LEAGUE ONE. SUNDAY, 1st JANUARY 2023.

Brewers’ Droop at Morecambe.

Morecambe faced their second home League One game in a week at the Maz today against one of their key relegation rivals. Burton Albion have improved marginally since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was replaced by current Manager and ex-Stevenage and Oldham boss Dino Maamria during September last. They won a crucial drop-zone battle at Forest Green Rovers by the odd goal in three last Monday as the Shrimps were beating old adversaries Accrington Stanley 2-0 here by the Irish Sea – sorry – Morecambe Bay coast. They also won their previous match before that and have lost one and drawn two of their last five league games altogether. Importantly though, the two results on Monday night combined to push the Brewers out of the Dead Zone in League One into the lowest league position (twentieth) above the relegation quagmire which Stanley had occupied earlier in the evening.

Back in nonleague days, Morecambe beat Burton Albion for fun – they never lost to them. But the EFL has changed the course of this particular history. The Brewers’ very first game in the EFL was against the Shrimps at the Pirelli Stadium in 2009. They won by five goals to two. Since then, Burton have encountered the Shrimps another fifteen times in Football League fixtures and won seven of them and lost five. Last season, they lost at tonight’s venue in League One by three goals to nil. They had already beaten Stephen Robinson’s men in the reverse fixture, coming from behind to eventually win 3-2. In the most recent fixture at the Pirelli last October, Morecambe also came from behind to draw one goal each in a game played in a thunderstorm. Derek Adams’ recollection of this game was as follows:

“It was a difficult afternoon. The rain was coming down in its bucket-loads and it was difficult for both teams to pass the ball. But for us, we know that we are coming up against a team that are in form in this Division. The five games we’ve had here undefeated is great for the supporters. They came here in the numbers and it’s fantastic to see us competing in League One. It’s a tough league.”

King Derek’s men started today’s match just four points behind the opposition and with a game in hand over them into the bargain.

So the incentive was well and truly on the Shrimps to win this afternoon and narrow this gap.

But the Brewers would also be motivated to take maximum points in order to put a little daylight between themselves and the legion of the dead at the bottom of the Division. For what it’s worth – which isn’t a lot in all truth – the EFL voted Dino Maamria Manager of the week in the final vote of 2022 and also included their centre-back Sam Hughes and Scotland-born Welsh international midfielder Terry Taylor in their fantasy team. And to add a bit of Xmas Trivia – if the Burton Physio runs onto the field at any time today, would you be able to recognise him? (Answer at the end of the report.)

One New Year Resolution we do not have to make is to get a better ground staff. Pitch Perfect means something else but – particularly given the state of Pork Vale’s ploughed field last Monday – I doubt that the playing surface could have been any better this afternoon. So well done to everyone concerned. The weather in north Lancashire has been variable recently and today, the match was played in sunshine and then greyness with just a hint of rain in the air in the first half. Then the heavens opened – not in the Biblical proportions it had in Burton in October – but bad enough all the same.

There was a minute’s applause to remember all the people who have died this year with links to Morecambe Football Club. A special mention was made of Lance Millard, our literally larger-than-life goalkeeper back in the late 1960s – an unforgettable figure for all of us lucky enough to have seen him play. We were all asked to remember perhaps the greatest footballer ever have graced the beautiful game as well – in the shape of the incomparable Brazilian Edson Arantes do Nascimento, otherwise known as Pelé.

The match was quite scrappy at times and for the first half an hour, chances were at a premium. Adam Mayor got away on the left after seven minutes but his cross was too close to visiting goalkeeper Ben Garratt, who caught it without too much trouble. With old foe Ben Hamer launching his bazookas of throw-ins at every possible opportunity, Burton had the next half-chance. Davis Keillor-Dunn took a weak shot well wide of Connor Ripley’s goal with ten minutes played.  Three minutes later, Morecambe could well have taken the lead when Ryan Cooney passed to Liam Shaw to make rapid progress down the Shrimps’ right. He found Cole Stockton at the far post and his tremendous header beat Garratt only to be brilliantly cleared off the goal-line by Brewers’ Skipper John Brayford before a combination of goalkeeper and defender blocked his follow-up effort for a corner.

The visitors played for about a quarter of an hour with just ten men. Victor Adeboyejo had to leave the field to have a nasty cut on his chin attended to. While he was absent, Cooney took a shot from just outside the penalty area which was turned away by another Burton body for a further corner. There was a bit of controversy as Albion had a shout for a penalty after about half an hour when Jacob Bedeau made a tackle on Bobby Kamwa in his own area. Referee Anthony Backhouse was unmoved. Manager Maamria was then booked for the fuss he made about this decision from the touch line. After half an hour – with Adeboyejo back on the pitch – a throw-in by Cooney on the Morecambe right was headed away for a corner which Garratt struggled to punch clear. On 31 minutes, a long ball by Ripley to Stockton was brilliantly controlled by our rejuvenated centre forward. He was dispossessed but the Brewers couldn’t clear their lines; Jensen Weir took a shot at the open goal and it hit Phillips’ heels and tricked over the line to put the Shrimps one goal to the good. On 36 minutes, Hamer took a speculative shot from the Burton left but it drifted harmlessly wide of Connor’s left-hand post. With thirty-seven minutes on the clock, Morecambe broke away from their own half in the shape of Phillips again. He ran almost the length of the pitch only to see his shot well held by the away goalkeeper. But the nearest Albion came to scoring all afternoon arrived in the fortieth minute.  Brayford, er, brayed the ball at goal only to see his superb shot hit the bar with Ripley beaten and then swerve wildly upwards and out of the ground. With two minutes scheduled to play, the Ripley/Stockton combination worked well again and Cole’s looping effort went just wide of the target to Garratt’s left. Phillips then got away again only to be stopped by a tremendous tackle by the Brewers’ Skipper. But the long ball routine paid dividends again during injury time. The goalkeeper found Cole, whose run towards the danger area was again blocked by Garratt but the loose ball was smashed home by Weir to double the Shrimps’ advantage right on the cusp of half time. But the action wasn’t over yet. In the second minute of added-on time, Adrian Mariappa received the ball from the Albion’s right unmarked in the centre of the opposition penalty area. And then fluffed his lines by missing the target altogether. Straight after that, the away goalkeeper had to leave his area to head a dangerous ball away. It fell straight to Phillips but the desperate stopper was saved from further embarrassment by his defence’s last-gasp block of Kieran’s attempt. So that was it – two-nil up again and by far the more accomplished team at half time. Could it get any better in the second half?

It could. After just three minutes of the re-start, Phillips’ header to substitute Caleb Watts resulted in a shot which only just missed the target. In the fiftieth minute. Weir’s excellent shot from a free-kick in a good position was pushed over the bar by Garratt at the cost of another corner. As the heavens well and truly opened, Albion struggled to clear their lines in a goal-mouth scramble after 51 minutes and Caleb took the opportunity to open his account for Morecambe with his first goal. It was a scruffy effort – but they all count. After 54 minutes, Phillips got away on the left once more, drew the away stopper and coolly lobbed the ball over him to make it four-nil to the Shrimps. With exactly an hour gone, Adeboyejo tried a flick from the left hand edge of the Morecambe penalty area from his point of view – and only just missed the far post. Six minutes later, the away goalkeeper was again only just in time when he left his penalty area to intercept another long punt forwards towards Kieran Phillips with his defence yet again Missing In Action. He did well a few moments later to save a shot from Watts as the Shrimps’ forward yet again got away from the Albion back line. But the diminutive Australian was not going to be denied much longer. Eighty-two minutes were on the clock when he received a killer pass from the right and coolly slotted the ball home to make it a quite astonishing five goals to nil on the day. He could have scored again at the end when he skied an effort over the bar after good work on the right flank by substitute Arthur Gnahoua.

Who would have thought it before the game? Five goals scored and another clean sheet. They now have the best record of any club in League One this year…

Seriously though folks, Morecambe now have a better goal difference than any of the teams around them at the bottom of League One. FGR contrived to lose 1-3 at home to Port Vale after initially taking the lead and are now rock bottom of the table. The Milton Keynes Bandits were walloped 3-1 at Plymouth to also slip beneath Morecambe in the mire. Burton are now a single point and a single place above Derek Adams’ men following today’s thrashing. Next Saturday’s visitors to the Maz – Cheltenham Town – are almost within their sights, too. The Robins lost 2-1 in Bristol today but are still six points better off than the Shrimps. So let’s all hope for a similarly emphatic performance from the men in the red shirts then.

King Derek was understandably euphoric after today’s win. He said:

“We’ve got six unbeaten at home. It’s not easy in this league. Today, I though the way that they played; their game management; their tactical nous in the game; the running-in behind; the chances we did take –the chances we didn’t take as well – we could have scored a lot more goals today.”

Finally – did you recognise the Burton Physio? It is the one and only Nick Fenton, who I thought was tremendous in his long(ish) spell with us after we first moved from Christie Park.

Morecambe: 1 Connor Ripley (C); 4 Liam Gibson; 5 Farrend Rawson; 6 Ryan Delaney; 9 Cole Stockton (17 Caleb Watts 45’); 15 Jensen Weir (2 Donald Love) 79’; 16 Jacob Bedeau; 20 Liam Shaw; 21 Ryan Cooney 23 Kieran Phillips (14 Arthur Gnahoua 74’); 25 Adam Mayor; (11 Dylan Connolly 83’).

Subs not used: 12 Adam Smith; 8 Ousmane Fané; 22 Anthony O’Connor.

Burton Albion: 1 Ben Garratt; 2 John Brayford (C); 3 Cameron Borthwick-Jackson; 4 Deji Oshilaja; 8 Adrian Mariappa (45 Joseph Dodoo 76’); 12 Tyler Onyango (21 Mustapha Carayol 56’); 14 Victor Adeboyejo; 15 Corrie Ndaba (11 Jonny Smith 45’); 23 Terry Taylor (Y); 37 Tom Hamer; 39 Bobby Kamwa (10 Davis Keillor-Dunn 68’).

Subs Not Used: 24 Viljami Sinisalo; 7 Joe Powell; 38 Michael Mancienne.

Ref: Anthony Backhouse.

Att: 3,972 (218 from Burton.)