Wealdstone 2, Morecambe 3: Shrimps earn vital win over Wealdstone
Two goals from Jack Nolan earned Morecambe a vital three points with a 3-2 win over Wealdstone at Grosvenor Vale.
Nolan took his tally to 11 for the season as he scored either side of the break to give Jim Bentley his second win since replacing Ashvir Singh Johal.
Bentley made two changes to the side that drew with York as Yann Songo'o came in for the suspended Paul Lewis and Harlee Dean was chosen ahead of Timmy Akindilene who was on the bench.
The changes could not prevent the Shrimps from going a goal down after just three minutes. A free kick was floated into the box and Dean's slip presented Deon Woodman with a free header that was superbly saved by Jamal Blackman only for Olufela Olomola to smash the loose ball home from close range.
After a slow start the Shrimps produced their first moment of threat with a long range effort from Mo Sangare that was straight at Dante Baptiste.
And after soaking up more pressure Morecambe levelled on 36 minutes when they broke away quickly with Miguel Azeez seeing a shot deflected inches wide only for Chris Popov to level the scores from the resulting corner as he got the final touch from Liam Hogan's header.
Blackman was called into action on the stroke of half time when when Sean Adarkwa teed up Olomola for his second but the Shrimps' stopper reacted superbly to foil the striker.
And it was a vital save as Nolan gave the Shrimps the lead in first half stoppage time as the winger cut inside and curled home his 11th goal of the season with a delightful effort from the edge of the area.
Wealdstone started the second half on the front foot with Dylan Kadji heading over from close range and Nathan Tshikuna firing a 30 yard free kick not too far over the bar.
The Shrimps added a third on 57 minutes when Songo'o wriggled past two challenges and found Azeez who played in Nolan to round Baptiste and score his second of the evening.
The Shrimps were undone for a second time against the run of play when Wealdstone pulled one back on 72 minutes through substitute Micah Obiero when he poked Sam Hassan's cross over the line as the visitors looked for an offside flag that failed to come.
After looking comfortable the nerves hit the Shrimps with Blackman forced to make another excellent save from Olomola on 85 minutes.
To make maters worse right back Payne was sent off for a second yellow card moments later with the Shrimps reduced to 10 men for the second game in succession to cause further concerns for the visitors.
Wealdstone pushed forward at the death with Woodman volleying an Elijah Dixon-Bonner free kick wide but after some stoic last gasp defending at the death the Shrimps held on to clinch a vital three points.
Wealdstone: Baptiste, Boldewijn, Woodman, McAvoy, Hutchinson (Adu-Poku 70), Kadji, Hinchy (Spencer 90), Tshikuna (Dixon-Bonner 62), Tiensia (Hassan 70), Olomola, Adarkwa (Obiero 62). Subs not used: Johnson, Waller.
Booked: Hutchinson, Khadji.
Morecambe: Blackman, Payne, Dean, Hogan, Jameson, Edwards (Williams 76), Songo'o, Sangare (Cain 87), Azeez (Ogwuru 77), Nolan (Tollitt 86), Popov (Nuttall 86). Subs not used: Boney, Akindileni.
Booked: Payne, Edwards, Dean, Jameson.