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.