THE Shrimps claimed another vital point in their quest to move further away from the relegation zone with this draw against Colchester.
In a game where clear chances were few and far between the Shrimps battled away but had to settle for the point against a decent U’s.
Boss Jim Bentley went with the same side that beat Exeter at the Globe Arena on Saturday with Steven Old on the bench as the Shrimps looked to maintain their solid recent form.
In the early minutes, neither side was taking any chances on what looked like a difficult surface and there weren’t too many efforts on goal at either end.
Akex Kenyon for the Shrimps and Ryan Jackson for the U’s put long range efforts wide of the target, before the U’s hit the woodwork on 15 minutes when Kenyon headed Kane Vincent-Young’s cross agains the crossbar and out for a corner.
Tom Eastman and Luke Prosser both made important blocks, before Brennan Dickenson header was saved by Barry Roche.
Gregg Wylde volleyed wide from just outside the area before Morecambe created the best chance of the match as the game headed towards half time.
Adam McGurk tried his luck from distance and forced Sam Walker into a scrambling save before the keeper reacted sharply to also block the follow up from Garry Thompson.
Morecambe started the second half well but two wasted good opportunities as with men spare both Michael Rose and Wylde fired long range shots wide when there were better options around them.
Kane Vincent-Young did break through on the left on 53 minutes for the visitors , but when his run was stopped, Sammie Szmodics’ ball into the near post was cleared.
Just after the hour, the U’s thought they had a sight of goal, but Tom Lapslie’s volley was superbly blocked by Aaron McGowan on the edge of the box.
Wylde continued to try his luck from any distance, having one effort blocked and then shooting wide after a Morecambe break.
Roche then produced the save of the game when he parried away a curling Brennan Dickenson free-kickwhich was heading for the bottom right hand corner before the keeper managed to dive full length to his right to palm the ball clear.
Both sided created one final chance to win the game with the Shrimps striking first when Thompson volleyed over Vadaine Oliver’s knockdown from close range on 83 minutes.
A double substitution then saw Sean Murray and Courtney Senior introduced, with the former hitting a free-kick narrowly over the bar with four minutes remaining.
Colcheter almost snatched it at the death when Mikael Mandron had a glimpse of an opening on the right hand side of the box but flashed his effort horribly wide.
Morecambe: Roche, McGowan, Winner, Lavelle, Conlan, Rose, Kenyon, McGurk (rep Oliver 77), Thompson, Wylde (rep Wildig 88), Lang (rep Campbell 80). Subs not used: Nizic, Old, Fleming, Lund.
Colchester: Walker, Jackson, Eastman, Prosser, Vincent-Young, Comley (rep Stevenson 79), Wright, Szmodics (rep Senior 84), Lapslie, Dickensen (rep Murray 84), Mandron. Subs not used: Barnes, Shodipo, Mandeville, Rooney.