Morecambe boss left stunned by their poor start at Carlisle United

Derek Adams admitted his Morecambe side left themselves with too much to do after a dreadful start to their match at Carlisle United.
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The Shrimps suffered a third loss in four with a 3-1 defeat at Brunton Park, where they were two goals down inside the opening four minutes.

Yann Songo’o put through his own goal before the 30-second mark, while Jon Mellish doubled the home side’s lead moments later.

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Although Songo’o pulled one back late on, Carlisle sealed victory with a goal from former Morecambe loanee George Tanner.

Kelvin Mellor earned praise from Derek Adams for his performanceKelvin Mellor earned praise from Derek Adams for his performance
Kelvin Mellor earned praise from Derek Adams for his performance

Speaking afterwards, Adams said: “I’ve never seen a start like that in my whole managerial career.

“We take a kick-off, we play it forward, and we got counter-attacked in the first 30 seconds of the game.

“How the goal comes about, I’ll never know. There’s a few ricochets and then it’s in the back of our net.

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“A couple of minutes later we’re 2-0 down. The shot goes in off the back post so it was an unbelievable start to the game and a huge mountain to climb to get us back in it.

“They could have made it three, Jake (Turner) makes a very good save.

“For the first 10 minutes of the game, we were all over the place and it’s not been like us - but we just got caught cold on the night.”

With players including Cole Stockton and A-Jay Leitch-Smith absent, Morecambe’s chances were at a premium.

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They could have pulled one back just before half-time when Sam Lavelle headed off target, while second-half substitute Adam Phillips was denied by a fine save.

“He’s got to score obviously,” Adams said of Lavelle’s opportunity.

“He’s right in front of the goal and puts it back past the post but we didn’t create enough in the first half.

“We thought we could have done better in a lot of situations. I don’t think Carlisle had many opportunities in the first half but they’re 2-0 up and in a good position.

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“We lacked cutting edge in the forward areas. I thought the two full-backs did well, (Kelvin) Mellor was probably man of the match with the way he got forward.

“Our two centre-halves found it difficult at times with the play that they had, in midfield we struggled, and in the forward areas we didn’t have a threat on the evening.

“Once we got back to 2-1, we probably could make it 2-2. We have a great opportunity at a corner kick, then we go for it and we lose a poor goal. I think the right-back toes it into the corner of the net.”