ENTERPRISE NATIONAL LEAGUE. SATURDAY, 21st FEBRUARY 2026.
Eastleigh Manager Sacked for poor display at Morecambe.
There’s never a dull moment at Morecambe football club:
As it went from bad to worse off the field, temporary Shrimps Manager Jim Bentley was facing plenty of problems of his own on it. In an interview he gave prior to today’s home match against Eastleigh, he reflected on the mindset he has inherited from predecessor Ashvir Singh Johal and how that had affected his current squad:
“Ash has had a different way of paying to what I do. But these lads have been coached for the last six months. Certain aspects of that creep into the game now. In possession, quite a lot of the time, players look backwards first and foremost because they want to keep possession; switch the play; go round the back line; out the other side; come back round and try and dominate possession and move the opposition around. I want the players to look forward and play forward a little bit more and try to get on the half-turn in the middle of the park and start supplying our front lads and creating opportunities and scoring goals. Set-plays is another thing. Coming to the club, it’s been full-on zonal set-plays. In my opinion, it’s been a little bit comfortable in regards to players can just go back, get in their own little zone and think “Well, I hope the ball doesn’t come in my position!” I was always brought-up and always defended in regard to that you’d only have one or two in zonal positions – but the rest of them are individual roles. They haven’t been exposed to those scenarios where you have got to battle and compete and be one-v-one and taken out of your comfort zone a little bit. That’s the situation that we’re in. It’s not a comfortable position that we find ourselves in at the minute. It’s not a case of being able to drop into your own little bubble and thinking “I hope I’m all right”: you’ve got to stand up and be counted; you’ve got to sink or swim and we’ve got to come out fighting because of the position we’re in. Football isn’t an easy game. We’re trying to get them physically more demanding of each other and of themselves; physically stronger and better; mentally stronger and better – organisation, in my opinion (needs) to be stronger and better. Put all that together and it gives us a better chance of winning games.”
Eastleigh arrived in seventeenth position in the National League on the back of just one win and three losses in their last six league matches. During October in Hampshire, the Spitfires beat Ashvir Singh Johal’s fragile team 2-1. Last time out, they drew 2-2 at home against Boreham Wood.
Morecambe, by contrast, have lost four of their last six league games and won none. Their latest game – at Southend last Saturday – turned into a rout as they lost completely spinelessly by five goals to one. They didn’t compete; they didn’t threaten – and too many of the side didn’t even try. Maybe they don’t care. Maybe they’ve given-up: it certainly looked like it. So the Shrimps started this afternoon’s game nine points shy of safety as only Gateshead lay below them at the very bottom of the table.
Jimbo’s refreshing honesty about the situation he finds himself in includes telling us that he has not been able to sell the club (wry smile from him at this point) to potential additions to his misfiring squad. A few players have expressed interest only to then decide not to sign on the dotted line. Others have taken last-minute counter-offers from other clubs. One has left the country altogether. He said that the club has received an offer for Miguel Azeez from Carlisle United but the Cumbrian club have not updated it since last week. The good news is that he said that Jake Cain is finally regaining fitness and could be expected to play again imminently. In my view at least, Jake could make all the difference to our season. Unlike Miguel, he is not constantly looking for the eye-catching pass over a long distance which fails more often than not and his instinct is to play the ball forwards instead of backwards or sideways: he is one of the few players on the Shrimps’ books currently who seems to understand the concept of playing the ball into space for team-mates to run onto. Once he’s fit, Jim is in for a treat…
For the visitors, Manager Scott Bartlett said this about Morecambe prior to the long journey from the south coast for himself and his players:
“Obviously, they’ve had a little bit of a difficult time. They’ve just had a management change, so there’s been a lot to contend with there from their point of view. But Jim’s done a great job there before and I’m sure he will again. For me, it’s about us. We’ve got a little bit of momentum. It’s a game we’re looking forward to. We’re in a decent place. Like any team at this stage of the season – unless you’re one of the real top, top teams – you’re contending with one or two things: injuries; suspensions; illness. But – as ever – we roll our sleeves up, look forward to the journey and hopefully give our travelling supporters something to cheer about.”
The weather has been iffy all week in north Lancashire – cloudy; wet and stormy at times – as might be expected in the depths of winter. Today dawned grey but dry and then deteriorated. By lunchtime, it was raining. This had developed into occasional proper downpours by three of the clock and the rain barely relented throughout the match.
On a boggy pitch with bare patches, Morecambe started brightly and the opening minutes were played mostly in the away half. When the breakthrough arrived, though, it was due to a mistake by the visitors. A mix-up led to Kieron Evans losing the ball in the middle of the pitch and Michel Azeez pounced upon it, looked up and lobbed Nick Townsend – who was way out of his ground – with a simply sublime lob almost from the half-way line that gave the rather portly goalkeeper no chance at all. Just lucky thirteen minutes were on the clock but already – with new boy Kyle Jameson catching the eye at the back – the team looked better organised right across the pitch and far fitter then they have been at times this season. The next chance also fell to the Shrimps in the eighteenth minute but Townsend was equal to a Paul Lewis header. Deserved Official Man of the Match Lewis Payne was busy marauding up the right flank all game. He slung over a good cross after 33 minutes which Chris Popov headed high, wide and not very handsome. As Jamal Blackman had not had a lot to do at the other end, Townsend should have been forced into action again after 42 minutes as Jack Nolan made a purposeful run down the Morecambe right towards goal. His final shot from a good position, though, was very disappointing as he skewed the ball well to the left of the goalkeeper’s far post.
But half time arrived with Morecambe very good value for their lead.
Any reaction that might have been expected from the men in the teal tops failed to materialise in the second half. Morecambe came within a whisker of extending their lead in the 54th minute. Nolan’s corner reached the far post where the impressive Timmy Akindileni rose highest to head the ball down to miss the base of the post by a whisker. Immediately afterwards, Payne’s excellent cross was reached by Lewis again but he was only able to direct his header at the visiting stopper, who caught it easily enough. Then a rare shot on goal by the visitors saw Lloyd Humphries strike a fairly wild shot high over the bar with 55 minutes played. Three minutes later, Gwion Edwards tricked his way towards the left edge of the Spitfires’ penalty area and found Lewis again with a pin-point cross. Paul’s resultant header hit the post only for a bit of ping-pong to ensue before Nolan managed to strike the ball home to double Morecambe’s advantage. Just before the hour mark, though, the Shrimps were three goals to the good. Popov turned provider this time and slotted the ball from a central position for Payne to run onto and unleash a shot which gave Townsend no chance at all.
Eastleigh had a really good chance to at least reduce the arrears in the 63rd minute but Jamal Blackman made his first difficult save of the contest to deny James Waite.
But Payne returned Popov’s earlier favour in the 78th minute as he ran the away rearguard ragged again before slinging the perfect cross over for Chris to slot home.
In the last meaningful action of the game, any doubt anyone might have had about the commitment of the Shrimps’ side today was shown when Harlee Dean made a miraculous clearance off the line – full length as he slid backwards into the net – after Blackman had been beaten by a shot from substitute Barney Stone.
So that was it: four goals scored; a clean sheet for a very welcome change and a really convincing performance from Morecambe for one of the few times we have seen any such thing this season. The win pushed the Shrimps into twenty-second position in the National League table at the end of the game. With the two clubs beneath them playing each other later in the evening and Gateshead perhaps surprisingly winning 1-2 at Truro, they may not have stayed there. The Cornwall club are now rock-bottom of the NL with Gateshead one point above them and a single point behind us. But both clubs have games in hand over the Shrimps: the Heed two and City one. So Morecambe’s match at Gateshead next Wednesday takes on an even greater significance.
Eastleigh’s defeat saw them slip to eighteenth in the table this evening. To compound his own disappointment about his team’s performance today, news was announced by the club’s hierarchy this evening that Manager Scott Bartlett has been sacked. So his long journey back on the coach back to Hampshire will be particularly miserable tonight. Good luck to him in the future.
Jim Bentley will no doubt sympathise with his former Opposite Number this evening. But he was rightly delighted with his own team’s efforts at the end of the game today. This is what he made of it afterwards:
“All the things I have asked them to do, they have carried out. These things take time. I was really pleased with some of our set plays. We looked good on the counter-attack. Popov led the line really, really well. He’s got loads to learn but with regards to endeavour and enthusiasm, he’s fantastic. And that’s what we need every one of them to be. It’s been a positive week. I don’t want to be a one-trick pony. I want to be quite rounded; I’ve always been. So that’s what’s pleasing. We’ve affected the game. To a man today, we were fantastic.”
Morecambe: 40 Jamal Blackman; 2 Lewis Payne; 5 Harlee Dean; 7 Gwion Edwards (Y) (15 Ben Williams 69’); 8 Miguel Azeez (32 George Thomas 69’); 12 Kyle Jameson; 17 Paul Lewis; 24 Yann Songo’o (C) (20 Mo Sangare 81’); 33 Timothy Akindileni; 36 Jack Nolan (18 Ben Tollitt 81’); 42 Chris Popov (21 Joe Nuttall 91’).
Subs not used: 41 Myles Boney; 14 Alie Sesay.
Eastleigh: 1 Nick Townsend; 4 Lloyd Humphries; 6 Temi Eweka; 7 Kieron Evans; 10 Jake Tabor (29 Barney Stone 70’); 11 Aaron Blair; 14 James Waite; 20 Sam Pearson (30 Connor Underhill 70’); 24 Jordan Cousins (C) (26 Luey Giles72’); 27 Archie Harris; 31 Niall Maher (16 Aaron Pierre 80’).
Subs not used: 3 Jake Vokins; 17 Josh Lundstram; 18 Angel Waruih.
Ref: Craig Hicks.
Att: 2.200+ (62 from Eastleigh.)
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