MORECAMBE went down 2-1 to Accrington Stanley on derby day.
Stanley took the spoils and moved up to third in the table in a game that saw a number of controversial moments including a sending off for Vadaine Oliver and two excellent Morecambe penalty appeals turned down by referee Peter Bankes.
Stanley created the better chances and took the points thanks to goals in either half from Billy Kee and Jordan Clark. But to their credit Morecambe always looked to push forward despite being reduced to 10 men and they fully deserved their late consolation when Kevin Ellison scored a 94th minute header to cause the Stanley defence a few nervous moments.
Morecambe boss Jim Bentley made five changes to the side that drew with Cambridge last week with deaadline day signing Adam McGurk given his first start and Max Muller playing in a holding midfield role in place of the injured Alex Kenyon.
And it was Stanley who made the better start with Kayden Jackson almost capitalising on a mix-up in the Morecambe defence but saw his effort thwarted by Barry Roche.
The visitors went close again through skipper Seamus Conneely after Sean McConville’s clever ball, but Conneely couldn’t keep his volley underneath the bar and Kee should also have done better when presented with a great chance 12 yards out.
After squandering those chances Stanley took the lead in fine fashion just after the half-hour when Kee picked up the ball in space, advanced, before drilling a low effort beyond Roche from 25-yards out.
The lead was almost doubled from a McConville corner, debutant Farrend Rawson rose above all but clipped his header against the base of the post.
After an explosive first half the game burst back into life in the 56th minute when Oliver was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Kee to give the Shrimps a mountain to climb.
The red card actually gave Morecambe a lift and they looked more threatening going forward with a clear penalty waved away when Aaron McGowan was brought down after a superb piece of skill.
At the other end Roche saved well from Jackson and Mallik Wilks and Jordan Clark missed a golden chance when he could only find the side netting from close range.from Sean McConville’s excellent cross.
Clark made no mistake a minute from time however when he bundled home Jackson’;s cross from close range.
But to their credit Morecambe came back again and they scored their first goal in four games when Ellison headed home Elliott Osborne’s far post cross.
Morecambe: Roche, McGowan, Winnard, Muller, Old, Brough (rep Ellison 73), Rose, Campbell (rep Osborne 62), McGurk (rep Lang 63), Thompson 6, Oliver 6.
Subs not used: Nizic, Lund, Turner, Fleming.
Accrington: Stryjek (rep Chapman 8), Thorniley, Hughes, Rawson (rep Ogle 72), Donacien, Clark, Nolan, Conneely, McConville, Kee (rep Wilks 65), Jackson.
Subs not used: Brown, Sykes, Sousa, Dallison.
Ref: P Bankes.
Att: 2059