Burton Albion take all 3 points at The Globe to win promotion from league 2
Morecambe produced an error-strewn display as Burton Albion secured promotion to League One at a sunny Globe Arena on Saturday afternoon.
A brace from Lucas Akins was enough to send Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink’s side to the the third tier for the first time.
Damien McCrory missed a penalty on the half hour for Burton, but Akins was on hand to make amends minutes later before he converted a penalty following Andreas Arestidou's foul on 60 minutes to seal the win.
Mark Hughes’ late header gave the visitors some nerves in injury time but they held on.
Shrimps boss Jim Bentley was left disappointed with the performance.
He said: "We made too many critical errors. We gave them confidence and invited pressure on ourselves - that was typified with their second goal. We want to play nice football but we need to get the balance right and not produce silly errors in our own half.
"Today we didn't know when to clear it or when to pass. We shout ourselves in the foot, but we didn't deserve to get anything out of the game."
Burton began the game on top with former Newport defender Tom Naylor finding space early on before Nasser El Khayati skipped past three Shrimps men but could only produce a tame strike.
The hosts tried to get a foothold in the game and enjoyed a good spell of possession but Jamie Devitt saw his shot deflected over the bar after a flowing move on 16 minutes.
However Burton soon regained their composure with Arestidou being forced into a fine save after Akins' fierce close-range shot.
The Shrimps were fighting desperately to hang on but, after Jack Redshaw pulled a 20-yard shot narrowly wide, Burton got their big chance.
Stuart Beavon beat Laurence Wilson to a stray pass and Wilson tangled with the striker in the box but couldn't recover and referee Keith Stroud pointed to the spot.
McCrory stepped up and hit his shot down the middle but Arestidou saved well with his legs despite diving to his left.
But Morecambe were behind soon after. Andy Parrish lost the ball 30 metres out to the tireless Beavon and the ball broke to Akins who strolled into the area before firing past Arestidou to put his side ahead, despite the best efforts of Mark Hughes on the line.
The visitors held on to their lead going into the interval and could have gone further ahead shortly after the restart but Akins was denied a second by Arestidou after getting in behind the home defence.
The Shrimps did improve in the second half with Andy Fleming wasting a good opportunity on 53 minutes but Burton doubled their advantage shortly after.
Arestidou failed to control a back pass from Hughes before Bringing down Beavon as he went for the ball. The Shrimps stopper was booked. Akins took over penalty duties and stepped up, sending Arestidou the wrong way for his second goal of the day.
Burton looked confident and went on to dominate the final quarter, coming close to making it 3-0 after another mistake from the Shrimps, but Arestidou was well positioned to deny El Khayati on 67 minutes.
However, the Shrimps gave Hasslebaink's men a late fright thanks to Mark Hughes' injury-time header following a hooked left-wing cross from Paul Mullin. But the Brewers hung on to clinch promotion, while the Shrimps remain 12th in the table.
Morecambe: Arestidou, Beeley, Hughes, Parrish, Wilson, Kenyon, Wildig, Fleming, Devitt (Amond 69), Ellison, Redshaw (Mullin 69). Subs not used: Roche, Wright, Goodall, McGowan, Bondswell.
Booked: Kenyon, Ellison, Arestidou.
Burton Albion: McLaughlin, Edwards, Cansdell-Sherriff, Mousinho, McCrory, Weir, Naylor, Stewart (Maynard 90), El Khayati (Dunn 72), Akins, Beavon (Johnstone 80). Subs not used: Shearer, Taft, Palmer, Harness.
Booked: Edwards.
Referee: Keith Stroud.
Attendance: 2,139 (727).
Edmundson Electrical Man of the Match: Andreas Arestidou.