LEAGUE ONE. TUESDAY, 21st FEBRUARY 3023.
Port Vale Spanwanned at Morecambe.
Port Vale arrived at the Mazuma Stadium this evening to complete the second ever fixture played between themselves and the Shrimps in League One. This match should have been played on Saturday, January 21st 2023 but was postponed due to a frozen pitch at the Maz. This is what I had written prior to postponement of that game:
During previous incarnations, the two clubs have met each other twenty-one times before in various competitions. The Shrimps have won seven of these and lost ten, most recently in a truly shambolic performance in Burslem last Boxing Day. Morecambe’s Manager was singled-out for abuse by some people amongst us in the away crowd on that occasion and even more of us roundly booed the team at the end of a one-nil defeat against what was clearly a very poor side.
I understand why people shout abuse and jeer but I equally don’t see what good it does in terms of motivating anybody. However, I shared my fellow fans dismay and came away from the Potteries thinking that relegation was a far more likely outcome to this season than a continuation of life in the rarefied atmosphere of League One.
Which probably shows why I am a humble amateur hack and people like Derek Adams are in charge of our team. Since then, his men have been motivated to achieve three wins on the spin during which they have scored nine goals and conceded just one. At the end of the match on Boxing Day, Morecambe were rock bottom of League One. Today, they have the best record of any EFL club during 2023 and find themselves out of the relegation zone altogether. What a transformation…
The Port would have arrived in January sitting pretty in eleventh position in the table. They had won two of their last five league games then (including the one against Morecambe) but lost three, most recently 0-2 at home to Peterborough on the Monday night preceding the original fixture. Then, the Valiants were nine points ahead of today’s opponents in the league standings but had lost only one game less (ten) than had the Shrimps so far this term. Tonight, the visitors found themselves in twelfth position, having lost three of their last five League One games and wining only once – last Saturday at home against Exeter by the only goal of the game.
Morecambe had an identical record to Vale before kick-off: three losses and just one win in their last five. The tremendous form of last month is becoming a distant memory as even their superior goal difference has been seriously eroded by shipping nine goals and only scoring once in their last three matches. Tonight, they started the game just one place above Forest Green Rovers, who prop-up the entire rest of the division.
As far as January’s game was concerned, King Derek said on the eve of the postponed fixture:
“We are hopeful that we can get another three points. I went to watch Port Vale against Peterborough on Monday night and (it was) a very competitive game. Peterborough edged them out with a bit of quality in the final third but Port Vale have done well this season. Financially, they are well-equipped. They’ve got – I think – it’s like twenty-five to thirty thousand a week extra to spend (more) than we have. It’s a lot of money in anybody’s terms. They have done well since getting promoted. But we’ve been very competitive as well and we have won the last three games and we’ve got the confidence of that.”
Last Saturday, Peterborough rather more than edged the Shrimps out of the contest when they found themselves 0-3 up within half an hour at the Maz and were able to coast through the rest of the fixture. Before tonight’s match, King Derek added:
“We’ve got to be on the front foot. We’ve got to get at them and create openings which we can do: we’ve shown that at home. The players have got good belief because we’ve been on a run which has enabled us to get more points on the table.”
A month ago, it was suggested to Opposition Manager Darrell Clarke in a filmed interview by a reporter with a very strong Potteries accent that the game against Morecambe could be regarded as a `Gimme’ (as in rhyming with ‘Jimmy’.)
What does that mean? (And if you get spanwanned at this time of year – do you end up being neshed?)
(Dr Google doesn’t tell me what `gimme’ means but he does explain that in local Potteries parlance, spanwanned is being stuck half-way over a wall and nesh is becoming cold.)
Having been assured by his interviewer that the Morecambe game was definitely not a gimme, Mr Clarke summed-up the tasks facing himself and his team thus:
“It’s not long ago since we played them (and won) one-nil. It was a very, very tight game and then they go and win the next three games. Everyone is wondering why we are not beating Morecambe three; four nil and then they go and win the next three football matches after that. So that just shows you what the game of football is and how momentum can swing. By all accounts (they’ve) nowhere near the biggest budget in the league. They’re always fighting to stay in the league. Derek’s a talented manager who is doing his best and got some good results. It’s going to be a tough ask – it always is, Morecambe away. But we’re looking forward to it.”
It was dry and not too cold as the game kicked-off under the lights near the sea in north Lancashire tonight. The first half was a pretty forgettable affair. For Morecambe, Michael Mellon ballooned the ball out of the ground after eleven minutes with a wild attempt on goal. Then Official and deserved Man of the Match Adam Mayor walloped the ball over the bar with twenty-five minutes played. Cole Stockton then had to leave the field after just over half an hour with what looked like it could be hamstring trouble. Arthur Gnahoua came on to replace him. Right at the end of the half, the Shrimps came closest to opening the scoring when Mayor’s powerful shot went just too high to hit the target.
Vale’s Tom Conlon also headed the ball just too high over the target after twenty-seven minutes although it seemed more likely that the home custodian actually pushed it over his bar. Port had a lot of the play and sent the ball into dangerous areas a couple of times but there was never anybody there in a black and white strip to connect with it.
And that was about it.
The second half was a much better spectacle to watch. Morecambe went onto the front foot for a while. The hosts fashioned a cast iron chance to open the scoring after four minutes of the restart when excellent work by Skipper Donald Love on the right found an unmarked Michael Mellon plumb in the middle of the penalty area and very close to the target. It just needed a touch for an almost certain goal but the young Tranmere loanee totally fluffed his lines and the opportunity was lost. The key moment of the contest arrived after 52 minutes, though. Mayor picked-up the ball, made good progress up the Morecambe left flank and let fly just outside the penalty area with a tremendous shot which beat away custodian Aidan Stone all ends up to put the Shrimps into the lead.
A couple of minutes later, home fans’ hearts were in their mouths as a Conlon shot only just missed the target. The visitors came even closer after almost seventy minutes. A free-kick taken by Matty Taylor fell to Tom Pett, whose tremendous instant shot hit the Morecambe bar and bounced back into the grateful hands of Connor Ripley in the home goal.
This was a let-off and Vale could have equalised with 76 minutes on the clock but for a really good save by Connor from Taylor after substitute Daniel Butterworth had set him up.
Ten minutes later, I – at least – feared that the Valiants had equalised. The ball ended-up in the Morecambe net but Taylor was flagged off-side and we all breathed again as ninety became ninety-four minutes before the final whistle was eventually blown.
The Shrimps rode their luck and got over the line tonight in a key victory which saw them move out of the relegation zone altogether into nineteenth place in League One. This situation was helped by the fact that – in the only other match played in the Division tonight, Cambridge United lost by the only goal of the contest just down the Irish Sea coast at Fleetwood. Fleetwood away is the Shrimps’ next game on Saturday.
Vale remained in twelfth place despite the loss.
Derek Adams was understandably very happy after the game. He said:
“It was a good advert for League One football. We eventually were able to get the breakthrough with Adam Mayor. It was a fantastic strike – he’s capable of it: for an eighteen-year-old he’s strong; he’s competitive. I was just delighted for the players tonight because they deserved that – they have come through a difficult time at stages and not got the break. Tonight, we just went at it and got the win.”
Morecambe: 1 Connor Ripley; 2 Donald Love (C); 4 Liam Gibson; 5 Farrend Rawson; 8 Daniel Crowley (7 Jake Taylor 70’); 9 Cole Stockton (14 Arthur Gnahoua 34’); 11 Michael Mellon; 15 Jensen Weir (29 Dynel Simeu 78’); 16 Jacob Bedeau (Y); 20 Liam Shaw; 25 Adam Mayor.
Subs not used: 12 Adam Smith; 10 Ash Hunter; 21 Ryan Cooney; 22 Josh Austerfield.
Port Vale: 1 Aidan Stone (C); 5 Aaron Donnelly; 6 Nathan Smith; 7 David Worrall; 8 Ben Garrity; 10 Tom Conlon (26 Daniel Butterworth 62’); 15 William Forrester; 19 Gavin Massey (22 Ellis Harrison 62’); 20 Matty Taylor; 23 Tom Pett; 27 Sam Robinson (Y).
Subs not used: 25 Jack Stevens; 11 Malvind Benning; 13 Jamie Proctor; 17 Rory Holden; 25 Jack Stevens.
Ref: Ross Joyce.
Att: 4, 360 (857 from the Potteries.)
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