Derek Adams says he was proud of the Shrimps' application against league leaders Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
Connor Ripley’s 44th minute penalty save, his fourth of the season, was the talking point at the break, though Niall Ennis broke the deadlock on 69 minutes for The Pilgrims.
Substitute Sam Cosgrove doubled the hosts’ advantage six minutes before the end of normal time, with Anthony O’Connor netting a consolation for Morecambe in injury time.
Whilst his side left empty handed, Adams says he was proud of their application on the day.
“We’ve come to a team who are top of the table and we tried to go toe-to-toe with them, it was difficult at times because of the quality they have in their team,” he said.
“I thought we started the game very well, we pressed them high up the pitch and they knocked a number of balls out of play.
“When they did create opportunities, it was our fault with a bit of slack play or giving the ball away.
“Over the afternoon, I’m very proud of our players because, to come here, they’ve only lost once [at home] this season and they are top of the league for a reason.”
Victory for Argyle against the Shrimps took them to the League One summit, and despite disappointment following defeat, the gaffer believes Morecambe’s application says a lot about their mentality.
He continued: “We’ve had to play Derby County who we’ve drawn with, Portsmouth who we’ve drawn with as well, all these teams at the top end of the table.
“Beating Barnsley at home and coming here and putting in a very good performance, to come away and lose 2-1 is disappointing, but what we was the players gave their all aned tried their best to get that victory.
“[Connor Ripley] was very good today, he made an excellent penalty save and we had to defend well at times through him because, a number of times, they got through and got opportunities.”