Ashton Athletic 3-2 Morecambe

Morecambe went into this game as underdogs but came out of the game not knowing how they hadn't managed to win this game and progress into the next round. Despite going 2-0 down in the opening 20 minutes, Morecambe had most of the possession through out the game and showed grit and determination but just couldn't find the equaliser they desperately needed in the end.

Morecambe made two changes for this game with Liam Marshall replacing the unavailable Joe Shanley in goal and Dean Hughes back from suspension to replace Guy Gibson at centre back. From the kickoff, it looked as though it would be a one sided affair with Ashton quickly taking control in the middle of the park for the first ten minutes. Marshall was called into action on a few occasions , having to tip two efforts around the post. Morecambe's defence were also called in action with some frantic defending in the penalty area, having to make some last ditch blocks and tackles but the period of pressure finally paid off as they went in front.

A free kick on the left hand side of the penalty box was headed in over Marshall as Morecambe's marking was all over the place. This would prove to be a wake up call for the visitor's as Morecambe started to take control in the middle of the park whilst Ashton sat back and tried to play on the break. The Shrimps' started to create some chances but couldn't break through as the final ball was just not good enough. But out of nothing, Ashton extended their lead to 2-0. A Morecambe break was broken up and cleared up field by the centre back letting Ashton counter attack. The ball bounced up 30 yards out after Morecambe hadn't properly cleared, and was volleyed in over the stranded Marshall.

It was unexpected but it didn't stop Morecambe as they reduced the deficit straight away with Russell Moore bringing the Shrimps back into the game. Moore got the ball on the edge of the box and weaved his way through two weak challenges and managed to poke the ball past the keeper into the bottom right corner. The rest of the half was all Morecambe with Will Huntington ripping Ashton's right back to shreds and getting crosses in all the time which caused the hosts some real problems but the crosses weren't converted. The fast paced first half came to close with the score staying at 2-1 to Ashton but the second half would continue at this frantic pace.

The second half was just all Morecambe controlling everything. The visitors were winning every 50/50 tackle and looked like they wanted it more than Ashton and should have equalised in the first 10 minutes. Adam Bell headed a corner over the bar and Hughes volleying against the post as Ashton's defending was none existent from set-pieces. Sam Hallam then thought he had scored after hitting the sweetest of volley's from 6 yards out but somehow Ashton's keeper managed to tip it over the bar with a brilliant save.

However, once again Ashton scored out of nothing on the break to increase regain their two goal cushion. Another long kick up field bounced on the edge of the box and fell perfectly to Ashton's striker, whose unconvincing shot somehow sneaked into the corner. One which Marshall should have done better with. But just like before, Morecambe struck again straight away to bring them back into the game again. Moore and Huntington combined once again to weave their way through Ashton's defence, Moore then got tackled but the ball rolled across goal with the keeper in no man's land, and they were two Morecambe players waiting to score. Callum Crookes got their first to reduce the deficit.

Morecambe continued to press for the equaliser they needed but couldn't create any more clear chances like they had done before. The closest they came was when Huntington's cross was just too hard for substitute John Frizzle to reach. The game ended 3-2 to Ashton and would probably have been a huge sigh of relief for them as they knew that they had been in a game. Morecambe Will reflect on what might have been but performances like this are needed to be continued in the league if they want to do well.

Man of the Match - Dean Hughes - Brilliant on his return with some important last ditch tackles and he won everything in the air. However, everyone performed well and did not deserve to be on the losing side.

Bournemouth 0-1 Lincoln

In an uneventful affair, Lincoln City took the 3 points at Dean Court thanks to a Lenell John-Lewis first half strike. For a large period of the game, the ball was in the air and mainly a midfield battle, with both teams struggling to create any clear cut chances through out the game.

Bournemouth started well and struck first when Jeff Goulding converted a corner, but the Referee disallowed the goal for a push on centre back Janos Kovacs, which was the correct decision. Despite this, The first half was all Lincoln. Their 3-man centre midfield consisting of Frecklington, Kerr and Oakes dictated the play and marked Bournemouth's influential Captain, Darren Anderton out of the game. Bournemouth's strange formation with one winger also helped Lincoln's chances as this meant their fullbacks had lots of space to work in. This is where the eventful winning goal came from.

A long cross field ball from captain Scott Kerr evaded The Cherries' right back Lee Bradbury and fell straight into the path of onrushing left back Lee Beevers. He cut inside and played it to John-Lewis, who toe-nebbed it into the bottom left hand corner of Shwan Jalal's net. The keeper should have really kept it out.

The tempo of the game didn't change until half time, as Lincoln tried to capitalise on the missing winger and space for the full backs, but they couldn't extend their lead. Beevers went close but his shot went wide and Dany N'Guessan had a bad touch when he was clean through and really should have finished. This would be the closest they would get, as half time became a wake-up call for Jimmy Quinn's side.

It was literally a game of two halves as Bournemouth controlled the second half but couldn't penetrate the Imp's solid defence. Darren Anderton started to make room for himself and whipping in crosses into the box. This was the story of the second half as many long balls were put into the box but they caused Lincoln no trouble. Goulding's header was straight at keeper Burch and striker partner Brett Pitman's shot was blocked by Kovacs but this would be the closest the Cherries would come to finding an equaliser as Lincoln defended stoutly.

The visitors also had chances themselves but were restricted to long range efforts with Frecklington and Oakes on two occasions, shooting over. 5 Minutes of stoppage time couldn't help Jimmy Quinn's side finding an equaliser as the game finished 1-0 to Lincoln.
A huge win for Lincoln's promotion bid under boss Peter Jackson.

Morecambe Under 18's 6-2 Galgate Under 18's

Morecambe secured their first win of the season at the hands of Galgate. After last week's disappointing defeat to Charnock Richard in the Syndicate Trust Youth Cup, The shrimps needed to bounce back and big changes were made by manager Richard Gough. The formation changed to 4-3-3 with Guy Gibson, William Swan-Bell, John Frizzle, Lewis Hogg and Lawrence Cope coming into the starting line-up.

It wasn't all plain sailing for Morecambe as Galgate penned them in their own half for the first ten minutes. However Galgate didn't create much and only created one decent opening but Morecambe Keeper Joe Shanley, was up to the task making an excellent save. The deadlock was then broken 10 minutes later as Morecambe broke. A flick on by Russell Moore played in John Frizzle, who out paced the defence and finished with aplomb into the bottom corner. Morecambe then took control of the game having more of the possession with the passing particularly a joy to watch. Dan Jackson, Sam Hallam and Russell Moore won every ball in the midfield for the rest of the half but very few chances were created, so the Shrimps went in 1-0 up at halftime.

The second half started the same as the first with Galgate putting Morecambe under more pressure but once again it was Morecambe, who scored first again. An inswinging corner was met by Russell Moore's header which nestled in the bottom corner despite the best attempts of the Galgate keeper and the player on the line. The Shrimps concentration then suddenly switched off as Galgate's Nathan Winder pulled a goal back only a few minutes later when he skipped through two poor challenges and dispatched leaving Shanley with no chance.

Two more goals by Morecambe then killed off any hopes of a Galgate comeback as Morecambe once again took control. Moore scored his second with a smart finish from substitute William Huntington's pull back and then fellow substitute Daniel Murtagh scoring from long range, leaving the Keeper grasping thin air.

Winder then pulled another consolation back when he headed over Shanley but then got himself sent off for a second bookable offence after he kicked out at Huntington. Galgate had already started to tire and by now, Morecambe were dominant. Dan Jackson then slotted home with other players queuing up behind him to finish, and finally Swan-Bell scored after the Keeper spilled Dan Jackson's long range effort.

Torrisholme's start to the season

Seven games in and it looks like another hard season for Torrisholme FC. After major departures in preseason and the scrapping of the reserve team from the Football League, Torrisholme's squad looks rather different with a huge drop in numbers for players signing on. Currently sitting 12th with 2 points in Division 1 out of 14 teams, it looks worrying already.

It looked promising in the first game of the season against Grange as Torrisholme looked in cruise control for most of the game. Goals from Callum Crookes, Nick Dagger and a Rob O'Brien brace had looked to have given them the three points, but with the score at 4-2 and with ten minutes remaining, the curse of last season came back as Grange managed to draw level with 10 seconds left. The game ended 4-4 and the extra two points had somehow eluded Torrisholme.

Crushing defeats to Storey's Reserves and Marsh United Reserves followed as the top sides in the league showed their class by controlling the games in the middle of the park. Torrisholme battled hard through out each game but it was the curse of school boy errors frequently coming back to deny them. The second game against Storey's Reserves however, was much different. The introduction of Daniel Syson to the midfield, gave Torrisholme more heart and creativity. Unfortunately, a blatant penalty conceded by Crookes gave Storeys, a 2-1 victory.

Torrisholme then changed their formation to 3-4-3 for the next game away at College AFC but it still did not help Torrisholme play the way they did for most of the Grange game. It took them time to get a foot in the game but after falling 1-0 down from poorly defended corner, the midfield pairing of Daniel Syson and John Lee, took the game by the scruff of the neck and slowly started to dominate. Nick Dagger equalised with a tap-in but Torrisholme couldn't find the winner. Another point gained but another 2 points lost with College there for the taking.

As proved before, 2 more crushing defeats followed, against Bentham and Slyne. Bentham, my tip for the title, were in full control from the first whistle as Torrisholme couldn't handle their pace and swift passing. The game ended 4-1 but should have been a lot more.

Defensive errors have been a big issue all season and it looks like they will struggle to get rid of them as proved last season, meaning it could be another tough year for Torrisholme.

Morecambe Under 18's 0-0 Wyre Juniors FC

It was the first game of the season and everyone was looking forward to it. Confidence is high in Morecambe's side and it certainly proved in this encounter. However, it wasn't going to their day as Wyre proved to a difficult side to break down who came to get a point with a very defensive display.

Despite all the possession, Morecambe didn't really create any clear cut chances but did hit the bar twice. Most of the opportunities were from distance which were easily dealt with by the keeper, other chances were denied by Wyre's linesman who made dubious offside decisions when strikers John Frizzle and Russell Moore were played through.

When they did break through, they were denied by the woodwork. Will Huntington's corner was met with a bullet header by Adam Bell, which crashed against the top of the crossbar. It was to be the story of the match as the final third continued to be the problem. William Swan-Bell then hit the bar with a cross in the second half as Morecambe continued to press for a winner.

Wyre did have chances of their own however, Scott Gough managing to clear the danger on one occasion and goalkeeper Liam Marshall making a great save on another. Apart from that, Wyre didn't look threatening with Morecambe's defence looking comfortable.

Despite the draw, it was a very encouraging display by Morecambe. The defence looked solid through out and the midfield were in full control in the middle of the park. Dan Jackson and Sam Hallam particularly looking strong in the middle. The front line made some good runs in the first half but this then petered out in the second half. Their creativity was also a bit too central as, on a few occasions, chances were wasted while wingers were free with a lot of space.

Man of the Match: Adam Bell - His work rate was unquestionable, constantly running up and down the wing from left-back. Very comfortable at defending and always a threat in attack. Unlucky not to score with his header.

First home game of the season

Rotherham United cruised to the 3 points in the first home game of the season for Morecambe thanks to 3 excellent goals and a commanding performance by Pablo Mills in the centre of midfield. The Millers were full of confidence after their penalty shoot-out victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in midweek and this showed through out. On the other hand, The Shrimps lacked in most departments and resorted to the long ball which was easily coped with by the Yorkshire men's defence.

Ex-Manchester United graduate Mark Lynch opened the scoring on 8 minutes when he cut inside of left-back Danny Adams and curled an effort over Keeper Barry Roache into the top right hand corner. Adams was at fault as Lynch cutting inside could be clearly seen by everyone but he still managed to fall for it. The goal was deserved as the Miller's had totally controlled the game, with them using the space effectively as McIlroy played the strange formation of one winger and 3 centre midfielders once again. Lynch and winger Rueben Reid were the main culprits to take advantage of this as they caused havoc all afternoon.

The second goal for Rotherham came on 40 minutes and was a piece of class football with slick passing that once again sliced open the shrimps defence which had happened through out Morecambe's preseason matches. Pablo Mills started the move once again as he did in the first goal when he found Reid, he played it inside to Mark Hudson, who split the defence open with the simplest of passes and youngster Ryan Taylor had got on the wrong side of centre-back David Artell. He bent it round the despairing dive of Roache to put Rotherham in an even more comfortable position coming towards halftime.

McIlroy put Wayne Curtis on at halftime which gave the Shrimps a more balanced look. Both wingers for Morecambe, Curtis and Neil Wainwright caused problems all day for both fullbacks and this is where Morecambe's solitary goal came from on 77 minutes. Curtis' deep cross was not dealt with by Rotherham's defence and Wainwright turned the ball home at the back post. Morecambe's pressure continued but the Miller's weren't troubled as they searched for an equaliser in vain.

Their hopes were shattered in the last minute when Lynch scored a carbon copy of the first as once again he cut inside the poor Danny Adams far too easily to curl the ball home and to the visitors the 3 points.

I was impressed with Rotherham's performance especially Pablo Mills. Others that shined were Rueben Reid and Mark Lynch, and I'm sure if they perform like that they will be able to stay up despite their minus 17 points. If Mills can control games like today, he can give quality service for players like Reid to perform. However for Morecambe, poor performances by Adams and Parrish will need to be rectified by putting in solid fan favourites, Michael Howard and Adam Yates which would bring more attacking full-backs who are also very solid defensively. Matty Blinkhorn was also poor as he was outmuscled far too often and so O'Carrol deserves to come in. Michael Twiss and Craig Stanley aslo need to come in as they create opportunities. Twiss especially hasn't done anything wrong to not even be in the squad and he is still good enough if Sammy plays him in the right position.

A well earned 3 points for Rotherham.

National News

As the growing speculation continues to circle around Cristiano Ronaldo's future, other interesting transfer news has been proceeding under the shadow of this nonsense. Personally, i think Ronaldo should just be allowed to leave as Ferguson would make a huge profit from the £12.4million he paid for Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon. United would then be able to put higher offers on the table for players of such calibre like Dimitar Berbatov , Klass Jan Huntelaar and Rafael Van Der Vaart. United will have lost a player that has more than showed he is capable of fitting in the famous number 7 shirt worn by players like Beckham and Cantona, but if Sir Alex could replace him with quality players like stated, I'm sure they can cope without him. If they wanted to purchase a player who is similar to Ronaldo , i would encourage Fergie to go for David Silva or Joaquin from Valencia who are looking to sell to balance their books.

Onto other news and the team I'm looking forward to seeing in action is Spurs. Their new signings have been very ambitious and will no doubt take the premiership by storm. New goalkeeper, Heurelho Gomes was always consistent and made incredible saves whenever i saw him playing for PSV Eindhoven; Croatian midfielder Luka Modric was wanted by nearly every club in Europe, his performances at Euro 2008 certainly proved this, as he recieved lots of praise by pundits. Giovani Dos Santos was regarded as the "new Ronaldinho" whilst at Barcelona but didn't quite make it, so he should reignite with more first team opportunities at Spurs, latest signing David Bentley is a proven player at Premiership level and with a better team around him (no offence Blackburn), he will be able to create more and get better so he can establish himself in the England side. Add to this very strong list , Russian stars of Euro 2008, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin, then i think they should be able to break the top 4.

Other transfers i think that will be a success in the Premier League are:

• Samir Nasri - Has the potential to be as good as Zidane, certainly was impressive for Marseille over the last few seasons and has bags of skill but maybe a bit of a light weight compared to Zidane.
• Johan Elmander - Bolton will rely on him to score the goals and with their style of play, he will receive a lot of deliveries. Proved at Toulouse that he can score in any fashion.
• Jo - Another striker who will score plenty. his partnership with Vagner Love at CSKA Moscow simply destroyed competition in the Russian leagues and with Elano and the return of Valeri Bojinov, he can certainly do it here.
• Jonas Gutierrez - Newcastle fans will love his direct running down the wings mixed in with his flair. He became a fan's favourite with his Spiderman celebration at Mallorca, and with his ability, the Toon Army should be able to see this quite a few times through the season.

Morecambe 1-0 Doncaster Rovers

A positive reply was required after Saturday's defeat against Preston, and it was duly delivered against newly promoted Doncaster. It was a much more confident display by the shrimps which easily kept Rovers at bay and also had the most of the possession through out the match. Morecambe started with started with 6 changes from Saturday as Danny Adams returned at left back , trialist Simon Wiles was given a chance, Blinkhorn, Artell, Parrish and McLachlan also coming into the starting 11. On the other hand, Doncaster started with what could be there started lineup bar James Coppinger and Jame Hayter(who were on the bench). They also included new signing Tomi Ameobi upfront.

Morecambe had control of the middle of the park through out with Michael Carr showing his potential, with some good runs forward to help support Blinkhorn and the impressive O'Carroll. These runs caused trouble for the Donny defence as his passes split them open with O'Carroll blazing over on two occasions. Carr also had chances as their defence backed off but once again he also blazed over. Donny struggled most of the time in the middle of the park as their star player , Richie Wellens was very quiet. They did however, play some decent stuff when they had the ball with lots of short interplay and quick movement but the final ball was always a let down so Morecambe's defence could easily clear the danger. They resorted to long range efforts but none troubled Barry Roache. Simon Wiles impressed on the right wing as his crosses were very dangerous and always picked out a blue shirt, his work rate to help right back Andy Parrish in defending was also impressive, something which wasn't seen consistently last season when Garry Thompson was on the right.

The solitary goal in the game was a lovely one in which showed O'Carroll's class.On 31 minutes, short interplay between Carr and Wiles on the right made an opening for McLachlan to feed O'Carroll on the edge of the box, who smashed the ball home into Donny keeper Ben Smith's bottom left hand corner, leaving him with no chance. O'Carroll defended from the front line well and chased every ball that came towards him for the whole 90 minutes. His workrate and goal show some promising signs for the season. Morecambe's defence was very solid and didn't look like they would concede. Andy Parrish was impressive on his first full game for Morecambe, Danny Adams was his usual consistent self and the partnership of Artell and Bentley looks as though it is getting as good as it was at the start of last season.

The second half saw an improvement in Doncaster's attacking style of play with the introduction of Coppinger, Hayter and Northern Ireland International Stuart Elliot. This improved the pace of the attack and caused more work for Morecambe's defence who were basically cruising before then. However they still didn't look threatening as both goalkeeper's Scott Davies and Barry Roache didn't have much to do. This could be a worry for them as Championship level you need to have the sharpness upfront and creativity. The creativity will be relied on Coppinger and Wellens to set up chances for the likes of Ameobi, Hayter and Paul Heffernan. Morecambe's substitutes however, did look threatening with Wayne Curtis using direct running to scare the full backs. Gary Hunter worked hard when he came on too, chasing everything. Another trialist Jonathan Smith from Aberdeen was also impressive, he looked like his was playing in centre midfield even though he is apparently a striker. he controlled the middle of the park like Carr did in the first half and caused havoc for Donny's defence with his darting runs and innovative passing. All in all, a very comfortable win for the shrimps.

On other news, it looks as though fan's favourites Adam Yates, Michael Twiss and Carl Baker are leaving which is a massive shame as they were my favourites players. Yates was consistent every game he played and on quite a lot of occasions, he played both right back and right wing as Garry Thompson (now at Scunthorpe) was sometimes non-existant. Despite the new signings, his position looked comfortable as McCann was dodgy and Parrish being a decent back up. Twiss on the other hand, hasn't been like he was in the first two seasons when he arrived at Christie Park. He was stuck out on the left wing after that and hasn't been as effective as when he was upfront, therefore resulting in less games being played. It's understandable him leaving because he wants games and with Bury offering this, (and him living two minutes away from Gigg Lane)he would go. I think this will reignite his career if they play him upfront with their star man Andy Bishop and I'm sure he will do well there. Carl Baker wanted to leave as higher league football was there on the table for him. He proved how good he was in the first half of the season and performances against Peterborough and Bradford stand out. But the second half of the season, he sat on the bench most of the time and his form was poor. He'll do well at Stockport as they'll be known as the underdogs and with Peter Thompson upfront, some league 1 teams will underestimate them.

In replacing Baker, Morecambe have signed Rene Howe from Peterborough on loan. I believe he'll be a big success. he has a great goalscoring record at most clubs he's played and he has the pace which they need. He can play as a target man so Blinkhorn or O'Carroll can feed off him or he can play on the wing which will give us another option there. He will continue his excellent goalscoring record here and will become a fans' favourite.

Morecambe 0-3 Preston North End

I was rather optimistic for the first friendly down at Christie park, with 8 new signings ready to make debuts and being highly rated ones to that. However, at full time, it was rather the opposite as Preston ran the game from start to finish without even being in their top gear, while Morecambe kept on making the basic school boy errors. Preston started out with their strongest squad while Morecambe started with 6 Christie Park debutants, which was easily spotted as the lack of creativity and the reading of each other's games was none existant.

The Shrimps' started out with a 4-4-2 formation but started with 3 centre midfielders, meaning Craig Stanley, who we mainly rely on to create things from the middle, pushed more to the right. The problem was that he kept on coming inside meaning the right flank had to be looked after by Ryan McCann who had to mark two so was always out of position. Preston took full advantage as in the space of 7 minutes, they were two-nil up from attacks down Morecambe's right. Preston's first goal came from a cross by Chris Sedgewick which missed everyone and let Sean St Ledger slot home. Frequent runs from Mellor, Sedgewick and Hill down their left hand side was the main theme of the afternoon as they took full advantage of McCann. Even if there was a right winger for Morecambe, e.g. Baker , McCann still doesn't look good enough to dislodge Adam Yates, our best right back. Basic school boys errors could easily be seen as the passing was not there in the first half and a lot of the time there was overcrowding as everyone moved towards the ball instead of trying to make space. This mainly happening at throw ins.

Preston's second came from a corner on the right by Sedgewick and the smallest player on the pitch at the time, Karl Hawley, managed to beat everyone at the front post to head over Shrimp's goalkeeper, Barry Roache who i feel should have done better. North End's swift passing continued to easily open up Morecambe's defence and only a fine save by Roache stopped Neil Mellor making it three. The passing and the pace of Preston's attacking play did make it three on 23 minutes as Mellor dispatched from 8 yards out after a brilliant cross by the very impressive Joe Anyinsah. He was the denied by the crossbar as Preston's passing sliced Morecambe open once again in another fine move. I was very impressed with their performance overall and i was already clapping as it seemed destined for the top corner.

Morecambe's only chances in the first half were a Henry McStay header which was tipped wide by North End's keeper, Andy Lonergan, and a shot by trialist Chris Turner, who i was impressed with, flashed wide.

Despite all the negatives of the first half, Morecambe improved massively in the second half as the introduction of Matty Blinkhorn made the attacking line more threatening. You could see straight away there is some potential for a decent partnership upfront with Blinkhorn and O'Carroll as the latter came more alive with somebody now there to feed off his hold up play. Neil Wainwright was also now able to put more crosses into the box as he had more time to run at the fullbacks, he swapped wings frequently to gain an advantage but seemed more threatening running at Preston's left back, Jones who struggled to cope. Wayne Curtis worked hard through out as the opponents didn't like his physical style of play, he closed down all the time and put in some hard tackles to make his presence felt. Barry Roache made a brilliant double save to deny substitutes Chris Brown and Paul McKenna and also looked solid claiming crosses, however he did have a couple of dodgy moments.

The second half was a lot more encouraging for the fans as there was now more bite in the tackles and more chances being created. It is still very early to say how Morecambe will do through out the season and I'm sure they will do fine as soon as the signings settle in, but i just feel it was the wrong way to play these new recruits so early on. They need to get used to things such as how we play and putting them all in at the deep-end won't make them click straight away. However I do think there is some potential in the ranks and once the season starts I'm sure we will do very well and hopefully the big name signings such as O'Carroll, Roache and Michael Carr will be at their best.

Hello

I will be writing this throughout the next football season to express my opinions on the latest football news nationally and internationally, Whether this being about the transfers or how the players behave etc, I believe that I will try to make opinions clear and I hope that this will be an enjoyable read for you the readers.

I will also be writing on information on how my own football season will go on. For this season I will be playing for Morecambe Under 18’s in the Lancashire Evening Post Sunday League Division 2 North and for Torrisholme F.C. in the North Lancashire First Division. I will try to write information on how we perform such as match reports and personal analysis on how I believe we fared through the campaign.

Feel free to leave comments and questions after each post and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks