LEAGUE TWO. SATURDAY 5th AUGUST 2023.

Backs Up Against the Wall-sall?…

Morecambe kicked-off their first season in League Two for three years against a team which finished sixteenth in the Division last season. As a result of this, Walsall sacked their Manager, Michael Flynn at the end of the campaign. They have replaced him with Mat Sadler, whose first game in charge would be this one today.

(Interesting, isn’t it, to have a Manager with the same surname as his club – the Saddlers? No, not really. But should it become a requirement in the EFL? How about Derek Shrimp, for instance? What do you think?)

If Michael Flynn was still in charge, today’s encounter could be an interesting interaction as far as club management is concerned.  Our very own Derek made some unflattering remarks about the Welshman when he was the Newport County Manager and Morecambe beat them at Wembley two years ago. But that is something we will come back to when the Shrimps play Swindon Town, where Mr Flynn is currently in charge.

So what can we say about Walsall? They were smart enough to unload perhaps the worst player Morecambe has ever had on the books – Wes McDonald – onto Stephen Robinson once his ruinous spell at the club started two years ago. Other than that, Morecambe have got one over Walsall more often than not in the past. The Saddlers have played the Shrimps five times previously in all competitions. The only points they have taken off Morecambe have been in Lancashire (they won one game in 2019 and drew the other during 2021) but have lost both times they have met at the Bescot Stadium. So a win for Derek Adams’ new-look Shrimps would be Morecambe’s first league victory over the Midlands’ club at this venue in all its incarnations (they beat them here 2-0 in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy eight years ago – but does that really count?)

On the eve of the game, King Derek used a press conference to express his own hopes for the season ahead. He told us he expects to add three more players to the nineteen he has on contract at this moment by the time the Transfer Window closes on September the first. He acknowledged that he would have liked to have kept `the majority’ of the squad he had last season but couldn’t afford to do so because of financial constraints. As far as his new playing budget is concerned, he said:

“In truth, it is the highest budget that this club has had going into League Two. But it is the lowest budget that will be in League Two this season. That’s the reality of the situation: we had the lowest budget in League One; we will have the lowest budget in League Two this year. But we had the lowest budget in League Two when we got promoted out of this division. That’s what we’ve got to spend and we go from there.”

He acknowledged again that the `ownership issue’ was an ongoing problem which cast a dark cloud over everything that happened at the club last season. He hoped this would not continue to be the case: `we want to stay out of the headlines; we don’t want any talk off the field to affect us on the field.’

He added this:

“Being told you are going to have X amount of money to spend in January and then not getting a single penny to spend in January was really hard because we knew we were only a couple of players away from being able to stay in (that) division.  We finished with the highest points total we’ve ever had in League One but financially, we just couldn’t compete.”

Asked about how he saw the forthcoming campaign, he replied:

“I don’t really bother with the other clubs because I want to concentrate on ourselves. But on any given day, we will give a lot of good teams a run for their money.”

So would Morecambe give Walsall a run for their money today?

For the opposition – who sold-out their allocation of 1300 tickets ages ago – Manager Mat Sadler said, prior to the game:

“I don’t know the stats on this but you’ll have to go a long way to find a manager who has had more games as a manager than Derek. He knows how to win at the level. He knows how to put a team together. He’s just been at a higher level and as I say, there’s no one that knows (better than him) how to get results and do well in this division. Statistically, I’m sure he must be right at the top of it. It will be a tough game in front of their fans but the number of supporters we’ve got going there on Saturday will be a massive bonus to us and the players will feed off the energy that they give to them. I remain with that same sentiment, be together with us because there will be tough times on Saturday. There always is when you go away to a place like that against an experienced manager that is going to offer difficult things that you’ve got to overcome. So it will be a really tough game – I’m under no illusions about that.”

One of the things all supporters wonder about – as is the case every new season – is what starting line-up Derek would choose to start the first competitive match of the campaign. He chose a 4-3-3 formation to start, thus with three Backs Up Against The Wall-sall (who says these things are thrown together?)

It was a lovely day in north Lancashire yesterday – warm, settled and sunny. But today dawned grey and wet – as has been the case more often than not recently.  So it was unseasonably cold by the side of Morecambe Bay as the game kicked-off under leaden skies at three o’clock.

HERE WE GO AGAIN FOR ANOTHER NEW SEASON…

Right from the off, Morecambe looked the classier, slicker side and they took the game to the men in the green strip for perhaps half an hour of the opening period. (To be fair, this green outfit looked pretty classy too – but you would expect nothing less from one with the sponsor’s name Poundland emblazoned across the chest, would you?…)

As the massed ranks of Saddlers supporters watched on silently and squally rain regularly swept across the ground, the visitors were put through the grinder for the first twenty minutes or so. Having said that, Walsall fashioned the first decent chance of the game when Aramise Oteh headed wide when well-placed after twelve minutes. In the away goal, Owen Evans did well to clear a dangerous cross from Adam Mayor after nine minutes but fussy referee Martin Coy awarded a free-kick in the goalkeeper’s favour. Shortly afterwards, Donald Love’s name went into the book. His crime: failing to choose the nearest ball (several were sited along the touchlines at strategic points) to take a throw-in. Ten players were booked in all today – all but one for technical infringements. I’m all in favour of stopping players cheating by feigning injury and infringing at free-kicks but the number of men booked for little or very little reason for both sides throughout in what was never a dirty game beggars belief. (King Derek also received a yellow card for protesting during the second half. We all know he doesn’t swear. He wasn’t ranting and raving either – so what was that all about?)

Anyway, it was no surprise when the Shrimps deservedly went ahead after twenty minutes. Tom Bloxham had already warmed Evans’ hands with a shot too hot for the goalkeeper to handle a minute earlier but this time, Morecambe combined well as they worked the ball in from their right flank only for the impressive Mayor to score with a confident shot. Total silence fell across the hundreds of people at the away end and they remained more or less mute for quite some time afterwards.

But as the half wore on, the visitors noticeably started to get more of the ball and play increasingly progressive football. Yann Songo’o was booked for a foul just over the half way line with 38 minutes gone but Walsall played-on and an excellent forty-yard pass was played forward. Danny Johnson got the wrong side of Jacob Bedeau and as Stuart Moore came off his goal-line to narrow the angle, Johnson equalised with an assured finish. After that, the away end suddenly woke up and they made a tremendous racket as all the momentum was with the visitors. (Having said that, Eli King set-up Michael Mellon with a good chance which he hooked over the bar near the end of the half.) Personally, though, I was praying for half-time and a chance for Derek to shake things up a bit. I had to wait longer than I anticipated – Mr Coy added-on six minutes at the end of the half – probably correctly.

But clearly the more effective team talk was delivered by Mat Sadler during the break. Walsall came out and dominated the game for almost all of the second period. They played the better, more incisive football more often than not and only resolute defending by the home defence – plus a huge slice of luck – stopped them taking a probably deserved lead. This slice of luck arrived in the seventy-seventh minute, when goalscorer Johnson took a shot which hit Moore’s right-hand post and bounced back straight into his arms. On another day, it would have gone in – and Walsall would probably have won. But not today.  In the meantime – as Morecambe offered virtually nothing going forward – Isaac Hutchinson had a shot blocked in the fifty-first minute. Two minutes later, a good move from the men in the green strip was completely wasted when Liam Gordon walloped the ball over the bar. Substitute Douglas James-Taylor then headed the ball over the target from Joe Riley’s cross with 68 minutes on the clock. In a rare foray forward, Mellon spun and took an instant shot from close-in after 81 minutes but his attempt lacked both power and accuracy and was easily saved by Evans. But – just after Mr Coy had signalled eight minutes extra time (eleven were actually played); Derek sent on not just one but three substitutes. Mayor was about to take a free-kick and – as the replacement players found their slots – he whipped-in a superb ball from the Shrimps’ left. There was a melee in the away defence; the ball hit the angle of post and bar with Evans a bystander only for Farrend Rawson to be in the right place at the right time as it bounced out to score the winning goal of the game.

Morecambe were lucky to win today. At times, they looked like a really accomplished outfit. At others, they looked at best mediocre. But three points are three points and as the Bookies’ favourites Wrexham and Stockport both lost at home and Notts County were walloped 5-1 at unfashionable Sutton United, Derek Adams’ side found themselves sitting proudly in sixth place in the first League Two table of the season. Walsall, meanwhile, started the season ten positions lower.

The Morecambe Manager had this to say at the end of the match:

“It was a great win for us today to beat a team that are looking to get into the play-offs; maybe out of this league this season. It‘s against a team that this football club has never won against at home, I believe. We played ever so well in that first half. (The goal) was nothing more than we deserved. In that first half, Walsall had one opportunity which was a mistake by us. We got sucker-punched. We (didn’t) defend well enough. To fight as we did in the second half, I thought the players were great today. We are playing with a front three of nineteen years of age. I don’t think there’ll be many teams in this league that will have had a younger average age than we’ve had today starting the season. It’s really pleasing for these young players.  They’re having to grow-up quickly and they’ve done that today. It was just a really good performance from us today. I loved the way they came in – the spirit they showed throughout the ninety minutes – and beyond that.”

Morecambe: 1 Stuart Moore; 2 Donald Love (C) (Y);4 Jacob Bedeau (Y); 5 Farrend Rawson (Y); 6 Yann Songo’o (Y); 7 Tom Bloxham (14 Jordan Slew (Y) 90’); 8 Eli King; 9 Michael Mellon (17 Cammy Smith 90’); 10 JJ McKiernan (Y) (16 Jacob Davenport 90’);11 Adam Mayor; 12 Joel Senior.

Substitutes not used: 21 Adam Smith; 15 Chris Stokes; 20 Charlie Brown; 23 Max Melbourne.

Walsall: 1 Owen Evans; 3 Liam Gordon; 4 Oisin McEntee (Y); 5 Donervon Daniels (C); 7 Joe Riley (Y); 8 Isaac Hutchinson (Y); 19 Harry Williams; 20 Aramide Oteh (11 Douglas James-Taylor 65’); 23 Chris Hussey; 25 Ryan Stirk (9 Jamille Matt 93’); 39 Danny Johnson (Y).

Substitutes not used: 12 Joe Foulks; 14 Brandon Comley; 21 Taylor Allen; 22 Jackson Smith; 26 Ross Tierney.

Ref: Martin Coy.

Att: 4,609 (1,327 from the Midlands.)