Morecambe 1 Stevenage 1: Late leveller earns the Shrimps a point
With 10 minutes left of an increasingly wet and windy afternoon, the striker headed home Freddie Price’s cross to ensure a point apiece after Aramide Oteh’s goal for the visitors.
Morecambe boss Derek Adams had made one change from the side which won at Maldon and Tiptree in the FA Cup.
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Hide AdBack came Toumani Diagouraga in the centre of midfield with Ben Pringle dropping to the bench.
Chances were few and far between in the opening quarter-hour, though it was the Shrimps who had a decent opportunity to open the scoring.
Aaron Wildig’s corner was headed back across goal by Sam Lavelle but Nat Knight-Percival - who had already been cautioned for a trip on Danny Newton - could only direct it straight at keeper Jamie Cumming.
Diagouraga placed an effort from distance straight at Cumming before the visitors took a 28th minute lead.
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Hide AdOteh had the ball inside the Morecambe area and, while he was holding off Lavelle, Kelvin Mellor clumsily tripped him.
The Stevenage forward picked himself up and took the penalty, and although Jake Turner got a hand on his effort, the ball still found the net.
After that, the remainder of the half was largely a case of Morecambe having possession and Stevenage defending in numbers.
Stephen Hendrie fired wildly over, a corner was kept out by a combination of Cumming and his defenders, while Yann Songo’o saw a shot blocked.
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Hide AdThe second half opened with the visitors having a decent chance as Newton got away from Lavelle but his cross to an unmarked Oteh was cleared by Knight-Percival.
With the Shrimps again enjoying decent possession, they were still unable to convert that into clear opportunities.
Carlos Mendes-Gomes drifted in from the flank and ran across the face of the area before shooting wide, moments before Diagouraga headed well off target.
Stevenage, for their part, seemed content to soak up Morecambe’s possession and hit them on the break; a tactic which almost paid off midway through the half.
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Hide AdRemeao Hutton got clear down the right-hand side and crossed for the unmarked Newton, who missed his kick when well placed.
Both teams freshened up their sides as the half progressed and Morecambe’s first replacement almost had an immediate impact.
Price, making his first home league appearance, glanced Hendrie’s cross off target within three minutes of his introduction.
However, he was to play a key role not long afterwards when his inswinging cross from the left-hand side was headed home by Slew.
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Hide AdMellor came close to redeeming himself for his first-half error with a late shot that flashed wide of the target.
Both sides continued to seek a winner with Turner holding Charlie Carter’s header before Wildig was sent sprawling on the edge of the area as the clock ticked round to 90 minutes.
There wasn’t to be a fairytale finish for Price, however, as he blazed the free-kick well over and both sides had to settle for a point after four minutes of added time.
Morecambe: Turner, Mellor, Knight-Percival, Lavelle, Hendrie, Diagouraga, Songo’o (Price 68), Phillips (Stockton 73), Wildig, Mendes-Gomes, Slew. Subs not used: Halstead, Davis, O’Sullivan, Pringle, Cooney.
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Hide AdStevenage: Cumming, Hutton, Cuthbert, Marshall, Coker, Carter, Vincelot, Read, Pett (Dinanga 87), Oteh (List 82), Newton. Subs not used: Johnson, Prosser, Marsh, Iontton, Akinwande.
Referee: Tom Nield.
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