Zeli’s bit of magic has Gary dreaming
SUBSTITUTE Zeli Ismail’s wonder strike had Gary Rowett licking his lips in delight but the Burton boss admits he is hungry for more as Albion got their promotion push back on track.
Before their trip to Morecambe, the Brewers had failed to win in four games while their last away victory had not come since the end of November.
But that stat was corrected thanks to Ismail’s first Football League goal on 72 minutes which saw him cut in from the left to blast in a low shot past Barry Roche.
It was far from a flowing performance from either side but with the win leaving his side fifth in the table, Rowett was not complaining.
“For an away performance in difficult conditions and a difficult pitch we coped really, really well with it,” said the former Derby defender.
“In the end it was an absolutely wonderful piece of magic from Zeli to get the goal.
“There’s a real belief about the squad and about the players that we are doing the right thing.
“Everyone around us has wobbled a little bit in terms of not keeping on winning but we’ve taken about 26 points from 13 games.
“So I think we have a terrific record but we want to be greedy and we want to win every game and be up right near the top.”
Morecambe were dealt a blow when left-back Robbie Threlfall was forced off with a head injury on 13 minutes, before Jack Redshaw had a goal ruled out for offside.
Burton then began to push forward with Morecambe keeper Roche saving impressively from Gary Alexander and then Alexander Macdonald.
The hosts had a great chance to take the lead after the hour mark as Jamie Devitt set up Ellison but the striker headed over.
And with the visitors then happy to defend their lead following Ismail’s goal, Morecambe’s winless streak extended to six games.
“I’ve got to be honest and I think they had a little more knowhow than us and they had much more quality than we had,” said Morecambe manager Jim Bentley.
“They got hold of the ball better and made better decisions and deserved to beat us.
“It did take a bit of a wonder strike to win the game.
“But as far as I’m concerned we got what we deserved.We never fought enough.
“You can see how tight the league is, a win could have seen us go eighth but a defeat and you drop into the bottom half and now we are looking over our shoulder.”