Match Report: Bury 4-1 Morecambe
THREE second half goals saw Morecambe suffer a 4-1 defeat in their opening EFL Trophy game at Gigg Lane.
The Shrimps went into the break level after Paul Mullin had equalised from Zeli Ismail's second minute penalty but Gary Flitcroft's full strength side proved too strong in the second half.
Boss Jim Bentley made six changes to the side that beat Accrington Stanley with Danijel Nizic and Rhys Turner being handed their first starts while Mullin, Lee Molyneux, Aaron McGowan and Alex Kenyon were also brought back into the starting line up.
The new look side was not given too much time to settle down however as they found themselves a goal down after just two minutes.
Anthony Dudley was bundled over on the edge of the Morecambe box and after a moment's hesitation the referee pointed to the spot with Ismail sending Nizic the wrong way.
Morecambe did come back strongly and created some good openings but failed to make the most of some promising opportunities.
Paul Mullin twice tried his luck from distance with shots that went wide before Turner missed a golden opportunity to mark his first start with a goal on 21 minutes when he received the ball unmarked on the edge of the area but blazed a shot well over the bar when he should have done much better.
Bury threatened themselves with Ismail a constant threat down the right and teeing up Tom Pope with a sweet cross which the striker headed into Nizic's hands.
The Australian stopper was forced into action again with a smart save low to his left from Danny Mayor's right foot curler and before producing another flying block to tip away Tom Soares's stinging shot from distance.
Nizic was rewarded for his saves as Morecambe levelled on 43 minutes when Mullin tried his luck from 25 yards and clipped an unstoppable shot past Ben Williams and into the top left hand corner of the Bury goal.
Unfortunately the Shrimps were not level for long as Bury regains the lead four minutes after the break.
Andy Fleming gave the ball away in midfield and Danny Mayor took advantage with a cross into the area for Pope to flick a header past Nizic from six yards.
Bury then took control with Soares again denied by a flying Nizic save with a shot from 25 yards before Mayor drilled a low effort wide of the right hand post from the edge of the area.
Morecambe struggled to gain possession but did create one golden opportunity for Mullin on the hour but he snatched at an effort when found unmarked eight yards out and the chance went begging.
The Shrimps had to thank Nizic again with another excellent save to deny Dudley on 75 minutes and then Soares again before Antony Kay sealed the victory with a bullet header from a right wing corner.
The game ended on a positive for the Shrimps with Jack Dunn forcing Williams into a good save and hitting the post before Peter Murphy was introduced for his first performance since picking up a ligament in jury at Wycombe in January.
But it was Bury who had the final say when Pope added his second of the game when played in down the left hand side before poking the ball past Nizic.
BURY: Williams, Jones (rep Maher 53), Kay, Barnett, Leigh, Ismail (rep Hope 64), Mellis, Soares, Mayor (Obi 84), Pope, Dudley. Subs not used: Burgess, Rachubka, Bedeau, Harker.
Booked: Kay.
MORECAMBE: Nizic, Wakefield (rep Dunn 71), Edwards, Whitmore, McGowan, Fleming (rep Murphy 83), Kenyon, Mullin, Ellison (rep Barkhuizen 59), Molyneux, Turner. Subs not used: Roche, Stockton, Rose, Hedley.,
Booked: Mullin, Wakefield.
Ref: R Jones
Att: 1,154 (117 away fans)