Talking Points: Morecambe hit top form on the counter again to win at Carlisle

Reporter Adam Lord takes a closer look at Morecambe’s 3-2 win at Carlisle on Saturday.
Tom Barkhuizen goes for goal at Carlisle on Saturday.Tom Barkhuizen goes for goal at Carlisle on Saturday.
Tom Barkhuizen goes for goal at Carlisle on Saturday.

A great day for Shrimps’ front four

Once again it was Morecambe’s counter-attacking that was at the heart of their victory on Saturday. The goal scorers will take the headlines but it was another fine day for Jamie Devitt. Two more assists took his total to the season for 11, the most of any player in the top four tiers of English football. Providing for the increasingly prolific Shaun Miller and Tom Barkhuizen the trio formed a formidable front four with Kevin Ellison on Saturday. Ellison struggled early on but put in a real shift down the left working up and down the wing. The performances of Morecambe’s attacking quartet were such that Devitt and Ellison in particular received warm applause from the home fans when they were replaced. A classy touch and one that I’m sure left Ellison, a man so often the pantomime villain, bemused at how to behave. It was a fair reflection though on another stunning attacking display that makes The Shrimps League 2’s top scorers on 23 goals.

Defence played their part too

The attack may have stolen the show but after the 1-0 win at Bury last time out this was another improved defensive display from Morecambe despite the two goals conceded. Carlisle had some good spells in the game where any less commitment at the back would have seen the game swing firmly in favour of the Cumbrians. Ryan Edwards produced his second goalline clearance of the week while central defensive partner Andy Parrish was also on hand to intervene with a couple of fine defensive headers. The same can be said for Aaron McGowan who has been moved around all season but in the absence of Laurence Wilson had another good game at left back going in both directions, stopping crosses when necessary and then springing attacks. Shaun Beeley on the other side had probably his best game of the season. The stats don’t lie about The Shirmps’ defence this season with the league’s top scorers also having the joint worst defence with a goal difference of zero but things are certainly looking up.

Now time to take it back to the Globe

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Morecambe aren’t alone in being better on the road than on home soil. It seems to be something up and down the land that we’re seeing more away wins than ever. Not to put a negative slant on things but more than 300 Shrimps fans on Saturday will be wondering why more people don’t see this kind of display at the Globe Arena. We’ll have to wait to see if things can translate back home until the 20th of this month but Morecambe will certainly be full of confidence heading to AFC Wimbledon next Saturday. Bentley will be relieved to get a full week with his players with Aaron Wildig, Laurence Wilson, Adam Dugdale and Andy Fleming absent from a squad that has done so well over the past few days. The Shrimps boss will be hard pushed to change the side after what he saw on Saturday though.

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