Defensive frailties prove Shrimps' undoing in thriller

In a pulsating game the Shrimps produced some fine football, with two goals from Admiral Muskwe sandwiched between superb strikes from Jack Nolan and Miguel Azeez.

At the other end of the pitch, though, defensive frailties continued as the home side scored four times, with Jacob Wakeling bagging a brace and other strikes coming from Jamey Osborne and Bradley Nicholson.

Morecambe boss Ashvir Singh Johal made three changes to the side that lost at Boreham Wood, with Jack Nolan coming in for his debut alongside Paul Lewis and Ben Williams with Gwion Edwards, and Yann Songo’o injured and Mo Sangare dropping to the bench.

The Shrimps started the game poorly with the home side creating and wasting a host of early chances.

Dan Creamey forced Archie Mair into a save with his legs after just two minutes before the Solihull striker lofted the ball onto the roof of the net when presented with a chance by Raheem Conte’s hesitation.

Wakeling then hit the side netting and headed over from close range as the Moors set up chance after chance.

Morecambe finally began to settle into the game with Muskwe’s near-post flick blocked but they were hit on the break when the defence was caught out again by Osborne who ran on to his own pass to slide the ball under Mair on 25 minutes.

The lead lasted just five minutes as Nolan levelled with a stunner as he curled a left-foot shot into the top right-hand corner of Laurie Walker’s goal.

As the Shrimps looked to get on top they were undone again as some slack defending allowed a quick breakaway which ended with Wakeling running on goal and beating Mair.

The Shrimps came out strongly after the break with Muskwe scoring two goals in three minutes with a close-range finish and a header to give Morecambe the lead at 3-2.

Poor defending saw Solihull score again just after the hour when Nicholson bundled the ball home from close range after a goalmouth scramble.

Morecambe took the lead again on 76 minutes when Azeez scored with a 25-yard strike that flew into the top left-hand corner.

Again, though, the Morecambe defence failed to hang on and Wakeling made it 4-4.

As both teams looked for the winner, Azeez proved to be the Shrimps’ hero at the other end when he cleared Ben Worman’s shot off the line in injury time to ensure a point for the visitors.

Solihull Moors: Walker, Clarke, Green, Osborne, Whitmore, Nicholson, Creaney (Bowen 82), Worman, Wakeling, Rutherford (McFarlane 82), Stevenson (Whyte-Hall 70). Subs not used: Brown, Jackson, Tipton, Sonupe.

Morecambe: Mair, Conte, Francillette, Azeez, Cain, Muskwe (Sangare 85), Sesay, Williams (Campbell 90), Lewis (Tweedy 85), Tollitt (Panayiotou 90), Nolan (Nuttall 85). Subs not used: Scales, Ogwuru.

Referee: J Durkin.

Attendance: 1,307