​Halifax Town 1 Morecambe 0: Shrimps have no answer to early goal

After Saturday's encouraging display in the 2-2 draw against Scunthorpe, the shot-shy Shrimps showed no attacking edge and never looked like fighting back after Will Harris’ ninth-minute goal.

Morecambe boss Ashvir Singh Johal made two changes to the side that drew with Scunthorpe as he handed debuts to new signings Harlee Dean and Tommy Fogarty, who both started in the centre of the Shrimps’ defence.

They were made to work hard in the opening minutes as Halifax twice created openings for Harris as he drilled a shot over from the left-hand side of the box and headed straight at Jamal Blackman in the first five minutes.

Top scorer Harris was not to be denied for long however as he fired Halifax ahead.

Jack Nolan lost possession in the Halifax half and Angelo Cappello set off on a run that ended with a pass to the striker, who made no mistake with a cool finish from just inside the area.

From there Morecambe enjoyed plenty of possession but struggled to break down the home defence as they produced only one effort of note, as George Thomas forced Sam Johnson into a neat near post save.

The second half didn't really get any better for Morecambe who failed to trouble Sam Johnson until the 87th minute when Paul Lewis was presented with a half chance but could only shoot weakly at the home keeper.

The closest either side came was when Halifax were awarded a penalty in the 81st minute but Blackman was the hero again with his third spot-kick save in a row from Jay Turner-Cooke's effort.

Halifax: S Johnson, Smith, Hobson, Latty-Fairweather, Warburton, C Johnson, Bray (Wright 69), Hugill (Hoti 69), Turner-Cooke (Adetoro 89), Capello (Jenkins 78), Harris. Subs not used: Ford, Mills, Lavery.

Morecambe: Blackman, Payne, Dean, Fogarty, Conte, Lewis, Azeez, Nolan, Thomas (Tollitt 73), Edwards, Nuttall (Popov 54). Subs not used: Boney, Williams, Campbell, McWilliams, Akindileni.