Dismal Performance against Crewe

There have been several changes since the last time Morecambe played Crewe Alexandra in September. John McMahon – who was Derek Adam’s right-hand man during their successful promotion campaign last season – has left the club. With him went a little bit more of the continuity which existed since Jim Bentley’s times and he has been a loyal servant to the club who will be missed. Rangers loanee Josh McPake has followed him – to Tranmere Rovers. There have been changes in personnel at Crewe as well. Ex -Morecambe Captain Dave Artell has been joined in the dugout by Alex Neil, sacked as Preston North End Manager not all that long ago. This was in a bid to improve the fortunes of the Railwaymen, who have been in the relegation section of League One since the start of the season. In a sense – in comparison to this evening’s opponents – they actually have improved. They have picked-up six points from their last five league games with two wins. Morecambe have only managed to scrape together two from two draws – and have lost the other three of their previous five games. But the Cheshire side arrived rock-bottom of the Division with five fewer points than the Shrimps but the same number of games played.

Crewe have beaten the Shrimps eight times in fifteen previous meetings and lost only four. The outcome of the sixteenth meeting could thus prove to be pivotal for both teams.

Three points for Crewe could put them closer to the teams struggling to put clear water between themselves and the Shrimps in the lower half of the table. A win for Morecambe, conversely, could see the Shrimps begin 2022 out of the relegation positions altogether, depending on results elsewhere.

Because of Covid infection, both clubs’ last fixtures – Crewe’s against Wigan and Morecambe’s at Bolton – were postponed on Boxing Day. At the same time, Shrewsbury were convincingly winning away from home for the first time this season, nil-three at Fleetwood. This result dragged the Cod Army back well within range of the Shrimps, who were just two points behind them but had played one game fewer at the start of tonight’s match. Lincoln City also threw away a two-nil lead to lose at home to remain just two points better off than the club from North Lancashire. To ensure that at least the three clubs lower in the table than we are there on (de)merit (and we only need one more to be, don’t we?),  Doncaster also lost heavily at home to Sunderland last Monday night.

So there was a lot to play for tonight as far as both clubs’ futures as League One members are concerned.

Dave Artell is a very bright guy and what he says has always been well worth listening to. In his pre-match Press Conference, he said little about tonight’s game or the opponents his side were about to face. Instead, he made a far more political statement about Covid and the government’s response to the pandemic:

 “I am not a scientist and there must be a reason behind it, although I do believe that the Prime Minister is not in a good position to restrict anyone after what he and others have done in his government over the last 18 months. I don’t follow the restrictions because the Prime Minister tells me to – I do it to protect myself and others. I am hoping that we can get back to playing some football again. We are in a position to play. We were in a position to play Gillingham and we were in a position to play Wigan, so we are all hoping it is third time lucky.”

Opposite number Stephen Robinson spoke before the game about the difficulty of attracting new players to the club a week before the Transfer Window opens. But he insisted – even without any new faces:

“We’ve got a squad which can go on a run of results; I’ve no doubt about that. We have to defend better. We have to cut out mistakes and that has to start against Crewe because it’s a huge game for us.”

It was indeed a huge game for the Shrimps. Things weren’t made any easier by the unexplained absence of Morecambe’s Goal Machine Cole Stockton from the squad tonight. My spies spotted him in the ground still wearing a Shrimps’ kit during the game, though so he hasn’t departed for Pastures New. Yet.

It had been wet and windy earlier in North Lancashire prior to the game. But the wind had dropped a bit and the rain had subsided by the time the match kicked-off.

Before it did so, there was an enthusiastic round of applause for a minute in memory of Tony Webber. Tony was a schoolteacher from Wigan who played in Dave Roberts’ semi-professional side which won the FA Trophy at Wembley in 1974. In the final itself, he set-up both goals for the Shrimps in a 2-1 win. Altogether, he was a very fine player and a tremendous ambassador for the club on and off the pitch. The club’s record appearance holder, Steve Done (who was also a teacher and could have certainly played at a higher level as well) said of his former team-mate this week: “He was a great goalscorer and really well liked. He was a very outgoing, quick-witted and intelligent lad.” R.I.P. Tony.

The visitors started brightly and played some neat one-touch football for the first ten minutes or so. They forced a succession of corners and after six minutes, a fierce shot from Tom Lowery only just missed the target for Crewe. Morecambe slowly stepped up the pace though, and started to get a foothold in the match after Aaron Wildig’s wild strike went wide after nine minutes. Jonah Ayunga forced a decent save from visiting goalkeeper Dave Richards after almost a quarter of an hour. Five minutes later, Callum Ainley’s shot for Alex was deflected for another corner. Then Shrimps’ Skipper Anthony O’Connor headed Callum Jones’ deep cross just wide with 25 minutes on the clock. It was end-to-end stuff and had been quite entertaining before the hosts struck the first blow of the night after thirty-six minutes. Adam Phillips put over a lovely cross from the Shrimps’ right and a stooping Greg Leigh steered it home at the far post. Morecambe were on top for most of the rest of the half and had a decent shout for a penalty in injury time as Wildig seemed to be fouled in the opposition box. Referee Seb Stockbridge, however, waved all claims away.

I thought Morecambe were the better team at the beginning of the second half too. They didn’t create any chances but they looked fairly comfortable in possession as Crewe offered little going forward. But that all changed after fifty-two minutes. Out of nothing, Lowery weaved his way down the Crewe right and then slung over a perfect cross for tall centre forward Chris Porter to head home all too easily at the far post. Seven minutes later, the visitors were ahead. Luke Murphy fairly walloped the ball home from distance to send both Alex’s massed ranks and the black-clad team  into a sort of collective frenzy. It was a tremendous strike without any doubt. But you could see what this goal meant to the Crewe team – and you could also see in this moment alone which of the two sides actually wanted the win more.

The Referee added-on eight minutes of extra time at the end. But the only time the visitors looked even vaguely troubled after they went ahead was when Ayunga’s shot was brilliantly saved by Richards low to his left after 66 minutes. Wildig – who was unusually ineffective tonight – missed again with another wild effort but altogether, the team looked weak, disorganised and woefully short of either confidence or ideas. This was a really dire performance tonight. Against the team at the bottom of the Division, the Shrimps looked inferior almost right across the pitch. Robbo may have confidently said prior to the game that his squad is good enough to remain in League One. On this utterly hopeless performance though, they would struggle to win in League Two.

Despite the dismal display, the Shrimps remained in twenty-first position in League One. But Dave Artell’s men are now breathing right down their necks in twenty-second place, just two points behind. The game next Sunday against Doncaster now becomes even more pivotal to their chances of survival in the summer of 2022.

And – talking about the New Year – have a good one everybody… despite today’s disappointment…

Morecambe: 1 Kyle Letheren; 2 Ryan McLaughlin; 3 Greg Leigh; 4 Anthony O’Connor (C); 6 Callum Jones; 10 Aaron Wildig (7 Wes McDonald 69’); 14 Jonathan Obika (24 Arthur Gnahoua 67’); 17 Jonah Ayunga; 18 Adam Phillips (8 Toumani Diagouraga 47’); 19 Shane McLoughlin; 22 Liam Gibson

Subs Not Used:  20 Jökull Andrésson; 15 Ryan Delaney; 16 Jacob Mensah; 27 Shayon Harrison.

Crewe Alexandra:  31 Dave Richards; 3 Rio Adebisi (Y) (2 Kayne Ramsay 51’); 6 Luke Offord; 8 Tom Lowery; 9 Chris Porter; 11 Callum Ainley (23 Travis Johnson 76’); 12 Mikael Mandron; 14 Oliver Finney (35 Scott Robertson 84’); 16 Luke Murphy (Y); 22 Billy Sass-Davies; 28 Michael Williams.

Subs not used: 1 Will Jääskeläinen; 17 Madger Gomes; 21 Donervon Daniels; 29 Connor O’Rierdon.

Ref:  Seb Stockbridge.

Att: 3,831 (423 from Crewe).