Southend United 0-1 Morecambe - Review!

October 5, 2014 by Alec Hitchman

Southend United 0-1 Morecambe - More Morecambe Hoodoo Worries for Blues

Yes, that’s right, Southend United still haven’t beaten Morecambe in a league game. This was a very open game, all in all, but Blues went down to an early strike from Morecambe’s Jack Redshaw.
Blues’ four game winning streak came to an end on Saturday, as Morecambe won their first game in four, having lost their last three games prior to Saturday. These sorts of poor runs for our opposition always seem to come to an end against us, and the case was no different at the weekend.
Blues were 1-0 down in the first four minutes after Paul Mullin’s long ball caught out the entire Blues defence, as Redshaw beat the offside trap to volley home first time, beyond Blues ‘keeper Daniel Bentley.
The goal did, however, seem to spark Blues into life, and we almost got back into it, as Conor Clifford’s curling shot rattled the crossbar from just outside the box. After a short scramble in the box, Morecambe managed to get the ball clear of trouble.
Jack Redshaw soon found himself unmarked in the Blues penalty area yet again, but this time, his shot on the turn was dealt with well by Daniel Bentley, diving down to his left, before Adam Thompson brilliantly blocked Kevin Ellison’s shot from the rebound.
Blues kept pushing for the rest of the first half, with Shaquile Coulthirst and Jack Payne forcing Morecambe ‘keeper Barry Roche into two saves. Myles Weston was the next unlucky Blues player, as his shot was deflected into the grateful hands of Roche. Coulthirst soon found himself free of the visiting defence, but he could only put his shot just wide of the post.
In the second half, things got rather heated, with both sets of players gunning for each other. Morecambe were the more dangerous, with most of their attempts to get the ball being "Studs-up" challenges. Proceedings weren’t helped at all by Morecambe’s clear and obvious time wasting tactic, which clearly and quite rightly annoyed every Blues fan in the ground, along with the players and coaching staff. Unfortunately, the referee only clamped down on this once, by booking Morecambe’s Shaun Beeley, for taking 90 seconds to take one free kick.
This time wasting continued but the referee refused to do anything about it apart from having words with Morecambe’s captain, Mark Hughes.
Blues soon made a few changes, with Lee Barnard replacing Jack Payne and Will Atkinson replacing Conor Clifford in the 60th minute. Both subs helped Blues push for that much needed equaliser, with Barnard linking up well with Coulthirst, before the Tottenham loanee (Coulthirst), dragged his shot wide of the post.
Morecambe also continued pushing towards the end, between their time wasting, with Redshaw once again forcing Bentley into a save from a header. From the resulting save, Bentley quickly bowled the ball out to Jerome Binnom-Williams, who conjured up a few decent passes with David Worrell, (who came on as a substitute in the 68th minute in place of Myles Weston), before his (Worrell’s) cross was cleared by the Morecambe defence, only as far as Gary Deegan, who’s half volley from 20 yards out went just over the bar.
To cap it all off, Blues could, and definitely should have equalised in the 94th minute, as Luke Prosser’s back-heel from a John White cross evaded everyone, including Lee Barnard, and David Worrell, who was inches away from securing a point for Blues and getting his first Southend goal.

Next up for Southend is a trip to last season’s Conference champions, Luton Town on Saturday.

Match Stats

Shots

Southend: 17 / Morecambe: 8

Shots on Target

Southend: 7 / Morecambe: 5

Corners

Southend: 6 / Morecambe:56

Yellow Cards

Southend: 1 / Morecambe: 2

Red Cards

Southend: 0 / Morecambe: 0

Possession

Southend: 45% / Morecambe: 55%

Results

Friday (03/10/2014)

Burton Albion 1-3 Cambridge United
Dagenham & Redbridge 1-2 Exeter City

Saturday (04/10/2014)

Bury FC 2-0 Tranmere Rovers
Cheltenham Town 1-1 AFC Wimbledon
Hartlepool United 0-3 Carlisle United
Mansfield Town 0-1 Accrington Stanley
Oxford United 1-0 Newport County
Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Shrewsbury Town
Stevenage FC 1-2 Luton Town
Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Northampton Town
York City 0-0 Portsmouth FC