ENTERPRISE NATIONAL LEAGUE. TUESDAY, 3rd MARCH 2026.

Stones Rolled-Over by resurgent Morecambe.

Morecambe travelled the 243 miles south to Ruislip’s Grosvenor Vale in the north London suburbs today to play a team which – very unusually – they have actually already beaten this season. Last September, Ashvir Singh Johal’s usually hopeless team managed to overcome Wealdstone 4-3 at the Mazuma Mobile Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.

Their new Manager Gary Waddock – who replaced former TV star Sam Cox just over a week ago – has been brought-in to reverse the trend in the Stones’ fortunes in recent times. The club found themselves in comfortable fourteenth place in the National League prior to this evening’s clash. They won their last league game against Brackley, who had only ten men for most of the game – 2-1 at home a week ago in a game during which first team coach Danny Payne was in charge. Subsequently, they also overcame the club which humiliated Morecambe in the FA Trophy – Kidderminster Harriers – on penalties last Saturday to move into the semi-finals of the same competition. But before the win against Brackley, Wealdstone had lost three league matches on the spin, causing Sam Cox to Exit Stage Left.

Morecambe arrived in a far more parlous state: third from bottom of the table and nine points shy of safety. They were really unlucky to lose 1-0 against York at home last Saturday in a game where appalling referee Aaron Bannister helped in every way he could to get the league leaders three points they didn’t actually merit. But the team spirit Jim Bentley has managed to instil in the Shrimps’ side during his very few weeks back in charge of the club was there for all to see and they would be no push-over tonight.

This is what the Morecambe Manager said before the game:

“Who knows what lies round the corner in football? We’ve got to focus on the games from now till the end of the season and try and get as many points on the board as we can starting with the next game. It’s a big week for us – we know that. We’re coming to the final stretch. We need to take the positivity; we need to keep turning-out these performances and – hopefully – get a little bit more for our troubles.

It was dry with a slight breeze as the game kicked-off. Morecambe won the toss and chose to change ends but if they thought this would upset the hosts, there was no sign of it in the opening minutes. Morecambe looked like they hadn’t woken-up after the long coach ride south as the Stones rolled all over them during the opening period of the game. Playing for the first time with their new Manager in charge, they were obviously trying to make a good impression – and succeeding. They took a shot at goal which was blocked with about twenty seconds on the clock and Lewis Payne would have to watch his step for the rest of the match after being booked for a poor challenge on the Wealdstone left within two minutes of kick-off. From this, Deon Woodman had a clear header at the far post which Jamal Blackman did well to keep out. But the ball ran back towards the central defender and his shot was blocked on the line before Olufela Olomola was quickest to react to poke it home. It continued to be all Wealdstone and Blackman had to react quickly again to boot the ball off his own line with twelve minutes played as a cross came in from the Stones’ left and Olomola appeared right in front of him in pursuit of it.

Two minutes later, Mo Sangare took a shot from a long way out which Dante Baptiste in the home goal saved easily. In the eighteenth minute, Jamal had to be on his toes again to push a low shot to his left away for a corner. And so it went on. Even with Harlee Dean’s long throw, Morecambe had offered nothing by the thirty third minute. Then, a quick break involving Payne and Jack Nolan resulted in Miguel Azeez having a shot from the Shrimps’ left which was defected for a corner. Nolan took it and swung a perfect ball right across beyond the far post where an unmarked Liam Hogan appeared to head it directly into the net but that man Chris Popov was in the right place at the right time to get the final touch on a most unlikely equaliser. Morecambe seemed to come to life after this and had a lot more of the play. Having said that, it would be a stretch to claim that they started to dominate or even deserved to go ahead. But that’s exactly what happened. Blackman had to make a smothering save after 36 minutes and then another point-blank stop – this time from Olomola again – just before half time. But Morecambe had the final and decisive say in the first period when Jack Nolan scored in injury time. Sangare played the ball to him on the right of the home box and Jack did what he does; dropped his shoulder, did a little shuffle and beat Baptiste with a shot which squeezed into the smallest space low to his left; effectively at his near post.

So Morecambe – who didn’t turn up for almost the first half an hour – went back to the Dressing Rooms with a 1-2 lead. Two shots: two goals – that’s the way to do it!

They played a lot better in the second half. Captain Yann Songo’o went over in the away penalty area within a minute of the restart but Referee James Durkin – who I thought did well tonight – wasn’t moved. Nathan Tshikuna then put in a shot for the hosts which missed quite badly with forty-nine minutes played. A few minutes later, the same player let fly with a shot from a long way out which was so high and so far off target that it was last seen interfering with traffic as it passed Luton airport heading north. But Tshikuna then crossed for Dylan Kadji to head just over the bar with 52 minutes on the clock. Three minutes later, though, the Stones gave the ball away in their own half allowing Nolan to have a run on their goal which was stopped by a tremendous tackle by hugely tall central defender Woodman. But Wealdstone didn’t heed the warning. Two minutes later, Jack scored again. This time, Songo’o – who had a fantastic game tonight – played Azeez forward with a lovely pass and Miguel slipped an even better one up to Nolan, who took the ball brilliantly around a despairing Baptiste and rolled it home to give the visitors a two-goal advantage.

Gary Waddock shook things up and introduced Somalian international Sak Hassan in the seventieth minute. The left winger looked really tricky and in the seventy-second minute, fired in a cross from the left which reached the feet of Olomola, who couldn’t control it. But the ball came off him and ran along the ground to Micah Obiero, who managed to bundle it over the line for the scrappiest of goals. So it was Game On again.

I thought that Lewis Payne was giving Hassan at least as good as he got in a key tussle until it all went pear-shaped in the eighty-fifth minute. Then, Lewis brought the Wealdstone man down just outside the penalty area on the Stones’ left with a poor tackle. And off he went – unlike the absurd dismissal of Paul Lewis on Saturday, there could be no complaints this time. So it was Squeaky Bum time for the last twenty-one minutes including injury time. Blackman made a couple more key saves but the Stones never really looked like they believed they could get back into the game. So Morecambe – from a really poor start – did exactly enough to achieve what they needed this evening – to take all three points and achieve their first double over anybody in the National League so far this season.

Elsewhere tonight, though, not all scores went Morecambe’s way. Brackley got to 1-1 at high-flying Rochdale before finally losing 3-2 to put themselves just six points better-off than the Shrimps but with two games in hand on the edge of the relegation zone in twentieth place. Braintree didn’t play so are just three points better off than us with one game in hand. Truro drew 1-1 at Southend and remain bottom of the National League tonight. Very disappointingly, though, Sutton United also won away from home: 0-2 at Hartlepool and are now nine points better off than we are with a game in hand. The meeting between Sutton and the Shrimps at Gander Green Lane on Saturday thus takes on even greater significance.  But all Jim Bentley’s team can do is win – and they did so tonight. It was great to see him take the trouble to embrace each and every one of the travelling Shrimps’ supporters at the end of the match tonight. This is what he thought of his team’s performance overall:

“A magnificent win for us, I’ve got to be honest: bad as we’ve been for half an hour; maybe a bit more. I’m just thankful that the game didn’t get away from us. Jamal was superb in goal. Ahead of that, we didn’t do enough tonight. Probably around the 35 – 40 minute mark we got a little bit better. The goal got us back in the game. It took the wind out of the opposition’s sails and we weathered the storm until half time.  We come in at half time pretty relieved. I would have been happy to be on level terms – just to still be in the game. But we find ourselves 2-1 up, which was a bit mad – but that’s football. We come away thankful that we’ve got three points. We’re made up to get out of here with three points.”

Wealdstone: 1 Dante Baptiste; 5 Deon Woodman; 7 Enzio Boldewijn (C); 8 Dylan Kadji (Y); 9 Olufela Olomola; 17 Dom Hutchinson (Y) (12 Michael Adu-Poko 69’); 20 Nathan Tshikuna (28 Elijah Dixon-Bonner 61’); 22 Connor McAvoy; 27 Sean Adarkwa (14 Micah Obiero 61’); 29 Junior Tiensia (11 Sak Hassan 69’); 32 Jack Hinchy (24 Shay Spencer 93’).

Subs not used: 13 Endurance Johnson; 31 Charlie Waller.

Morecambe: 40 Jamal Blackman; 2 Lewis Payne (R); 5 Harlee Dean (Y); 7 Gwion Edwards (Y) (15 Ben Williams 75’); 8 Miguel Azeez (23 Dan Ogwuru 75’); 12 Kyle Jameson (Y); 16 Liam Hogan; 20 Mo Sangare (10 Jake Cain 86’); 24 Yann Songo’o (C); 36 Jack Nolan (18 Ben Tollitt 86’); 42 Chris Popov (21 Joe Nuttall 86’).

Subs not used: 41 Myles Boney; 33 Timothy Akindileni.

Ref: James Durkin.

Att: Unknown (about 50 from Morecambe).