A single strike from Gavin Massey was enough to give the Valiants the spoils and leave the Shrimpers with only one win in their last seventeen outings and seven points from safety at the foot of League One.
In a tense start to the game it was Morecambe that won the first corner down the attacking right. The corner was swung in but firmly headed away at the front post by Ben Garrity. The ball was returned to the edge of the box, but Tom Conlon blocked a long range effort and Vale cleared their lines.
It took until the twenty-first minute for the first effort in anger and it came from the visitors. Morecambe played the ball forward through the inside right channel, Jensen Weir picking the ball up advancing into the box before hitting a firm effort goal wards, but Jack Stevens had it covered as it crashed into the side netting.
Vale finally made an impact on the game in the thirty-third minute as they broke down the left through Mal Benning, the wing back picking out Conlon who shaped to cross but slid a ball across the edge of the box in the direction of Harrison. The ball is always rolling away from the striker but he manages to get a scuffed shot away which Ripley gathers easily.35’ Vale are stretched down the defensive right and are lucky to only concede a corner. Its quickly taken short before being crossed into the box but a defensive header and a poor header from Gibson allows Vale to survive.
On thirty-eight minutes Vale broke into the box through Massey who pulled the ball back towards the penalty spot in the direct of Holden but the midfielder couldn’t get a shot away. The ball is cleared but only to Garrity who has time and space to advance and shoot, his deflected effort wrong footing Connor Ripley who recovers well to only concede the corner.
The game swung in Vales direction on forty minutes but it should have been Morecambe that went in front after simple work down the attacking right, the ball was floated towards the back post where it was cleanly met by Max Melbourne. The former Lincoln defender did everything right, climbing above his marker heading back across goal but the ball bounced back off the post into the waiting hands of Stevens.
Vale’s keeper cleared long into the Morecambe half, Garrity winning a tussle on the half way line, the ball falling to Massey thirty yards from goal, there was little on for the isolated striker so he advanced on goal before firing a twenty five effort across keeper Ripley and into the bottom left hand corner to put the Valiants 1-0 up.
There was a bit of a warning from the visitors as they advanced down the left at the start of the second half, before a series of passes finds Weir who advanced on goal, pulling the trigger, but the ball flashed wide of the right hand post, Stevens watchful diving to his left but watching it sail wide.
On sixty-one minutes Vale worked the ball down the left, Conlon releasing the overlapping Benning but just as he was about to shoot, a perfectly timed tackle denied him and Vale had to settle for a corner. The corner was supplied by Benning, but despite the best efforts of the strikers, its scrambled clear.
Minutes later, Vale won a free kick near to the corner flag, right hand side, delivered by Conlon. The initial cross was cleared but Vale kept it in the danger zone, good work by substitute Connor Hall feeding Massey who skipped past a defender but his effort was just over bar with Ripley beaten.
On seventy-six minutes a defensive mistake led to a caution for Benning and Morecambe had a dangerous free kick, twenty five yards out, right hand side of the box. Mayor hung it up towards the back post, Rawson winning the header, but thankfully it bounces once and straight into the chest of Stevens on the back post who gathered comfortably.
As the game drew to a close, Vale were lucky as the ball was pumped long into the Vale half, the Valiants failing to clear and the ball fell to Mayor who took a snap shot, taking a deflection, and sneaked past the left hand post with Stevens well beaten.
To add salt to the Morecambe wounds two yellows made for a red card for Love as he was exposed by Odubekop’s pace after the striker chased a Harrison clearance from the edge of his own box. Mis judging a sliding tackle the defender was forced to bring down the striker before he had a clear run into the visitors half.
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