As they say ‘it’s a game of two halves’. Today’s game was
one of those. During my pre-match meal the message from Ian Holtby was that
Rovers would ‘start like lightening’. Had Holtby toned down his statement and
said it after 15 minutes he would have been correct. Morecambe started the
brighter of the two sides, keeping possession well without troubling the Rovers
backline too much. That was until the 15th minute when Morecambe’s
Wright wriggled past two Rovers players before smacking the post, leaving Sam
Walker well beaten. That was the wake-up call that Bristol Rovers so
desperately needed, instantly shocking the home team into life. Rovers asserted
large amounts of pressure with Morecambe struggling to fully clear their lines.
The home side had numerous attempts blocked during a 25 minute passage of play
where Morecambe looked much the weaker side. Just before half time Rovers’
Eliot Richards attempted a life foot drive after cutting in from the right but
the strike lacked enough power and placement to beat the keeper. Bristol Rovers
were by far the stronger side but lacked the tempo and creativity to penetrate
a stubborn Morecambe defence, who were constantly looking to knick a goal on
the break.
The
second half was a complete reversal from the first. Morecambe came out much the
stronger side retaining possession well and causing the Rovers defence much
more trouble than they did in the first half. It took just 7 minutes into the
second half for Morecambe to break down Rovers, a well weighted knock down
found McDonald who calmly slotted his shot past an outstretched Sam Walker.
Morecambe’s goal allowed them to stamp their authority on the game with Rovers
struggling to keep hold of the ball; repeatedly losing. Morecambe had another
chance to double their lead when Eliot Richards was out-muscled forcing a great
save from Rovers’ goalkeeper Walker. 5 minutes later Morecambe did in fact double
their lead when Rovers’ Lee Brown missed his attempted clearance gifting Fenton
Morecambe’s second goal of the afternoon. Kevin Ellison rounded up a horrific 10
minutes for the Pirates when Wayne Brown lost possession sloppily in the middle
of the pitch allowing Ellison to run at the defence and capitalise on Rovers’
second mistake in just 5 minutes. The final 30 minutes completely fizzled out
with the Rovers side looking shock of all confidence and fight allowing
Morecambe to gain all 3 points with ease. You know it’s been a bad game when the
highlight was when Adam Virgo tripped over Alessandra sparking calls from the
Blackthorn end calling for the sending off of our own player.
A very poor second half showing overshadowed a decent first
half performance from Rovers; during a nightmare second half ten minutes in which
three goals were conceded.
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