Boy Dunn good but Bentley’s unhappy
JIM BENTLEY is demanding more from Jack Dunn after the Liverpool loanee played a starring role in Morecambe’s comeback win over rock-bottom Cambridge.
The U’s were in control of the game, and led through Piero Mingoia’s 36th-minute strike. But then Dunn won and scored a second-half penalty before laying on the winner for Paul Mullin two minutes later.
Shrimps boss Bentley said: “Jack hasn’t hit the heights yet for me.
“He’s a very skillful player who’s come to League Two from a massive club.
“He burst onto the scene with three goals against Rotherham in the cup, but we’ve been a little bit frustrated with his performances since.
“We’ve got a lot of young lads who we believe in and Dunny is one of those. He got the penalty here and set up the winner with some fantastic play.”
Tempers flared in the tunnel after the final whistle was blown, and Bentley and Cambridge CEO Jez George were involved in a long discussion with a police officer following clashes between opposing players and staff.
The Morecambe manager was keen to play down the incident, describing it as “part and parcel of football.”
Under-pressure Cambridge boss Shaun Derry, whose side remain without a win this season, said: “Tempers are frayed, and things have been said and done by both sides."
On the match itself, Derry added: “We had a positive first half, but the second was really disappointing, and I didn’t see it coming. It’s tough for us, we need to stick together because when you’re going through hell you have to keep going.
“I’m a fighter, and I’ll keep fighting because I hate seeing us at the bottom of the league.” Derry can at least reflect on a first hour where his side seemed in complete control, and took a deserved lead when Mingoia drove in a low shot following good approach play from Medy Elito. They could have been further in front had Ben Williamson not blocked a goal-bound effort from team-mate Leon Legge, while Adam McGurk was unlucky to see a curling effort flash past the post.
But Luke Berry’s clumsy lunge on Dunn saw the visitors gifted the chance to equalise, and the forward made no mistake from 12 yards. Then Morecambe broke from a Cambridge corner, Dunn dispossessing Conor Newton on half way and slipping the ball through to Mullin, who rounded Will Norris to score.