LEAGUE CUP FIRST ROUND. TUESDAY, 8th AUGUST 2023.

Millers Grind Down Morecambe.

Morecambe travelled eastwards over the Pennines today to face Championship Rotherham United in the League Cup first round. Last season, these two clubs were drawn against each other at the same venue in the second round of the same competition and on that occasion, League One Shrimps triumphed against Paul Warne’s Championship side by the only goal of the game.

United have played Morecambe no less then eighteen times in the past. They have won eight of these – including a double over the Lancashire club when they were both in League One two seasons ago – and lost six. However, the two clubs’ first games in the Championship and League Two respectively resulted in vastly different fortunes on the opening day of the season last Saturday. Newly-relegated Morecambe won at home against Walsall by two goals to one. Rotherham, however, were soundly beaten 4-1 at Stoke, where debutant Cafú Ribeiro Rivas was sent-off after 69 minutes. The profundity of this hammering was underlined by the fact that goalkeeper Viktor Johansson was the Millers’ Official Man of the Match – it would have been a lot more if it wasn’t for him.

Former Exeter City Manager Matt Taylor has replaced current Derby County boss Paul Warne since last time the two clubs met.  Reflecting on his team’s opening match, he admitted to being disappointed about the way Stoke were able to play `through, round and over us too often. We asked for pride, a bit more character and personality – the simple side of the game, nothing complicated. We saw that for a brief period, got the goal and felt better about ourselves, but to go down to 10 men against a team like Stoke was pretty brutal to watch.’

As far as tonight’s game was concerned, his Opposite Number Derek Adams said the following:

“We went to Rotherham last year in the League Cup in the first round and we got a very good result there. We understand on Saturday that they lost 4-1 to Stoke in their first game. So it becomes an even bigger game for them; it‘s a more difficult game for us going into it because of that. They played in (one) formation that started the game; they finished in a different formation. Do they change personnel for (tonight’s) game? Do they keep the same players that played on Saturday? These are the things we have to think about. We came off a very strong performance against Walsall – a great win for us: three points. . We are playing against a Championship team which is very well equipped. We still have to play with the same intensity, ethos and discipline that we did on Saturday. But we’ve also got to look at the strengths and weaknesses of Rotherham as well.”

Outstanding youth Adam Mayor failed a late fitness test and wasn’t available for selection tonight. King Derek chose Jordan Slew to replace him in the starting eleven. The visitors started with a strong line-up not totally dissimilar to that which was beaten three days ago.

As the shadows lengthened in the failing sunshine, it was dry as the match kicked-off in front of a sparse crowd at the New York Stadium under the floodlights. The visitors started on the front foot and after just five minutes, Michael Mellon did well on the Morecambe left and put a golden chance on a plate for JJ McKiernan, who had ghosted in at the near post. Sadly, the opportunity went begging as JJ fluffed his lines and headed straight into the welcoming arms of home custodian Lee Phillips for a routine save. There were no more chances until just after a quarter of an hour, when Yann Songo’o’s shot was deflected for a corner as Mellon looked interested in getting on the end of the ball. But Morecambe had been asking all the questions, pushing forward and slinging over a number of crosses as United’s main contribution to proceedings was to concede a sequence of free-kicks.  Yann conceded Morecambe’s first free-kick of the evening with almost twenty minutes played and then the Millers won a corner straight afterwards which came to nothing. But Songo’o was again at the heart of the action with 22 minutes on the clock. He drove forward from midfield and played-in Mellon with an excellent pass which the young striker despatched with real confidence past a despairing Phillips. It was nothing more than the men in the white strip deserved.

Oliver Rathbone’s free-kick for the hosts then reached Georgie Kelly after 28 minutes but his header was easily saved by Stuart Moore in the visitors’ goal. But – out of a clear blue sky – the hosts were level. Cohen Bramall  galloped down the wing and slung over a cross which beat two Shrimps’ defenders on the near post; Farrend Rawson failed to deal with it and – as he fell onto his backside – the ball dropped for Joshua Kayode to score an easy equaliser. This was with thirty-seven minutes played. From then until the end of the first half, United dominated the match and the away side found themselves having to actually defend properly and keep their shape for the first time. They looked a bit shaky suddenly and Moore was called-upon in injury time to grab the ball as his defenders again got in a tangle – but they lived to tell the tale.

Morecambe clearly tried to re-establish their momentum by holding onto the ball and playing it between themselves as much as possible once the match restarted. The hosts clearly had been told to be more assertive by the same token and the result was a pretty scrappy stalemate for quite some time. Moore did really well to save Kelly’s apparently goal-bound header after a good run and cross by the impressive-looking Rathbone with just over an hour played. Then Mellon tried his luck from about twenty yards after 65 minutes and only just missed Phillips’ right-hand post with the keeper floundering. The home team were beginning to get a better foothold in the game as the half drew older, though.  As a response, Derek totally shook-up his side with four substitutions all in one go after seventy-five minutes. Off went Jordan Slew; Tom Bloxham; Michael Mellon and Yann Songo’o. To replace them, on came Cammy Smith; Jake Taylor; Charlie Brown and Max Melbourne. Matt Taylor then introduced several changes of his own two minutes later and one of them – Kieran McGurken – really should have scored after 81 minutes. Fellow subs Fred Onyedinma and Tyler Blackett combined well on the United left before Blackett slung over a perfect cross which McGurken should have converted. Instead, he headed the ball over the bar. At the other end, Melbourne put over a perfect cross which Charlie Brown headed wide right at the death. Six minutes of injury time was added-on by Referee Thomas Parsons but there were no further scares for either side.

So what seemed to have been the inevitable penalty shoot-out for most of the second half finally happened.

Rotherham went second at the end furthest away from their own supporters. JJ took the first kick and scored in the bottom corner. Then the experienced Jordan Hugill stepped-up and levelled the scores. Jacob Davenport then put the visitors further ahead with another assured finish. Rathbone put the ball high into the corner of the net to make the score all-square again. Charlie Brown’s left-footed shot was then well saved by Lee Phillips. Then Tyler Blackett fairly blasted the ball past Stuart Moore to put the Millers ahead for the first time on the night. Jake Taylor’s penalty was also saved by Phillips and Fred Onyedinma wrapped things up for the Yorkshire side with another confident finish.

So it was a slightly disappointing end to the game – particularly for the 111 stalwarts from the west coast of Lancashire who had made the effort to travel to South Yorkshire this evening. That’s the end of the Shrimps’ interest in the League Cup for another season. But it’s never a disgrace for a League Two team to lose at a Championship ground. Morecambe were the better team for the opening half an hour of the game. But after the Millers equalised, they went completely off the boil and never really regained their momentum.

The Shrimps’ Manager’s own verdict about the game was as follows:

“The goal that we scored was an excellent goal. It was nothing more than we deserved. We created some really good moments in the game. To come here and do that was terrific from the players. (Rotherham) made five changes. We knew that they would be up for the game but I thought we dealt well with the threats they had on the night and created them problems.”

Rotherham United: 26 Lee Phillips; 2 Dexter Lembikisa (35 Kieran McGurken 77’); 3 Cohen Bramall (6 Tyler Blackett 77’); 5 Jamie McCart; 8 Ben Wiles; 12 Georgie Kelly (10 Jordan Hugill 74’); 18 Oliver Rathbone; 19 Joshua Kayode (14 Fred Onyedinma (Y) 62’); 22 Hakeem Odoffin; 23 Sean Morrison (15 Tolaji Bola 77’); 24 Cameron Humphreys.

Substitutes not used:  1 Viktor Johansson; 41 Josh Ayres.

Morecambe: 1 Stuart Moore (Y); 2 Donald Love (C); 4 Jacob Bedeau; 5 Farrend Rawson; 6 Yann Songo’o (23 Max Melbourne 75’); 7 Tom Bloxham (18 Jake Taylor 75’); 14 Jordan Slew (17 Cammy Smith 75’); 8 Eli King (16 Jacob Davenport 82’); 9 Michael Mellon; 10 JJ McKiernan; 12 Joel Senior.

Substitutes not used: 21 Adam Smith; 15 Chris Stokes; 20 Charlie Brown; 24 Cameron Rooney..

Ref: Thomas Parsons.

Att: 2,834 (111 from Morecambe).