Not Quite Enough at Sheffield Wednesday

Morecambe crossed the Pennines today to actually visit the future.

Well – how else could they be playing Sheffield Wednesday on a Tuesday?

This is the first time ever that Morecambe FC has played at Hillsborough. I don’t know about you, but I am uneasy about the fact that a place where almost one hundred Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed in a few hours of utter horror almost 33 years ago still hosts football matches at all. I’ve no affinity to Liverpool Football Club and no axe to grind as far as the city itself is concerned. But it seems yet another slap in the face for the people who died and all their relatives that is it still possible to watch football from the infamous Leppings Lane end. It is a scandal that there are people in prison at this moment for not paying their TV licenses – but nobody has ever been locked-up for the mass killing which happened on 15^th April 1989. That simply can’t be right. Humanity alone dictates that the Leppings Lane end of the ground should have been demolished and the site turned into a Remembrance Park – at the very least, surely.  If one of my loved ones had died there, I’m not sure that I would consider having a white instead of a blue seat installed in a place where they can’t even be seen from some other parts of the ground would be sufficient to mark their passing.

Just a thought…

Anyway: the Owls were eighth in League One before the match started but have lost three of their last five league games. Last Saturday, though, they overcame Ipswich Town 1-0 at home. The Shrimps, by contrast, drew 2-2 at Accrington last time out and have lost only one of their last five League One matches, drawing two of them.

In previous meetings, Wednesday won at the Maz 1-2 eleven years ago in the FA Cup but in their one-and-only ever league match, Morecambe took the spoils against a previously unbeaten team last August by the only goal of the game in North Lancashire.

Stephen Robinson signed a fellow Ulsterman in the shape of winger Dylan Connolly on Deadline Day yesterday. Most fans, however, will be far more interested – and immensely relieved –by the fact that our very own Goal Machine Cole Stockton has not been poached away by the myriad of other clubs who are reputedly interested in signing him.

As far as tonight’s match is concerned, Robbo said about the opposition:

“They are a good team; they are a huge football club obviously. But on the pitch we have shown that there is not a lot of difference as we have beaten them before. There is no reason why we can’t do that again. I feel like we are on a good run of form. The confidence is building and growing. We have changed a lot of things over the last six month and we are starting to reap rewards. This is a bonus game for me. We have absolutely nothing to lose. Nobody expects anything outside of our dressing room. We have learned a lot about ourselves recently and we will go there with a lot of confidence.”

Opposite Number Darren Moore has recently signed defenders Harlee Dean from Birmingham City and Jordan Storey from Preston as well as Arsenal forward Tyreece John-Jules all on-loan until the end of the season. But he also lost Lewis Wing’s services to rivals Wycombe Wanderers yesterday and fellow midfielder Dennis Adeniran to injury and an operation earlier in the week. The Owls Manager had these thoughts before the match:

“Morecambe are a team used to winning given their promotion last season and a club that’s made huge strides over the last couple of years. They are brave on the ball, they try and play the game at a good tempo which is great to see. They are not in League One to make up the numbers, they are a good, well organised team and if you’re not on your game they will cause problems for you. We have to make sure we are at our absolute best and continue to build on performances.”

It was cold and windy but dry in the Steel City as the game kicked-off. Several hundred visiting fans were in the Leppings Lane end and paid their own respects to the ghosts of 96 – and now 97 – fellow football supporters by not sitting in any of the white seats at the front of the stand.

The home side started on the front foot and their first chance fell to the impressive Marvin Johnson, whose shot was well blocked by Morecambe Skipper Anthony O’Connor after four minutes. Three minutes later, Harlee Dean went down off the ball and last season’s Birmingham City Player of the Year was unable to continue. Wednesday had the next chance when Barry Bannan took a free kick on the Owls’ right quickly and found Josh Windass, whose instant shot smashed into the face of Trevor Carson in the away goal and went for a corner which was taken once the visiting goalkeeper had received prolonged treatment on the pitch.

The pattern of the half had been established by a quarter of an hour. Morecambe sat back and let Wednesday have the ball and tried – and failed – to play on the break. Far too often, they just lofted aimless long balls forward from the back or ran out of steam or options when they tried to play their way into the Wednesday half.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Florian Kamberi combined well after sixteen minutes as the former received a one-two from the latter as he drifted in from the Wednesday right but his eventual shot went over the bar. Eighteen minutes were on the clock when Adam Phillips’ lofted pass to Cole Stockton was brilliantly saved by an onrushing Bailey Peacock-Farrell before the loose ball finally found its way back to the Goal Machine again and he buried it. Sadly, he was clearly off-side second time of asking. Up the other end, O’Connor again did well with twenty minutes on the clock to get a toe to a dangerous cross from the Sheffield left and avert another threat. After 21 minutes, Trevor Carson’s evening was over as he was clearly suffering from concussion or perhaps even double vision and he had to come off to be replaced by Kyle Letheren. Kyle didn’t have a lot to do initially as Wednesday stroked the ball around but had little or no penetration. However, Ryan McLaughlin was too slow to react as the ball was passed towards him by O’Connor near the half way line after 37 minutes. Mendez-Lang was far too fast for him, accelerated down the Wednesday right like an express train, exchanged passes with Kamberi and had a certain goal blocked by a miraculous sliding intervention by Ryan Cooney.

Then it was the home side’s turn to have a goal disallowed after Barry Bannan played-in an off-side Johnson to put the ball in the net after forty minutes. Letheren was at full stretch as he managed to push a low ball away from the danger area a minute later – O’Connor completed the job by booting it up the field. There were a few more half-chances – most notably for the Owls in injury time when a cross from their right by Mendez-Laing was only just missed by an on-rushing Johnson at full stretch. There were also a couple more delays for injuries to Phillips and – far more seriously – to Dele-Bashiru, who was unable to carry-on in the second half. Referee Ollie Yates – who I thought had an excellent game tonight – consequently awarded seven minutes extra time which actually lasted for nine.

So Morecambe went in level at half time. Sheffield had enjoyed more of the ball and had the better chances but the Shrimps had ridden their luck and experienced some bad luck as well as their first-choice goalkeeper had to retire hurt. The point of most of the Owls’ attacks, though, was focused on the left-back position in the opposition team. With regular Left Back Greg Leigh away on international duty and obvious replacement Liam Gibson injured, emergency defender Ryan McLaughlin was being given a really hard time by the home side tonight.

Stephen Robinson thus stiffened-up his team defensively for the second half by taking Arthur Gnahoua off and introducing Rhys Bennett, who looked solid throughout in the classic centre-half berth. The visitors had the first chance of the game as Ayunga worked some magic on the left and slung over a cross which was cleared for a corner which Peacock-Farrell punched away. Wednesday netted again two minutes later but Kamberi’s header from George Byers’ cross was again ruled to be off-side. Then Mendez-Laing turned McLaughlin inside-out and was brought down by the same player just short of the penalty area on the Sheffield right with almost fifty minutes played. Wednesday then forced a succession of corners as their pressure increased and in the fifty-second minute, the visiting goalkeeper did well not to be caught-out as Johnson sent a pile-driver towards his near post from the Owls’s left. But a goal which seemed inevitable finally arrived in the fifty-fourth minute. Byers walloped a simply sublime shot into the top corner of the net from a central position when about 30 yards out. They had another couple of chances in quick succession after this and the fear was that Morecambe would again capitulate in the way they did at Sunderland not too many weeks ago. But in reality, the visitors played better after going behind than they had done at any time previously. They started playing the short passing game which had been so effective against Accrington early doors last Saturday. And for the first time, they looked as if they might get back into the match against the team with the best home defensive record in League One. Wednesday were lucky in the 75^th minute when Peacock-Farrell tried to punch the ball away from Ayunga in his own penalty area and seemed to me at least to connect only with the Morecambe forward. He was lucky that our man didn’t make a meal of it. The home goalkeeper got luckier still – twice – in the eighty-third minute. Substitute Jonathan Obika’s shot at goal hit Cole the Goal and bounced off him only to be brilliantly cleared by Skipper Hutchinson off the Sheffield goal-line straight back to him. Jonathan fairly hammered the ball back – and it was again cleared off the line by the same Owls’ player. Two minutes later, Phillips bravely challenged the home goalkeeper as he attempted to clear the ball. It hit Adam and then bounced narrowly wide of the target as the gods again smiled on the man with the double-barrelled name. The visitors were the better side for the last ten minutes or so but the match was put beyond doubt with a truly appalling bit of bad luck in injury time right at the death. In the ninety-first minute, Mendez-Laing took a speculative shot from the Wednesday right. It hit Jacob Bedau and spun agonisingly and slowly wide of a wrong-footed Kyle Letheren to his right and flukily went into the net via the post.

So a soft goal and a fantastic one was the difference between the two teams tonight. Overall, Wednesday had more chances and more of the possession than did their visitors. But Morecambe put up a spirited fight particularly in the second half. This was not relegation form. The loss, however, saw them still rooted within the Dead Zone at the bottom of League One. Gillingham beat Crewe to see both clubs six points worse off than the Shrimps whilst seemingly doomed Doncaster lost at home 0-5 to Rotherham. So it could be worse…

Wednesday, meanwhile, remained in eighth position in the table.

Sheffield Wednesday: 1 Bailey Peacock-Farrell; 5 Sam Hutchinson (C) (Y); 10 Barry Bannan; 11 Josh Windass (24 Saido Berahino 74’); 14 George Byers; 16 Harlee Dean (2 Liam Palmer 6’); 17 Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (13 Callum Paterson 45’); 18 Marvin Johnson; 20 Florian Kamberi (40 Sylla Sow 65’); 38 Jordan Storey; 41 Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

Subs Not Used:  28 Joe Wildsmith; 32 Jack Hunt; 34 Ciaran Brennan.

Morecambe: 30 Trevor Carson (1 Kyle Letheren 33’); 2 Ryan McLaughlin (Y); 4 Anthony O’Connor (C); 5 Jacob Bedeau; 8 Toumani Diagouraga; 9 Cole Stockton; 17 Jonah Ayunga (14 Jonathan Obika 79’); 18 Adam Phillips; 19 Shane McLoughlin; 21 Ryan Cooney (11 Dylan Connolly 79’); 24 Arthur Gnahoua (31 Rhys Bennett 45’).

 Subs Not Used:  10 Aaron Wildig; 25 Alfie McCalmont; 27 Ousmane Fané.

 Ref: Ollie Yates.

Att: 19,261.