Match preview: Forest Green Rovers v Morecambe

16 September 2022

The Shrimps travel to The New Lawn on Saturday 17 September when they take on Forest Green Rovers in Sky Bet League One.

Morecambe head into the game on the back of a 3-0 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday at the Mazuma Stadium on Tuesday night. Josh Windass broke the deadlock on 70 minutes before George Byers and Michael Smith secured victory for the Owls.

In midweek, Ian Burchnall’s side earned an away draw against Charlton Athletic after beating Accrington Stanley 2-1 on home turf in the previous fixture.

The opposition

The Nailsworth-based club have earned eight points in the eight league games played, and sit 20th in the division with two wins, two draws and four defeats.

Head Coach Burchnall arrived at the club in the summer as a replacement for the outgoing Rob Edwards who left the Cotswolds to join Watford. He’s taken charge of 11 games in all competitions and has a win percentage of 36.4%.

Key players

Forward Connor Wickham joined the club in the summer after his release from MK Dons. The 29-year-old has made more than 100 Premier League appearances whilst at Sunderland and, more recently, Crystal Palace. He has netted twice for Rovers so far this season.

24-year-old Regan Hendry arrived in Gloucestershire in June 2021 and went on to play a key part in their title winning campaign, scoring three times in 31 appearances. The midfielder came through the youth setup at Celtic and joined the Green from Raith Rovers, where he earned himself a place in the 2020/21 PFA Scotland Championship Team of the Year as well as the SPFL Championship Team of the Season of the same season.

Summer signing Armani Little joined the club from Torquay United. The midfielder began his career at Southampton before going on to play for Oxford United and Woking. The 25-year-old spent three seasons in the National League with Torquay. He made 79 appearances and scored 29 goals. He has contributed with two goals so far this season.

Derek Adams’ pre-match thoughts

Speaking before the fixture, Derek Adams says the quality within his squad suggests the Shrimps are heading in the right direction.

“We’re not far away from getting that win or wins that will take us further up the league,” he said.

“It’s just the difficulty for us, we are playing against very good sides and we haven’t been able to get the better of them at this stage.

“There comes a time when that will turn because as you can see and as as you say we’ve got some really technically very good players in this division.”

Meet the officials

Ollie Yates will be the man in the middle on Saturday afternoon. He will be assisted by linesmen Justin Amey and Andrew Hendley along with fourth official Alan Cresswell.

The Staffordshire-based official has taken charge of eight games so far this season in League one, League Two, the Carabao Cup and the Papa Johns Trophy. He’s handed out 40 yellow cards and zero red cards.

Yates last refereed a Morecambe game in February 2022 as the Shrimps were beaten 2-0 away at Sheffield Wednesday.

iFollow

After teaming up with Beyond Radio for the 2022/23 season, supporters will be able to listen to exclusive, full and uninterrupted radio commentary of every single game, home and away, which will be broadcast simultaneously on 103.5FM, 107.5FM and DAB+ digital radio across North Lancashire and South Cumbria as well as on the iFollow Shrimps platform.

Lead commentator Dave Salmon will be joined by Gab Sutton, and audio passes are available from as little as £2.50 per match, £4.49 for a monthly pass or £45 for a season pass.

As well as full match commentary, the ‘Shrimps Verdict’ podcast will be available post-match, featuring online, on demand content, including audio match highlights, post-match interviews and reaction, and much more!

Match Reports

Report: Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Shrimps

17 September 2022

Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Morecambe
Sky Bet League One
The New Lawn Stadium
Saturday 17 September 2022
Kick-Off: 3:00pm
Attendance: 2,601 (112 away)

A last gasp winner from former Rovers man Farrend Rawson earned Morecambe the win at the New Lawn.

The first chance of the game fell to the way of Morecambe after Donald Love found himself one-on-one with Luke McGee after a minute, but a deflection sent the skipper’s attempt behind for a corner, which the Green cleared without hesitation.

After 10 minutes, the hosts played the ball neatly down the right flank and managed to find Connor Wickham, his resulting cross into the box was dangerous, however no Rovers player was there to capitalise.

Seven minutes later and it was the hosts who came close after a corner was swung in and Oliver Casey found space at the back post, but he couldn’t find the connection required to send the ball home.

It was then Morecambe’s turn to try their luck through Jensen Weir from distance, but his powerful strike whistled wide of the goalkeeper’s left-hand post.

Moments later and the Shrimps came close once more, Kieran Phillips did well to round the goalkeeper and strike at goal, but the ball deflected off Jordan Moore-Taylor, struck the crossbar and fell into the grateful arms of McGee.

The hosts managed to break the deadlock on the half-hour mark as Wickham curled an effort from distance, which saw the ball loop over Connor Ripley and land in the back of the Morecambe net.

It was Rovers who came close seven minutes later as Myles Peart-Harris drove an effort from distance, but it lacked any real direction to test Ripley.

Three minutes before the break and former Green defender Rawson came close for the Shrimps, his hooked effort was saved well by McGee, but the Shrimps wouldn’t be denied for long.

Some excellent play from Kieran Phillips saw the attacker twist and turn inside the Rovers box, evading defensive pressure, before sending the equaliser home right on the stroke of half-time, a delightful solo effort from the Huddersfield Town loanee.

Half-time: Forest Green Rovers 1-1 Morecambe.

It was nearly the perfect start to the second-half for Morecambe as Cole Stockton let strike from just outside the area, but McGee managed to get fingertips on the ball to send the danger behind.

From the resulting corner, Forest Green launched a counter and nearly grabbed their second, but Ripley made himself big and was able to deny Wickham at close range.

In what was turning into an open encounter, Hendry sent in a dangerous ball for the hosts which Dominic Bernard was equal to, his header forced Ripley into a fine fingertip save, similar to McGee’s earlier in the half.

A minute before the hour mark and Phillips came close to his, and Morecambe’s, second of the game, but his effort on the angle was saved by McGee.

Whilst it looked to be heading for a draw, former Rovers man Rawson had other ideas.

A deep free-kick was sent into the mix in injury time, and there was Morecambe’s number five at the back post to secure all-three-points for Derek Adams men.

Full-time: Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Morecambe

Forest Green Rovers: McGee, O’Keeffe, Bernard ©, Casey, Hendry (Stevenson, 80’) Moore-Taylor, Fiabema, Wickham, Marques, Peart-Harris (Brown, 74’) Davis (Little, 62’)

Subs not used: Thomas, Jones, McAllister, Bunker

Goals: Wickham 30’,

Bookings: O’Keeffe 25’, Wickham 63’,

Red cards: None

Morecambe: Ripley, Love (C), Gibson (Cooney, 39’), Rawson, Delaney, Taylor (Gnahoua, 66’), Stockton (Connolly, 83’), Weir, Bedeau, Shaw (Fane, 83’), Phillips

Subs not used: Smith, Obika, O’Connor

Goals: Phillips 44’, Rawson 90+3’

Bookings: Cooney 52’,

Red cards: None

Ticket News

Forest Green Rovers (A) ticket details

12 September 2022

Tickets for our Sky Bet League One game against Forest Green Rovers at The New Lawn Stadium on Saturday 17 September 2022, 3:00pm KO are now available to purchase.

Prices and on-sale dates for the encounter can be found below...

Ticket Prices

	Seating		Covered Standing		Uncovered Standing
	In Advance	On the Day	In Advance	On the Day	In Advance	On the Day
Adult	£23	£24	£21	£22	£19	£20
Senior 65+	£18	£19	£17	£18	£15	£16
16-21	£14	£15	£11	£12	£10	£11
Under 16	£8	£9	£7	£8	£7	£8
Under 11*	£0		£0		£0

*All children under the age of 11 must be accompanied by a responsible adult (over 18).

Disabled/Ambulant Supporters
We have 2 wheelchair bays and carer’s tickets available for this fixture. Wheelchair users and ambulant supporters will be expected to pay the relevant admission price and will receive a complimentary carer with their purchase. These tickets are not available online, they must be purchased instore or over the phone.

On Sale Dates (selling order)

Online from	In person at the Club from	On sale to
Friday 09 September, 11am	Friday 09 September, 11am	General Sale

Additional Information

Advance Sales deadline: Thursday 15 September, 23:55pm.
Refund deadline: Thursday 15 September, 23:55pm.
Tickets for postage deadline: Tuesday 13 September 2022

Match Day Sales
Tickets will be available to purchase on the day for from Forest Green Rovers [subject to ticket availability]. No cash will be accepted, card payments only. There will be a £1 increase on ticket prices for this fixture, on the day.

Duplicate Ticket Requests
Anyone who doesn’t receive their tickets in time for the fixture, through the post, must contact tickets@morecambefc.com or call the Club Shop on 01524411797 (ext 3) in advance of Friday 16 September, 12noon. We must provide Forest Green Rovers with a final duplicate requests list, the day before the fixture to ensure any duplicate requests are available to collect on the day.

Official Coach Travel

Due to only 4 supporters being booked on the Official Coach Travel to Forest Green Rovers, combined with the current weekend M6 closures. Morecambe FC have taken the decision to cancel the Official Coach Travel for this fixture. Sorry for the inconvenience this may cause...

Match Day Parking (Minibuses & Coaches)
Minibus and coach parking will be available at Forest Green Rovers on a first come first serve basis. Coaches and minibuses will be asked to park on the main road outside The New Lawn Stadium.

Match Day Parking (Cars)
There is no parking available on-site for cars. Forest Green Rovers suggest supporters to use the Park & Ride Scheme. This facility is at Renishaw, South Entrance, Bath Road, Stroud, GL5 5EY. There is a cost of £3 for this service.

Accessible Parking

Forest Green Rovers have limited disabled parking available, for blue badge holders only. To enquire and book, travelling supporters must contact Forest Green Rovers direct on 0333 123 1889 or email reception@fgr.co.uk

For up-to-date information or to ask any questions, contact Anya Wood, Shrimps’ SLO.

Twitter: @Shrimps_SLO
Email: SLO@morecambefc.com

Or visit: https://www.fgr.co.uk/first-time-visitors

Ticket Sale FAQs