Super Kev one Ell of a star for Shrimps

THERE were free pies, free pints and three points for Morecambe fans to celebrate as they maintained their unbeaten start to 2017.

The cash-strapped Shrimps extended their unbeaten run to six games in a match that saw supporters treated to a free pie and pint thanks to a special promotion by league sponsors Sky Bet following the fans’ collection to pay Jim Bentley’s FA fine last month.

Bentley said: “Everyone knows the problems the club has had off the field but through it all people seem to have come together.

“The fans paying my fine was emotional and the promotion to thank them was brilliant.

“There was a great atmosphere and the players really responded. Despite the fact they have been paid late a couple of times they have been absolutely superb in recent weeks and I can’t praise them enough.

“Every single player was brilliant but Kevin Ellison will quite rightly grab the headlines as he was superb again and fully deserved his two goals.

“People look at the fact he is 37 but that does not matter at all. He is a credit to himself and he fully deserved his two goals and could have had more.’’

Cambridge boss Shaun Derry was clearly angry as he felt his side produced their worst performance since he took over.

He said: “We’ve had some good times in the last 14 months but that was very definitely a low point and I don’t want to see that type of show again.

“I was disgusted with the performance to be honest and I’m angry.

“When you play like that you don’t deserve to get anything from the game. I’ve told the lads that in no uncertain terms because I don’t want them thinking that that was just a bad day. It was more than that. It was unacceptable.”

In the first half Morecambe thought they had taken the lead on nine minutes but Peter Murphy’s header from a Michael Rose corner was disallowed for handball.

Cambridge looked dangerous themselves with Jake Carroll hitting the woodwork when he got on the end of Luke Berry’s cross.

Ellison opened the scoring five minutes into the second half when he bundled home the loose ball after Will Norris had saved superbly from Michael Duckworth’s closerange effort.

The veteran striker added a second five minutes later after Norris again made a smart saved as he parried Paul Mullin’s effort and he was again on hand.