Morecambe 3 – 2 Newport County
Morecambe fought from 2 goals down at half-time to clinch victory at home to Newport County and maintain pole position in the league.
In an enthralling encounter, it was a close first half, with Newport capitalising on slack Morecambe defending with 2 goals in the space of 2 minutes, giving them the lead at the interval. However, these were the only two chances Newport had on target all game, and in the second half the Morecambe onslaught began. Kevin Ellison got the ball rolling with yet another free-kick. Ellison then got the equaliser, powering through the County defence to head past the stranded keeper, before Paul Mullin sealed a deserved Morecambe victory.
Attendance: 1506
Morecambe
| Barry Roche Hard to say anything about Roche, as Newport only managed 2 shots on target in the whole game! Not at fault for the goals. | 6.0 |
| Shaun Beeley Very good display overall. Utilised his strength and pace well to both defend and to create attacking moves. | 8.0 |
| Andy Parrish Worked tirelessly against Rene Howe to prevent any dangerous chances and looked more than comfortable with the task at hand. | 7.0 |
| Mark Hughes Excellent command of his defence and outstanding performance to keep former Morecambe man Rene Howe at bay. Could have kept tighter to his man for the second goal. | 7.0 |
| Alan Goodall Another good showing from the former Fleetwood man. Defended well at left-back, although looks far more comfortable and effective in the holding midfield role. | 6.5 |
| Alex Kenyon Another strong performance from the youngster, asserting his authority in midfield and providing that extra bit of strength that Morecambe needed in the second half. | 7.0 |
| Andy Fleming Nowhere near his best today, seeming a bit behind the play all the time and giving away a few silly fouls. Capable of much better. | 6.0 |
| Ryan Williams Played with confidence in the first half, forcing a good save from the goalkeeper with a dipping free-kick. Substituted at half-time as Jim Bentley changed his his sides tactics. | 6.5 |
| Kevin Ellison Another fantastic performance in Morecambe’s attack. Brilliant free-kick and inspiring performance to lift the rest of the team, eventually going on to victory. | 9.0 |
| Jack Redshaw Not a match he will be too pleased with on a personal level. Squandered a fantastic opportunity in the second half, and struggled in the aerial battle against Newport’s defence. | 6.0 |
| Padraig Amond Isolated from most of the action. Although not a poor match, nothing to write home about. Swapped for Paul Mullin during the interval. | 6.0 |
Substitutions
| Paul Mullin Came off the bench at half-time and had a very positive impact. Showed great energy, always closing down the opposition players, contributed well to some nice attacking moves and good header for the winner. | 7.5 |
| Jamie Devitt Caused a few problems for the Newport defence with good trickery on the right wing. Linked up well with Mullin in particular. | 7.0 |
| Stuart Drummond Not on the field for very long, didn’t make any mistakes all the same. | 5.5 |
Newport County
| Lenny Pidgeley Nothing he could do about the first or third goals, but extremely poor for the equaliser, no communication at all with his defence leading to a poor goal defensive wise. | 5.0 |
| Ismail Yakubu Isolated Jack Redshaw well and nullified his threat well. However, he was involved in a calamitous equaliser from Newport’s point of view. | 6.0 |
| Darren Jones Very poor and it was Jones who allowed Ellison to nod in the equaliser with terrible defending. | 4.5 |
| Andrew Hughes Has to take responsibility as part of a defence that threw away a two goal lead, and he didn’t do anything to help prevent that. | 5.0 |
| Robbie Willmott Ineffective. Didn’t raise any eyebrows with a less than satisfactory display. | 5.5 |
| Andy Sandell Managed a shot in the second half that went wide of the post, failed to dictate the tempo of the game against Kenyon. | 6.0 |
| Adam Chapman Well taken goal but that was the limit of his influence on the game. | 6.5 |
| Mark Byrne Ineffective. Played OK in first half but second half was almost non-existent. | 5.5 |
| Lee Minshull Didn’t get too see much of the ball as Morecambe pressed forward. Booked for persistent infringements as he showed his frustration. | 6.0 |
| Aaron O’Connor Did well to get away from Morecambe skipper Mark Hughes for his goal but also committed several unnecessary fouls and didn’t do much else. | 6.5 |
| Rene Howe Held the ball up fairly well when he got it, but that wasn’t very many times as Parrish and Goodall worked hard to snuff him out. Eventually subbed. | 6.5 |
Substitutions
| Chris Zebroski Only thing he managed to do was draw a few laughs from the home crowd, constantly being out-muscled and outwitted by Alex Kenyon and Shaun Beeley. The one time he got past the defence he put a cross straight into the stands. | 4.0 |
| Shaun Jeffers Only on the pitch 15 minutes. Part of an ineffective trio of substitutes. | 5.5 |
| Christian Jolley Came on, gave away a free kick and did nothing else. Poor but little time to have an impact. | 5.5 |
Man of the Match
| Kevin Ellison Unlucky not to carve out any clear openings in the first half. Silenced the away fans in the second half with a marvellous free kick, as well as the equaliser and continually charging forward through the Newport defence. Spurred on the home fans and his team-mates, encouraging a more positive Shrimps display, and a victory which sees them stay top of the pile. | 9.0 |
