Morecambe players praised for their efforts in Bolton Wanderers loss

Derek Adams praised his Morecambe players despite seeing them beaten 1-0 by Bolton Wanderers.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Ben Jackson’s first-half goal settled matters at the Mazuma Stadium on a day when the Shrimps lost Kelvin Mellor to a red card with Liam Gibson and Aaron Wildig also limping off.

Defeat kept Morecambe fourth in the League Two table, four points behind third-placed Bolton and another point adrift of second-placed Cambridge United with two games left.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mellor was dismissed midway through the opening period for his reaction to a challenge from Oladapo Afolayan before Jackson scored with two seconds remaining of first-half added time.

Derek Adams saw his Morecambe side beaten at the Mazuma StadiumDerek Adams saw his Morecambe side beaten at the Mazuma Stadium
Derek Adams saw his Morecambe side beaten at the Mazuma Stadium

“I thought we were excellent today,” Adams said afterwards.

“Performance-wise, we gave it a right good go. Up to the 20-minute mark, we were by far the better team.

“Even when we went down to 10 players, Bolton had possession but they couldn’t break us down.

“Eventually, they got a goal justt on half-time but the effort from the players was very good, their application when we go down to 10 players was excellent.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The turning point was Mellor’s red card, which handed the visitors a numerical advantage.

It came moments after Gibson was forced off with injury, meaning the Shrimps had lost both starting full-backs in the space of three minutes.

For good measure, they also had to replace Wildig at half-time after he limped off, leading to Freddie Price’s introduction.

Adams said: “From where I was standing, I thought it was a sending off.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I thought it was soft. The boy (Afolayan) either puts his foot on top of Kelvin or does something and Kelvin swung a leg round to get him off.

“That changed the game and the injuries to Liam Gibson and Aaron Wildig caused us some more issues as well.”

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 per month for the first two months. Try us today by clicking here