MATCH REPORT: Morecambe 0-0 Cambridge United
Still Not Safe…
Cambridge arrived at the Globe Arena tonight to fulfil the fixture which was rained off on April 2nd. Before kick-off, they were in twelfth position in League Two and on the back of two straight wins. They were safe from relegation and had no hopes of reaching the Play-Offs so all the team had to play for now – apart from pride – was to impress `Interim Head Coach’ Joe Dunn and get their contracts renewed in a couple of weeks’ time or whenever. In League Two, the record of previous meetings between the clubs shows the Shrimps slightly ahead, with four wins to three and one match drawn (we will quickly draw a veil over Morecambe’s record defeat – 7-0 – at the Abbey Stadium two years ago)…
Tonight’s clash, however, had far more significance than any previous meeting between the two clubs. The Shrimps basically needed to win: anything less than three points tonight would leave them still vulnerable to relegation. Forty-seven points would make it impossible for next Saturday’s opponents, Barnet, to overtake them in their own struggle against the drop. Anything less than three points, though, would leave them mathematically and probably practically still open to accompanying already doomed Chesterfield back into the wilderness of the National League.
The U’s warm up on a heavy surface
Since Martin Allen belatedly re-took the reins at the Hive, the Bees have started to win and have built-up a head of steam which could well be too much for the mercurial Shrimps in a few days’ time. With Coventry still looking for promotion on the last day of the season, the hopes of Jim Bentley’s men getting anything at the Ricoh Arena in their final game are far from guaranteed. But all this would become irrelevant provided the men in red simply went for it tonight and played with the spirit they have shown recently in places such as Wycombe. The question was – would they?
They did. On a soggy pitch under constant drizzle after another wet afternoon in North West England, they tried to take the game to the team playing in fluorescent yellow right from the off. Just seven minutes were on the clock when Callum Lang found himself free on the right from his point of view after a sublime pass from Adam Campbell.
He cut into the visitor’s penalty area and unleashed a shot which Dimitar Mitov did brilliantly to save low to his right at full stretch. That was the best chance of the half and actually the entire match. But nobody could doubt Morecambe’s commitment to the cause.
For the first half hour, they were the better team but they were unable to set up any further clear chances. Cambridge are a physically big side and offered little of real skill, seemingly happy to rely on trying to get the ball to huge centre forward Uche Ikpeazu and playing off whatever scraps he could provide. In reality, these were few and far between as Sam Lavelle played a much bigger man (who my sources suggest is on his way to Hearts in the Scottish League) extremely effectively. Barry Roche in the home goal was limited to punching the occasional cross or corner and then loudly exhorting his team-mates to get down the pitch as the half grew older. And as it did grow older, the home team seemed to run out of ideas or perhaps a bit of steam. They started to play the long-ball game and to do it badly. As a result, the visitors began to have more of the game and it was noticeable the way they tried to play the ball on the deck as they advanced, albeit only to often fail to hit target man Ikpeazu. So the first period basically petered-out as a scoreless draw.
A heavy sky reflects the mood of the crowd
Morecambe went back onto the front foot again as soon as the second half started. They played the ball more intelligently than they had done towards the end of the first period and occasionally managed to pull the U’s defence this way and that. Most success was had down the Shrimps’ right but the elusive break-though never really looked likely in all truth. There were a couple of half chances and United looked ragged at the back at times but the visitors came closest to taking all three points in the second minute of injury time when a lobbed effort beat Roche and was headed off the Morecambe line. By such small margins do success and failure hang.
Elsewhere tonight, Yeovil and Forest Green Rovers drew against each other; a result which assures both clubs of EFL football next term. So now the final mix is down to one of Morecambe, Barnet and Grimsby to accompany the Spireites out of the big time. It is ironic in the extreme that Morecambe’s very first game in the Football League (at home) was against the Bees. Wouldn’t it be ironic if their last ever home game was against the same opposition? It’s still in their own hands: Morecambe merely need to draw; Barnet need to win. Let’s just hope that more people turn-up than did tonight: less than a thousand for a match of this magnitude probably says more about the reality Morecambe Football Club live in than anything else…
Morecambe: 1 Barry Roche; 2 Aaron McGowan; 4 Alex Kenyon (Y); 16 Sam Lavelle (Y); 5 Steven Old; 14 Luke Conlan; 10 Adam Campbell (21 Gregg Wylde 75 mins); 24 Michael Rose (C); 28 Adam McGurk; 11 Kevin Ellison; 29 Callum Lang.
Subs not used: 12 Danijel Nizic; 8 Andy Fleming; 17 Mitchell Lund; 15 Aaron Wildig; 22 Max Muller; 9 Vadaine Oliver.
Cambridge United: 13 Dimitar Mitov; 2 Brad Halliday; 12 George Taft; 5 Greg Taylor; 3 Jake Carroll (Y); 4 Gary Deegan (C); 19 David Amoo (8 Billy Waters 73 mins); 18 George Maris; 20 Jevani Brown; 11 Harrison Dunk; 9 Uche Ikpeazu.
Subs not used: 30 Finlay Iron; 6 Leon Legge; 22 Paul Lewis; 21 Medy Elito.
Ref: Ross Joyce.
Att: 992 (61 from Cambridge)
words Roger Fitton, D3D4 Morecambe correspondent