Morecambe 1-0 Port Vale report – Valiants lose out in drab defeat
The Valiants hit the bar and had another disallowed for offside but came away with nothing after Morecambe scored the decisive goal.
Darrell Clarke brought back skipper Tom Conlon and the visitors had the better of the opening exchanges in a lively opening. Meanwhile both of Morecambe’s opening efforts cleared the stands.
Ben Garrity was sent clear but he couldn’t find Matty Taylor with his cross while Tom Conlon had a header on target but tipped over by the keeper. Another good move saw Taylor break clear but no-one was on hand to convert the cross. Another effort from Sammy Robinson found the side netting.
Despite those half-chances for the Valiants, Morecambe had arguably the best chance of the half but Mayor blasted the ball narrowly over the bar.
Half-time: Morecambe 0-0 Port Vale
However, the home side started the second period strongly and their energy seemed to shock Vale as sub Gnahoua went close. On 48 minutes, Michael Mellon mis-kicked from close range when he really should have scored but it didn’t matter as two minutes later Mayor broke on the left and his cross shot beat Stone.
Nevertheless, Vale still had chances with Garrity forcing the keeper into a good save before Conlon saw a shot curl just wide. As Vale pushed for an equaliser, Tom Pett hit the bar while Matty Taylor found the net on 85 minutes only to flagged offside.
However, a resiliant Morecambe defence held firm as Vale were frustrated at not taking their chances. It was a missed opportunity to build on the win at the weekend and a game which saw too many unforced errors from the Vale team.
Full-time: Morecambe 1-0 Port Vale
Port Vale stats
Notes
Midfielder Tom Pett was as neat and tidy as always while the likes of Garrity and Taylor put in energetic shifts. However, this was also an error strewn game. Aidan Stone arguably could have done better with Mayor’s shot while Sammy Robinson made several unforced errors on the left.
Team line-up
Stone – Forrester (Proctor), Smith, Donnelly – Worrall, Conlon (Butterworth), Garrity, Pett, Robinson – Massey (Harrison), Taylor
Subs not used – Stevens, Agyakwa, Benning, Holden
Stats
Vale bookings: Robinson
Vale goals: none
Attendance: 4,316