the 82nd minute but headed over the bar. Similarly, Baxter failed to score when Gardner scooped the ball over the top to him.
The Latics just couldn’t find a goal and it finished 1 – 0. Newport looked organised and stubborn – a difficult team to break down)
FULL TIME: Oldham Athletic 0 – 1 Newport County (Bakinson 69’)
Attendance: 4239 (259 Away)
Oldham Athletic
De La Paz, Hunt, Clarke ©, Edmundson, Taylor, Lang, Missilou (Maouche 88’), Gardner, Branger-Engone (Benteke 90’), O’Grady (Baxter 74’), Surridge
Newport County AFC
Day, Pipe, Butler, Franks, Dolan, Amond, Matt (Marsh-Brown 74’), Bakinson, Sheehan (O’Brien 84’), Bennett, Demetriou ©
words Chris Stringer, D3D4 Oldham Athletic correspondent
MATCH REPORT: Stevenage 1-0 Macclesfield Town
Stevenage edged out Macclesfield in a close encounter at Broadhall Way on Saturday with Danny Newton bagging the all important goal to end Boro’s three match winless run.
The Silkmen have struggled to adapt to life back in the Football League and have especially struggled on the road. Mark Yates set them up with an attacking formation that saw Malachi Napa play up top with Nathan Blissett and for the first 20 minutes Stevenage looked second best.
Napa was everywhere, dropping into the half spaces and offering himself down the channels causing lot of problems early on while Blissett won a number of headers that allowed Peter Vincenti to pick the ball up in advanced positions and try to bring the full-backs into play.
The problem for Mark Yate’s side became apparent all too quickly and credit has to go to Stevenage here. The midfield battle was being lost by the Silkmen’s trio of Michael Rose, Danny Whitaker and Peter Vincenti who have a combined age of 105!
Michael Timlin was excellent as was the deeper Joel Byrom. The pair had the energy along with Jimmy Ball and Ben Kennedy to keep winning back possession and put Macclesfield under pressure. Despite this, chances were few and far between with Alex Revell having a header cleared off the line the only clear cut opportunity.
Danny Newton is clearly Stevenage’s most threatening player. He has pace and an ability on the ball which caused Macclesfield’s rather plodding defence some problems and it was no surprise that it was he who opened the scoring.
A low corner from Kennedy was met by Newton and his stooping header found the net. It was a deserved lead for Maamria’s side but they were making heavy work of it.
The second half saw Yates throw on Harry Smith but the excellent Ben Nugent kept him at bay as the Silkmen continued to labour.
Ben Kennedy looked useful but appeared to not be at the level of previous seasons. Often he flattered to deceive, getting forward but offering no end product. He was replaced by Emmanuel Sonupe who looks a live wire. He made a couple of excellent runs that the away side struggled to deal with.
Mark Yates threw on Tyrone March as he looked to try and find a leveller and Napa cut inside to send an effort just wide of the post as the Silkmen offered little threat.
In the end Stevenage saw the game out to grab an important win but there is still plenty of work for Dino Maamria to do if his side are to move up towards a play-off spot. The lack of decent service to Newton needs to be addressed even if Luthur Wildin and Steve Seddon look excellent signings for the club.
As for Macclesfield it will be a long hard season for the club. They are now winless in their opening seven games this season and, stretching back to their previous spell in the EFL, are winless in 30 league games – the joint-third longest winless run in the history of the EFL. They have very little depth and lack any sort of game changer from the bench in a side that was often too slow in moving the ball. Napa was their best player but he can drift out of games and his slight build can work against him.
Overall not a great game but an important win none the less for Boro and a first goal of the season for Danny Newton.
words James Richards, D3D4 Football
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