Bentley fumes at last-gasp equaliser

AN INJURY-time Chris Porter penalty gave Crewe a share of the spoils in this exciting encounter at Globe Arena.

The veteran striker kept his cool three minutes into injury time to give Dave Artell’s side a point.

A clearly angry Morecambe boss Jim Bentley said: “It is a result that it is tough to take. It was the third or fourth time this season that we have dropped points because we have not seen games out.

“We can’t afford to keep dropping points like we are doing and we don’t seem to be learning from our mistakes.

“We had done superbly well to get back into this game after going a goal down, and dominated the second half, so to give away points again was hard.

“Overall this season we are doing OK but we are the nearly team and that has to change in the second half of the season.’’

Crewe manager Dave Artell said he was relieved his side picked up a point after blasting his team’s performance.

He said: “We were rubbish. That’s the worst performance of the season for me.

“I had a right go at them at half-time when when we were winning because it just wasn’t us.

“I should be happy because we have picked up a point away from home with a last-minute penalty but I am more relieved to be honest because there was so much wrong with the performance.

Crewe took the lead after 27 minutes through James Jones.

The ball bounced around the edge of the area and Jones tried his luck with a right-foot shot that took a wicked deflection as it beat Mark Halstead low to his left side.

The home side dominated the second period and scored a deserved equaliser after 63 minutes with a stunning free-kick from Andrew Tutte.

The midfielder stepped up from 20 yards to clip the ball over the wall and into the top corner.

There was better to come for the home fans when veteran Kevin Ellison fired Morecambe into the lead with six minutes to go.

The 39-year-old received the ball on the right-hand side of the area and volleyed superbly past Garratt to set his side up for three points.

That was before the late drama which saw Porter send Mark Halstead the wrong way from the spot.