Youth Held by Morecambe

It is an often used football cliché that it is sometimes harder to beat ten men than it is to beat eleven. That logic would seem to suggest that it would be even harder to beat nine men. Indeed that was the situation that the youth team found themselves confronted with at Morecambe on a sunny but still cold, Thursday evening. With warnings about the Lancaster one-way system the lads put an extra effort to arrive on time. Unfortunately the Morecambe squad which contained three Merseyside based players were not so lucky. Their journey by train was disrupted by a fire on the line between Wigan and Preston. So by kick off time the hosts were only able to start the game with nine players, two above the FIFA minimum for a viable contest. It was therefore perhaps not surprising that the Morecambe game plan focussed on resolute defending with quick breaks when possible.

FC United dominated the early possession and took the lead in the seventh minute with a Mike Taylor Drive across Matthew Cape and in at the far post. However so effective was the Morecambe back line that FC were unable to create the space necessary to make the numerical advantage count. Indeed Morecambe were able to create threats of their own with support arriving in numbers whenever they were able to get the ball into the FC half, and equalised midway through the first period when a free kick from the half way line was driven into the box. Ryan Barker, usually so confident in such circumstances, came off his line looking to take charge of the situation but was caught out when a Morecambe head flicked it over him and into the net. The remainder of the first half played out with FC dominating possession but unable to trouble Cape.

Numerical parity was restored early in the second half when the missing players finally arrived and along with a couple of FC substitutions the game became a more open affair as both sides went all out for the win. FC debutante Yasser Belattar being a constant threat with a string of high quality crosses from the right wing but the home defence, marshalled by the excellent Simon Wearing held firm. The best FC chances were a Jonathan Poizer shot that flashed narrowly wide on the hour and on 80 minutes when a corner was scrambled away courtesy of a post and two kicks off the line. The home sides’ determination was clear, no more so than in the 85th minute when the lads had a free kick from much the same point that the Morecambe equaliser had stemmed from. This time Wearing dived full length to ensure his head was first to make contact. With daylight fading away the game drifted to a close and honours were shared.

Morecambe FC:
1. Matthew Cape
2. Daniel Towers
3. Tyler Hudson (arr 51 mins)
4. Simon Wearing
5. Tyler Bowman
6. Jamie Colebourn
7. Daniel Green
8. Junior Akande (arr 51 mins)
9. Decklan Watson
10. Wade Muscat
11. Alex Newby
Substitute:
14. Ibrihim Baba-Conteh

FC United of Manchester:
1. Ryan Barker
2. Derek Ubah
3. Lewis Adams
4. George Shaw
5. Charlie Doyle
6. Kial Callacher
7. Frank van Gils
8. Josh Smethurst
9. Yousif Yousif
10. Mike Taylor
11. Jon Poizer
Substitutes:
14. Yasser Belattar (for 9, 53 mins)
16. Jack Burgess (for 10, 69mins)
17. Matt Musialowski (for 2, 53 mins)