ENTERPRISE NATIONAL LEAGUE. SATURDAY, 14th FEBRUARY 2026.

…As Shrimpers wallop hopeless Shrimps.

The last meeting between Southend United and Morecambe – last October in Lancashire – will go down in history. I had written the following about the Shrimpers in my National League Preview of the Season a few short weeks earlier:

We love Southend because they hardly ever beat us – and never at their home stadium of Roots Hall, which is 280 miles from the Mazuma Mobile Stadium on the Essex coast in the south-east of the country. The two clubs have met a total of lucky thirteen times altogether and the only game the Shrimpers have ever won was in Lancashire during 2013, when they walloped the Shrimps 0-3 in an FA Cup match. In the EFL, though, they lost ten out of twelve games and drew the other two. So – if past history is any guide – we really would like to play them every week…

I supposed it would take a really catastrophic change in our circumstances for this situation to change. And that particular catastrophe went by the name of Ashvir Singh Johal. In October, prior to our last league meeting – and the first ever in the National League – Ashvir confidently predicted that his clearly unfit and misfiring team were about to embark on a run which would include `the best football’ ever seen in this division – or possibly the world; or even the universe. Everything was gelling perfectly just as his Master Plan had predicted and the Shrimps would be passing their way out from the back in order to accrue increasingly easy victories from the beginning of November which would have us challenging for promotion come the end of the season. The game against Southend would be the first step on this Wondrous Journey of his.

Then reality came crashing–in – as it was to do for the rest of his disastrous reign at the club. The Shrimpers hadn’t read the script, ran the Shrimps ragged and departed back to Essex with three goals scored; a clean sheet and three of the easiest points they would win all season as the hoodoo against Morecambe in the league was finally not so much broken as shattered into a zillion pieces. The Shrimps were absolutely hopeless and the Shrimpers could have won by even more.

Ashvir has finally gone but his legacy – a demoralised team who are generally not fit enough to compete consistently for 90 minutes – continues to throw a long shadow over the club. Replacement Jim Bentley is not daft. He is still in the process of identifying the team’s strengths and weaknesses after just two weeks and three games in charge. Their general fitness is a problem which he and his coaching staff are currently having to address as a priority, a staggering six months after the season started for them. He is also trying urgently to coach them to play in a different way – resolute defence above all else and a more direct way of taking-on opponents – and trying to alter the negative mindset he has inherited from Mr Johal with a more positive one.

It’s a daunting prospect but one Big Jim has made very plain has to be fixed if the Shrimps are not to be doomed to the inevitable third relegation in four years which Ash was leading the team to at a rate of knots before he lost his job. This is what Jimbo said prior to the game:

“On paper, it’s a very difficult game. It’s away from home. Southend are a big club; a good club.  It will be a tough game. But I’m sure they’re saying the same thing about us. Hopefully, with a little bit of ability and skill – and what we do – (we will) give ourselves a chance of winning the game – or get something from the game.”

The Shrimps arrived in Essex in next-to-bottom place in the table; five points from safety and having played more games than most of their other rivals for relegation. Three almost incalculably valuable points instead of one against Tamworth at home last Tuesday night would have been achieved if poor defending and two suicidal goalkeeping blunders by Jamal Blackman hadn’t handed the Lambs a point on a plate. Jim has seen his side lose one and draw two of the `cup finals’ they need to win in the next few weeks to stand any chance of staying in the National League. Overall, they have lost three of their last six league games and won none of them.

Southend, by contrast, started this afternoon’s match in eight spot in the league, just a single point behind the clubs in the Play-Off positions but with as many as three games in hand over all the teams above them. Their recent form is not brilliant though: they have lost their last two league games: 2-1 at Rochdale just over a week ago and by the only goal of the game at Scunthorpe last Saturday. So Manager Kevin Maher would be looking for his troops to get back on track today. Could it be another historic one as United beat Morecambe for the first time ever at Roots Hall? This is what he said prior to kick-off:

“Bringing Jim in will be a massive plus for them. I saw the other night how organised they were; I saw at Altrincham how organised they were. He’ll get them working their socks off. (He’s) someone who’s gone into the club and cares hugely about the football club so I’m under no illusions as what he’ll get them doing and how hard he will get them working. They’ve got some good players – I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. I think the time we went up there and won in the league, they still played some very, very good football. But I think Jim will make them more organised, even harder working and organised both ends of the pitch, I think.”

Off the field, things went from bad to worse this week for the Shrimps under the irresponsible and wayward stewardship of the Panjab Warriors. Tarnia Elsworth – dynamic former Chair of the Shrimps Trust who did so much to keep the club afloat before, through and beyond the Bond Group crisis – has resigned as a member of the Board at Morecambe. With her went the role of Fan Engagement at the club – one of the few remaining links between a remote and uncommunicative ownership and the people like you and me who actually turn up and support the club, week after depressing week, season after disastrous season. This won’t be a decision Tarnia has taken lightly and I think we must all respect her reasons for stepping-down, whatever these may be. What we can say for certain, though, is that Chairman Kuljit Singh Momi has shown his contempt for the fans yet again by treating us all like mushrooms: kept in the dark and fed you-know-what.

This is a key part of the statement by the Shrimps Trust about the open letter they sent him in January asking him to address twelve specific points:

Good luck to them: previous experience shows that they are going to need it, dealing with a group as simply slippery as the Warriors increasingly appear to be…

Anyway…

Jim Bentley was hopeful of at least a couple of new signings earlier in the week. He’s managed one; probably not the one he was hoping for. Promising central defender Ashton McWilliams has returned to Aston Villa following the expiration of his loan deal. Jim would also be without the services of Ludwig Francillette, who pulled his hamstring during the game against Tamworth. Fellow central defender Birmingham loanee Tommy Fogarty was also unavailable because of a similar problem. Jim was obliged to sign a player he is familiar with from previous encounters away from Morecambe to cover this defensive crisis in the shape of Kyle Jameson. Paul Lewis – who had to have several stitches in a cut across the nose and in towards an eye after being kicked in the face on Tuesday – was only fit enough to start on the bench this afternoon.

For Shrimpers fans, today’s game would mark a milestone even if they failed to beat Morecambe. Their website tells us:

“84 days, 12 weeks, 14 matches – that’s how much time has passed since our last Saturday afternoon league matchday at Roots Hall.”

This is partly because of the way fixtures have fallen but also because the stadium has been shut at times recently for repairs and an upgrade to their iconic pylon floodlights. That said, the party could have been spoiled by the weather on the Essex coast this week. It has been really wet in this neck of the woods recently but it was sunny this morning. By the time the game started, though, the sun has disappeared. Nevertheless, the match was played on an excellent surface.

The visitors had the first attempt on goal of the game as Chris Popov’s header went just wide of the target after only two minutes. At the other end, former Morecambe loanee Andy Dallas then took a shot with eight minutes played which caused Jamal Blackman to dive to his left to make a reasonably easy save. A minute later, Joe Gubbins slung over a cross to Gus Scott-Morriss on the right edge of the away penalty area which he struck goalwards only to see Jamal push the ball over the bar for a corner, which the Morecambe defence struggled to scramble away. With a quarter of an hour played, Jamal denied Dallas again at the cost of another corner. From this, he had to make a further one – probably the best so far – from Ben Goodliffe, with Scott-Morriss unable to sweep home the rebound. But the constant pressure from the home team – a couple of free-kicks and further corners – finally told after 22 minutes.  Harry Boyes took another corner for the Shrimpers from their right and the away defence was found wanting yet again from set-plays this season as diminutive Harry Scott-Morriss headed it home far too easily for a well-deserved lead as he towered over even smaller Lewis Payne at the far post. It continued to be all United as the game grew ever older. So it was no surprise when Popov was caught in possession by Boyes in his own half and then ran down the United left, cut into the away penalty area and found the net with a strike that went in off the post to double the home team’s advantage with just 32 minutes on the clock.

It continued to be virtually one-way traffic with on-loan Mansfield Goalkeeper Owen Mason a virtual spectator. The visitors finally won a probably dodgy free-kick in the 37th minute. But the way the match was going for the visitors was underlined when Miguel Azeez and Jack Nolan – who lined-up to take it – got their lines crossed and completely wasted the opportunity in a comedy routine some people would pay good money to see. Miguel ran forwards over the ball as Jack shadowed him to take the kick – and blasted the ball forwards via his team mate’s backside. How the Radio Essex commentators larfed…

You couldn’t make it up…

Azeez compounded this football nonsense with a bit of utter personal stupidity shortly afterwards when he came nose-to-nose with Boyes in the middle of the pitch: they were both rightly booked.

Popov then had another shot with forty minutes played which wasn’t too far away but United continued to look lively on the break.

So Morecambe trailed back to the Dressing Rooms at half time staring defeat in the face yet again. They hadn’t competed, looked weak and disorganised and all you could do is feel sorry for the 89 Shrimps’ supporters who had taken the trouble to make the 600-mile round trip to watch this rubbish.

So would Jim Bentley be able to find the words to motivate his seemingly totally demoralised men at half time?

In a word… no.

Dallas scored the goal he had been threatening to do since the start of proceedings with just nine minutes of the restart on the clock. Morecambe lost possession deep in Southend territory; Josh Walker played the ball forwards on the United left and Barnsley loanee Dallas cut inside from the wing, turned the visiting defence inside-out and finished perfectly for his tenth goal of the season.

Why didn’t he do the same for us last year?…

Blackman then made another good stop from Scott-Morriss just two minutes later only for the same player to hit the rebound over the bar with the goal gaping.

Out of nothing, Sangare then scored a tremendous goal – his first for Morecambe – after 53 minutes with a lovely shot from 30 yards or so which beat Mason all ends up in the home net.

Jim shook things up straight after this with three changes – Mo was one of the men to be replaced. But it made little real difference. The Shrimpers scored a fourth goal after 63 minutes as Harlee Dean’s desperate diving header fell short and Leon Chambers-Parillon ran through a defence which was far too slow to shut him down and walloped the ball goalwards from a central position. Jamal did well to parry the shot again but he couldn’t hold the ball and was far too slow to recover, allowing Mason to dispatch the rebound from a very acute angle to his left.

And so it went on…

The Shrimpers were probably only in third gear as they played out the rest of the match. They had a decent shout for a penalty as Scott-Morriss might have been fouled by Timmy Akindileni with ten minutes left but Referee Callum Walchester took pity on us and waved play-on.

So that was almost it. Azeez forced a decent save from Mason during injury time which brought about what was just Morecambe’s second corner kick of the entire game. But the Shrimpers scored another goal via substitute Tom Hopper from yet another corner with literally the last kick of the game.

So, at the end of the day, it was another heavy defeat; another weak display and no sign of a revival in either the Shrimps’ fortunes or performance since Jimbo returned to the club.

He must be at his wit’s end because trying to teach a chicken to dance the Tango must seem a far easier prospect than revitalising Ashvir Singh Johal’s doomed legacy to him.

For Southend, Xmas came early today, St Valentine’s Day. Like buses – after years of frustration – not just one league win but a Double over the Shrimps arrived at Roots Hall today as the Shrimpers beat Morecambe there for the first time ever.

United end the game still in eighth place and on the edge of the Play-Offs.

They won’t have an easier win all season.

Morecambe remain rooted to penultimate place in the National League. They are now seven points adrift of safety and on a new downward trajectory. There are just fourteen games left now for Morecambe to save themselves. On this showing, there is no absolutely chance of that happening.

Shortly after he returned to the club, Big Jim stated that, for professional footballers, it’s `down to individuals at times; a mentality to defend and dig-in. We’re going to have to find that within us and roll our sleeves up and battle and compete. Make sure your opposite number’s not getting the better of you. Is it in them? If we’re going to bring that to the party, we might just as well pack up now and go home – it’s as simple as that!”

I think it’s probably best to leave Jim to ponder if his team have the qualities he spoke about on the long coach ride home. I suspect that what most Shrimps’ supporters would like to see is Chairman Momi smoked out of his lair n order to answer some straight questions for once.

I think he owes us an explanation as to what on earth he is doing – and has already done – to our club. Then, I think it’s reasonable for him to explain to all Morecambe fans what the Panjab Warriors‘ plans are for the future.

But – as I’ve written before – and as the lack of response the Shrimps Trust has received to the letter they sent to him in January seems to confirm – don’t hold your breath…

Southend United: 1 Owen Mason;2 Gus Scott-Morriss; 6 Ben Goodliffe; 9 Andy Dallas (14 Tom Hopper 77’); 11 Josh Walker (24 Charley Kendall 77’); 15 Joe Gubbins; 16 Harry Taylor; 17 Cav Miley (C) (23 James Morton 77’); 19 Leon Chambers-Parillon (10 Sam Austin 85’); 22 Keenan Appiah-Forson; 33 Harry Boyes (Y) (7 Jack Bridge 85’).

Subs not used: 30 Colin Andeng-Ndi; 28 Oli Coker.

Morecambe: 40 Jamal Blackman; 2 Lewis Payne; 5 Harlee Dean (18 Ben Tollitt 78’); 8 Miguel Azeez (Y); 15 Ben Williams (21 Joe Nuttall 62’); 20 Mo Sangare (12 Kyle Jameson 62’); 24 Yann Songo’o (C) (17 Paul Lewis 78’); 32 George Thomas (7 Gwion Edwards 62’); 33 Timothy Akindileni; 36 Jack Nolan; 42 Chris Popov.

Subs not used: 41 Myles Boney; 2 Raheem Conte.

Ref: Callum Walchester.Att: 7.985 (89 from Morecambe. God bless them.)