BENTLEY BOYS LEAVE COOPER SPEECHLESS!
IT WAS a tale of contrasting emotions as Morecambe shocked play-off chasing Forest Green with a convincing victory at the Globe Arena.
Jim Bentley was delighted with his Morecambe side’s performance as the Shrimps moved further away from the bottom two with their first home win since December. However, Mark Cooper was so angry with his team’s toothless display that he refused to speak to the media and refused to put anybody from the club up for interview after the game.
Bentley said: “It was great to get three points at home and it’s been long overdue.
“The fans who have travelled away have seen us pick up some great wins in recent weeks at Port Vale and Oldham, but we were desperate to get a result for our home crowd.
“Overall it was a great win against a good side going all out for promotion.
“Forest Green play good football, but we had a game plan and I’m really pleased with the way the lads carried it out.
“We knew they would have plenty of possession, but we knew we could hit them on the counter and that is exactly what we did. We thoroughly deserved the three goals and we could have had a few more as well.
“Right across the board there were some great performances.
“It means we have won three of the last five now and have moved clear of the bottom two. We will not rest on our laurels, though, because there are still 10 games to go.’’
Bentley’s side enjoyed a dream start with the opening goal coming after six minutes.
A long ball forward caught out the Forest Green defence and as they failed to clear their lines Aaron Collins reacted sharply to claim possession and cross into the six-yard box where Rhys Oates forced the ball over the line at full stretch.
The visitors went close to levelling just three minutes later when Shawn McCoulsky found space in the box, only to see his shot cleared off the line by defender Ritchie Sutton.
Morecambe went close again when Collins was denied by a superb save from Lewis Ward low to his left, but the Shrimps’ winger was not to be denied for long as he stroked home his side’s second with a low shot from the edge of the box that beat Ward. Christian Doidge had a chance to pull one back in first-half stoppage time, but headed straight at Halstead and that summed up Forest Green’s afternoon. The visitors enjoyed the greater share of possession in the second half, but could find no way through a well-drilled Morecambe defence. George Williams looked their most dangerous outlet with two long-range shots, butthey were undone for a third time after 71 minutes when Oates stole the ball on the left hand byline and crossed for Alex Kenyon to score.