Bentley rues host of missed chances
MORECAMBE manager Jim Bentley felt his team could have had the result at Stevenage in the bag by half-time before eventually being forced to settle for a point.
The Shrimps were being left frustrated by an excellent display by veteran Stevenage goalkeeper Chris Day and looked to be paying the price when Simon Walton converted a penalty for the hosts.
In the end, Padraig Amond came to Morecambe’s rescue although a point was the least the visitors deserved in a match where no quarter was given between two sides battling in mid-table.
Bentley said: “I think on our first half performance we could have been out of sight because we had some decent chances where maybe we need to use our head a little bit more.
“We just couldn’t take one of those chances and I thought we looked solid at the back.
“In the second half they changed their shape a little bit and had a go, the crowd got behind them and we’ve then conceded a penalty where, credit were credit’s due, the referee has got it right.
“In the end a great delivery by Jamie Devitt from a corner and a fabulous header from Padraig Amond has got us a point.”
Day was forced into action for the first time after 15 minutes when he pushed out Jack Redshaw’s effort after the Morecambe man had cut in from the right.
The Shrimps created the better chances in a tight first half with Amond being put through by Paul Mullin only to be denied by a good block by Day.
Stevenage broke the deadlock when David McAllister was chopped down in the area by Morecambe captain Mark Hughes and Walton calmly slotted his penalty into the bottom corner.
The 39-year-old Day was then the ‘Boro hero again when he stood strong to deny Amond once more after he had been put through by Devitt.
But the Shrimps earned themselves a point with five minutes left when Amond was left unmarked to head Devitt’s corner home.
Stevenage boss Graham Westley said:“I thought it was a fair result, they came with a game plan.
“I think their mentality when they scored their goal said it all: that they were happy with that point and they wanted to see the game out.
“We probably didn’t speed our game up as much as I would have liked in the first half and later on we saw that we’ve got five or six lads who are coming back after injury and lacking match fitness. Towards the end one or two of them were flagging and the early substitution of Jon Ashton obviously didn’t help in terms of plan changes.”