Sutton United 0 Morecambe 5: Nolan hat-trick helps deliver back-to-back wins for Shrimps
A first-half hat-trick from Jack Nolan helped the Shrimps seal back-to-back league wins for the first time this season as their quest for National League safety continued.
Nolan scored three times in the space of just eight minutes after Paul Lewis had scored his first Morecambe goal early in the game and before Dan Ogwuru found the target for the first time since the opening day of the season.
Shrimps boss Jim Bentley made two changes to the side that beat Wealdstone in midweek with Paul Lewis coming in for the injured Miguel Azeez and Timmy Akindileni replacing the suspended Lewis Payne, who was serving a one-match ban for his sending-off against the Stones.
And the Shrimps got off to a flying start when they took the lead after just six minutes. Gwion Edwards found Nolan down the right and he played the ball into the box for Lewis to produce a neat back-flick to beat Jack Sims from close range.
There was more good news for the Shrimps as they doubled their lead in the 17th minute through top scorer Nolan, who produced another fine finish to squeeze the ball past Sims from a tight angle for his 13th goal of the season.
Morecambe continued to push and after Chris Popov saw a shot blocked, Nolan added his second on 20 minutes with an effort that beat Sims directly from the resulting corner.
Edwards pushed for a fourth with an effort that forced a good defensive block and Popov headed a Nolan corner over, before Nolan sealed his hat-trick on 23 minutes when he took advantage of some shocking Sutton defending on the edge of their own box with the easiest of finishes.
To make matters worse for the home side, Junior Eccleston showed his frustration with a shocking tackle on Popov that rightfully earned a straight red card and reduced the home side to 10 men.
Popov had a golden chance to score a fifth for the Shrimps in the fourth minute of first-half added time, only for the striker to miss the target by some way when played in on goal.
Sutton had the better share of the possession in the second half, despite being a man down, but it was the Shrimps who created the first chance of note from a swift counter attack as he forced Sims to save with his feet and the rebound just failing to find Nolan.
Harlee Dean headed a Nolan corner on 75 minutes before Ogwuru scored a fifth for the Shrimps with his first since returning on loan from Workington, as he smashed the loose ball home from 15 yards out to help steer the Shrimps to three points from safety.
Sutton: Sims, Donkor, Eccleston, Pruti, Topalloj, Muller, Jennings (Harris 80), Simper (Bell 56), Njoku (Nadesan 56), Francis (Eze 80), Foyo (Rodari 70). Subs not used: Haigh, Ogbonna.
Booked: Jennings, Njoku, Bell.
Sent off: Eccleston.
Morecambe: Blackman, Akindileni, Hogan, Dean, Jameson (Williams 63), Edwards (Tollitt 77), Sangare (Cain 63), Lewis, Songo'o (Ogwuru 45), Nolan (Nuttall 77), Popov. Subs not used: Boney, Conte.
Booked: Songo'o, Lewis.
Referee: E Swallow.