Morecambe 2 Crewe Alexandra 2: How the managers reacted
James Jones had given Crewe a half-time lead, only for Andrew Tutte and Kevin Ellison to put Morecambe ahead.
Morecambe manager Jim Bentley and his Crewe Alexandra counterpart, David Artell, faced the media afterwards; this is how they saw the game.
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Hide AdJim Bentley: “It’s tough to take and I don’t think we deserved it.
“It feels like getting beaten and I thought we were unlucky to come in 1-0 down.
“It was an eventful game with a little bit of everything; the pitch is shot but we have tried to play and they have tried to play.
“We started really brightly in the first 10 or 15 minutes and had a couple of opportunities but they got the goal and had that momentum.
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Hide Ad“We wrestled it back, finished the half strongly, and I thought we played well and created chances.
“Tutty (Andrew Tutte) got us back in with a great free-kick and it looked like we were going to go on and win it.
“We scored a fantastic goal with Kevin Ellison towards the end and then we had that nervous edge; we were slashing at clearances and we weren’t hitting the percentage ball – or the right ball.
“We talk about game management; their centre-halves were shot and needed liquids and gels to get them through so what Rhys Oates wants is a ball to go in the channel so it’s a throw and the game’s dead.
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Hide Ad“Alex (Kenyon) has played the wrong ball and Rhys has held his hands up because he couldn’t get hold of it.
“They have broken, there’s a good bit of play from Shaun Miller, a good cross and it looks like a penalty; Millsy (Zak Mills) barges into the lad.
“I keep saying I’m an honest person; I look over every game and I think we’ve only gained five points this season but we’ve thrown 11 away.”
David Artell: “One of the worst performances of the season for me.
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Hide Ad“I had a go at them at half-time when we were winning 1-0 but when you score late to get something out of the game, you’re a relieved man.
“We couldn’t pass water; we didn’t match their tenacity but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
“It’s a funny old game; we got a point away from home when we’ve played 100 times better and got nothing.
“We were fortunate to be in front; they had one cleared off the line but I’m not sure they were ever going to open us up.
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Hide Ad“Second half, they were on the front foot just because they were in the right place and putting balls in the area – and we were making some poor decisions.
“I didn’t think we could get much worse but we didn’t get much better second half; it wasn’t a great advert for football full stop.
“Chris Porter was our best player by a distance and deserved his goal; he’s been terrific the last few games.
“He’s one player who could come out with any credit; the players were a shadow of themselves and the standards they set.”