MORECAMBE 1 CITY 1

IT IS now exactly six months since Morecambe last celebrated a league victory.

Thanks to the firm forehead of Jack Shepherd, their wait goes on.

City just about managed to avoid being the fall guys but it was a struggle.

They trailed for 83 minutes and a fourth straight away loss beckoned until the Barnsley loanee popped up with a huge first goal for the club.

Papering over the cracks or refusing to go under? Take your pick.

City pocketed a point from a contest that should have been over by half-time. Morecambe’s lack of a goal-scorer, their Achilles heel this season, was exposed – and we should be thankful for that.

But let’s not kid ourselves, this wasn’t great.

As the dust settles, the joy – and overwhelming relief – that greeted Shepherd’s header will be replaced by a feeling that City had failed to get the better of another lowly opponent.

Graham Alexander shook things up after City’s rotten weekend with four changes in the starting line-up.

Brad Halliday was among those dropped as Jay Benn made the first league start of his loan. Clarke Oduor, Tyreik Wright and Calum Kavanagh were also brought back in.

It was a red-letter night for captain Richie Smallwood making his 500th career appearance.

But he still trails former Carlisle skipper Paul Huntington who was named on the bench after his short-term deal was announced earlier in the day.

Lee Angol was the only former Bantam not involved for the home side after injuring his hamstring at the weekend.

But his pre-match view that representing City “makes or breaks” players summed up the pressure that his former team will always face while the club remain stuck at this level.

The discontent was certainly rumbling after Saturday’s customary collapse at Harrogate. Cheick Diabate described it as a “shambles of a day”.

The spotlight was particularly focused on Diabate and his defensive colleagues as City looked to avoid making another soft start on the road.

And the Exeter centre half was immediately at the centre of the action for all the wrong reasons with a fifth-minute own goal.

City had begun with a bit more tempo but that meant absolutely nothing as Morecambe struck from their first attack.

Luke Hendrie fed Paul Lewis to cross low and Diabate got his feet tangled up and ushered the ball into his own net.

So once again, the Bantams were trailing early on their travels – the last thing they wanted.

Morecambe should have had a second straight away but Lewis headed wide of a gaping goal from Ben Tollitt’s cross.

Alexander tried to calm things by putting an arm round Lewis Richards before the left back took a throw.

But City’s heads remained all over the shop at the back as Sam Walker denied Marcus Dackers and Tollitt drove the rebound wastefully over.

Morecambe looked anything but a team who had gone so long without a win as the visitors were carved open.

Kavanagh scuffed at a shot from the edge of the box but City looked a bag of nerves every time the ball went the other way.

Shepherd cleared off the line from Jamie Stott after he was played clear and then Marcus Dackers burst through a non-existent backline but Sam Walker stood strong to parry his shot.

 

 

Alexander appeared fit to burst as he hollered at his misfiring players. Derek Adams, in contrast, was a calm onlooker.

But City nearly levelled eight minutes before half-time as Jamie Walker picked out Benn’s forward burst. He lifted a shot over the advancing Stuart Moore but the ball bounced the wrong side of the post.

Andy Cook then nodded just wide right on the break as Adams screamed at his defence to get tighter. They were rare moments of discomfort for the Scot, who must have been wondering why his side were not out of sight.

Calum Kavanagh tested Moore in the first minute of the second half but Morecambe came straight back as Yann Songo’o, captaining against his old club, blazed over.

Paul Lewis was then within a whisker of converting a low ball from namesake Adam that City just watched.

City, though, were showing some threat as they attacked towards their supporters and Kavanagh’s header from Cook’s flick was well held by Moore.

But Sam Walker had to be alert to turn away a Callum Jones drive that came through a crowd of players after a long throw caused panic.

Still, Adams was growing a lot more animated as he maybe sensed their failure to cash in on chances could come back to bite.

Moore dived at Cook’s feet to push away a testing cross from Wright before Vadaine Oliver was thrown on as City went to the two big men up top.

But Sam Walker continued to keep the hosts at bay with another stretching save to deny Tollitt after Dackers had found him with a wonderful switch pass.

Benn remained City’s most effective outfield player by a distance and, like Saturday, his deliveries into the box deserved better.

Tyler Smith saw his first league action of the season in the closing stages – but it was a defender who saved the day on 88 minutes as Shepherd rose in a packed penalty area to nod home Wright’s cross.