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Morecambe produced one of their worst performances of the season as yet another 1-0 defeat kept them rooted in the relegation spots.

Robbie McKenzie’s 80th-minute strike gave Gillingham boss John Coleman his first win in charge as two poor teams produced a low-quality encounter on Saturday.

Morecambe manager Derek Adams made two changes from the side that lost against Walsall, with Rhys Williams suspended and Paul Lewis dropping to the bench as Jamie Stott and Callum Cooke returned.

Both sides struggled to create any meaningful chances in an edgy, nervous first half, but it was Gillingham who produced any threat on goal with both defences dominating.

Harry Burgoyne made a couple of fine saves in Morecambe's loss at Gillingham Picture: Morecambe FC

A second consecutive million-pound loss for Morecambe

Armani Little forced Harry Burgoyne into a neat save from the edge of the area before Elliott Nevitt tried his luck from distance with a shot that comfortably cleared the bar.

Just before the break, Joe Gbode followed Nevitt’s example with a strike from outside the box that Burgoyne was happy to see sail over.

The second half followed a similar pattern with Morecambe failing to provide a single chance as they showed a lack of any quality in the final third.

Gillingham were the team who, again, looked the more likely to open the scoring.

Max Clark fired over before Burgoyne produced a brilliant flying save to tip over Gbode’s well-struck effort, which was heading for the top left-hand corner of the Shrimps’ goal.

Max Ehmer then had a golden chance to give the Gills the lead, when he was left unmarked from a corner, but – thankfully for Morecambe – he clipped an effort just wide.

Then, with time running out, the home side scored the vital goal as luck once again deserted the Shrimps with McKenzie’s strike taking a huge deflection to beat the helpless Burgoyne.

Morecambe never looked like levelling as a toothless display against the most out-of-form side in League Two would have left Adams with a lot of thinking to do.

Gillingham: Morris, Hutton, Clark, Ehmer, Smith, Gale, Little, Hawkins (Morgan 61), McKenzie, Nevitt, Gbode (Khumbeni 88). Subs not used: Turner, Masterson, Nolan, Clarke, Dack.

Morecambe: Burgoyne, Hendrie (Millen 88), Taylor, Stott, Tutonda (Garner 87), Macadam, Cooke (A Lewis 80), Songo’o, Angol (Slew 87), Dallas (Edwards 63), Dackers. Subs not used: White, P Lewis.

Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo.

Attendance: 5,612.

Gillingham 1 Morecambe 0: Paying the price for a poor performance