Shrimps extend unbeaten home run
Morecambe extended their unbeaten home run in the league to ten games after a goalless draw with Cheltenham.
It was a game lacking in any goal mouth action of note, as both defences frustrated each other on a cold night at the Globe Arena.
in League Two and seven points above the relegation zone.thThe draw sees the Shrimps move up one place to 17
Jim Bentley made two changes to the side which lost 2-1 at Plymouth on Saturday, with Chris McCready and Stewart Drummond returning to the starting line-up, in place of the suspended Andy Parrish and Izak Reid.
New Morecambe signing Chris Holroyd was named on the bench, alongside fellow January recruit Ryan Williams, who scored on his Shrimps debut against Plymouth last week.
Despite the Shrimps’ good home form of late, it was Cheltenham who started the better of the two sides, with top goalscorer Shaun Harrad shooting just wide when he found himself free in the box after a poor clearance from McCready.
Marlon Pack then tested the Shrimps defence, but his long range free-kick was pushed aside by Barry Roche and away out of danger.
That chance appeared to wake up Bentley’s side and when Will Haining’s cross was not fully cleared, Drummond saw his low drive well kept out by Scott Brown.
The veteran Morecambe midfielder was at it again just minutes later, but his long range volley was also comfortably claimed by Brown, after deflecting off a Cheltenham defender.
Both defences kept each other at bay for large spells of the first half, but the away side had claims for a penalty turned down just before the break, when Sam Deering appeared to be clipped in the box by Andy Fleming.
Whilst the Robins appealed to the referee, the Shrimps caught them with a swift counter-attack, but Lewis Alessandra could only shoot high over the Cheltenham bar after cutting in from the left.
The away side used their sense of injustice to end the half as the stronger side, with Russell Penn seeing his long range shot pushed firmly aside by Roche.
From the resulting corner, Deering nearly found the back of the net direct from the set-piece but Roche was alert to punch away on the line to keep the scores level at the break.
It was Cheltenham who started the second-half the brighter of the two sides, with the dangerous Harrad getting in behind the Morecambe defence but his shot across goal was missed by Kaid Mohamed and Haining cleared.
The pacey Jermaine McGlashan then got past the Shrimps defence, but Mohamed misfired again, when he failed to sort his feet out quick enough and his shot was scrambled wide.
Immediately the Shrimps created a chance of their own, when Alessandra ran onto Jordan Burrow’s flick but his shot across Brown was weak and the Robins keeper comfortably saved.
Bentley’s side then had the effort of the game, as Kevin Ellison cut in from the right and unleashed a ferocious curling shot towards the top corner, but unfortunately for him and the Morecambe faithful it went agonisingly wide.
Holroyd and Williams were then introduced to add some pace and trickery to the Shrimps attack and despite both causing the away side problems, they struggled to break through a resilient Cheltenham defence.
Late on, Ellison’s shot on the turn was comfortably saved by Brown and Robins’ defender Steve Elliot shot over with an acrobatic effort, as the game petered out for a goalless draw.
Morecambe:Roche; Haining, Fenton, McCready, Threlfall; McDonald, Drummond, Fleming (Williams 75); Alessandra, Burrow (Holroyd 67), Ellison.
Unused subs:Arestidou, Doyle, Mwasile, McGee, Redshaw.
Cheltenham:Brown; Jombati, Lowe, Elliot, Jones; McGlashan, Penn, Pack, Deering; Harrad (Duffy 81), Mohamed.
Unused subs:Roberts, Bennett, Hanks, Taylor, Goulding.
Referee:E Ilderton
Attendance:1,586