MORECAMBE suffered their first league defeat of the season as Donal McDermott’s superb first-half strike secured Swindon Town a battling win.
McDermott combined nicely with full-back Ben Purkiss on the right before cutting inside Alex Kenyon and sending in a swerving, dipping strike from the edge of the box that beat Shrimps stopper Barry Roche after just 13 minutes.
Town’s Paul Mullin was clearly keen to make an impression upon his return to the club he left over the summer and was involved in all of the visitors’ early attacks heading wide from an early corner and firing wide.
After a sluggish start Morecambe were on top for the remainder of the half.
Their first sight of goal came just before the 20-minute mark when Gary Thompson’s snap-shot after a long throw into box was snuffed out by an Olly Lancashire block.
Swindon keeper Lawrence Vigouroux was almost caught out after half-an-hour, taking too long to make a clearance, allowing Aaron Wildig to close him down, with the loose ball bobbling narrowly wide of the open goal.
From the ensuing corner, Vigouroux made a smart if somewhat fortunate save from Thompson’s drilled effort from the edge of the box.
Morecambe thought they had a good claim for a penalty two minutes before the break when Vigouroux rushed from his line to dive at the feet of Thompson and although the Morecambe man went down, the linesman’s flag went up for offside to save the referee making a crucial call.
Vigouroux had to be on his toes again in first-half stoppage time as Dion Conroy misjudged a ball over the top in the swirling wind, with the Town keeper reacting quickly to save at the feet of Aaron Wildig before Olly Lancashire thwarted Thompson on the follow-up.
The visitors came strong again after the break although clear-cut chances were at a premium as they were restricted to long-range efforts from Hussey, McDermott and then Mullin, none of which truly threatened Roche’s goal.
David Flitcroft introduced James Brophy for Kaiyne Woolery with 25 minutes to go and the winger should have doubled the visitors’ lead instantly after his arrival but he headed Hussey’s neat cross over the top when left unmarked in the box.
Morecambe threw bodies forward at the end with Thompson twice volleying wide of the target but they could not find a way through the Town defence.
MORECAMBE: Roche; Winnard, Old, Kenyon; Lund (Turner 60), Fleming (Campbell 88), Rose (capt), Brough; Wildig (Ellison 75); Thompson, Oliver. Subs not used: Nizic, Conlan, Lavelle, Osborne.
SWINDON TOWN: Vigouroux; Purkiss, Lancashire, Conroy, Hussey; McDermott (Robertson 86), Dunne, Linganzi, Mullin; Woolery (Brophy 65), Norris (H Smith 90). Subs not used: Henry, Thomas, Iandolo, T Smith.
Referee: Mark Heywood