STOCKTON’S DOUBLE SEES MORECAMBE RUN ENDED
The Shrimps suffer first defeat
TWO goals from Tranmere’s Cole Stockton left manager Rob Edwards purring over his side’s performance as Rovers inflicted a first defeat of the season on ten-man Morecambe.
The Shrimps saw their four-match winning run grind to a halt after skipper Mark Hughes was sent off having given Morecambe a first-half advantage against the run of play.
Stockton pounced to pull his side level with a confident strike before Hughes departed following an altercation with Kayode Odejaye soon after.
And the 20-year-old was on hand to slide home a second to send Rovers fans into raptures late in the game.
“Cole is the man who can put the ball in the net for us at the moment,” Edwards said. “The guy has a goalscoring threat in him.
“We needed a home win and we needed a good performance.
“We gave a good performance in the first-half but we came in a goal down.
“I told the players to keep believing. You have to keep your nerve and the fans kept theirs because they could see we were playing well.
“We had a lot of possession but weren’t creating enough chances on goal.
“The sending off changed the game. It was a huge turning point.We kept our composure, moved the ball
quickly and to get a goal at the end was fantastic.
“This is a great club and we need to take it forward.”
Abdulai Baggie’s teasing 13thminute ball across the face of the Morecambe goal was cleared by Joe Widdowson just as Max Power sought to steal in at the back post.
And Baggie was in the action again when Shrimps goalkeeper Barry Roach plucked Eliot Richard’s cross from the top of his head seven minutes later.
Morecambe had penalty appeals turned away by referee Mark Haywood when Widdowson went down after jinking his way into the Tranmere area.
But Hughes’ rash clearance almost cost the visitors at the other end when he sliced the ball towards his own goal before conceding a corner.
Morecambe opened the scoring from a 39th minute corner of their own. Jamie Devitt crossed the ball in with Alan Goodall heading it into the danger zone for Hughes to rise unmarked and direct it beyond Owain fon Williams and into the net.
Andrew Fleming should have doubled the Shrimps’ advantage early in the second-half when he blazed over after fon Williams failed to gather amid uncertainty in the Rovers defence.
Instead, Stockton fired Tranmere level when he pounced on a defensive mistake to cut inside the penalty area and slam the ball into the bottom corner just before the hour.
And things quickly worsened for Morecambe when a livid Hughes was sent off for nudging his head towards Tranmere substitute Odejayi on 63 minutes.
Power brought a good save from Barry Roache soon after and Stockton did likewise from the edge of the box.
Stockton then played in Baggie who steered a shot inches wide while fon Williams parried a strong Kevin Ellison shot as Morecambe counter attacked.
But Stockton guided home his second from Matt Hill’s free-kick late on to give Tranmere their first home win of the campaign.
Morecambe boss Jim Bentley said: “The turning point was the sending off.
“If you do that type of movement with your head then you are leaving yourself wide open whether there is contact or not.
“We knew it would be backs against the wall from there and we dug in and threw bodies on the line.
“We have lost our 100 per cent record but we have to make sure we bounce back after we pick the bones out of this.”