Cup win for young Shrimps
Morecambe 4
Accrington 0
THREE second half goals gave the Shrimps victory in this well contested Lancashire Youth Cup clash at the Globe Arena.
Sam Houghton fired the Shrimps into the lead on 51 minutes with a superb free kick.
A foul on the edge of the area gave Houghton a site on goal and he let fly with a superb right foot shot that flew past Andrew Dawber.
Accrington hit back and almost levelled after a goalmouth scramble just after the hour but Shrimps’ keeper Luke Pybis produced a brilliant point blank save.
The keeper was rewarded for his bravery when Morecambe added a second on 68 minutes with another quality goal. Robbie Walker produced a sublime piece of skill to weave his way down the left hand byline before pulling the ball back superbly for Simon Wearing to score from close range.
Kieran Sloan went close to adding a third with a header from Kieran Britton’s left wing cross that went just wide before the Shrimps added to their advantage on 72 minutes when Sloan took advantage of a defensive mix-up to slot the ball into the empty goal.
Ed Gate made it 4-0 eight minutes from time with a free header from another excellent free kick.
Accrington had chances to pull one back with James Jenkins heading inches wide and Connor Mahoney also coming close after another excellent left wing cross from Ben Procter.
The game started at a quick pace with the action swinging from end to end but with both defences very much on top.
It was the Shrimps who provided the first moments of threat. On 20 minutes Simon Wearing was put through on goal but was denied by an excellent save from Stanley keeper Andrew Dawber who played against the Shrimps for Accrington on the recent Johnstone’s Paint Trophy clash.
One minute later the Shrimps had another half chance when a smart piece of skill from Luke Selby saw him find James Riley on the edge of the box but the striker drilled his effort over the bar.
Morecambe: Pybis; Selby, Bell, Knipe, Britton; Finney, Walker (rep Suthers 87), Sloan, Riley; Wearing rep Gate 80), Houghton. Subs not used: Hunter, Lewis, Cookson.
Accrington: Dawber, Clarke, Procter, Jefferies, Greaves; Goulding, Mahoney, Willison (rep Hudson 71), Jenkins; Barker (rep Webb 53), Doig (rep Steenson 74). Subs not used: Bresnahan, Wolland.