A journey to the cold and wet Northwest visiting the endearing Morecambe Bay area to take on the rather out of form, well at least out of form recently, Morecambe. I have to say for whatever reason, I really enjoy my visits to Morecambe with its really attractive bay and splendid views over to the Cumbrian fells; a long old trip for the 500+ travelling Hatters. After a stroll along the front, paying due respects to Eric, it was time for a couple of pints of the lovely Lancaster Ale and a very welcome and warming meal at the Palatine Inn; just the stuff for fortifying the body against the bleak rain, hail and low temperature.
Winding the clock back a little to 7:30 that day a group of Hatters supporters were worrying over the cappuccino as there was talk of a 9:30 pitch inspection at Morecambe following a couple of days of heavy rain. Little did we suspect at the time that we were later in the day going to witness the most complete away performance since the 5-0 win at Alfreton back in the Conference days. Like all travelling Hatters, experiencing travel issues and delays are something that goes with the territory; just something you get on with. Thankfully the trains despite some nasty weather were by and large fine for the Morecambe trip; the odd delay bit nothing to really grumble about. The travel gremlin on Saturday decided to hitch a ride with the Bobbers travel coach who were unfortunately stuck on the M6 for a couple of hours and missed the first half hour of the game. For the game, Nathan made a few changes to the Accrington line up with Pelly coming in for the suspended Cook, Mullins replacing the unwell Cuthbert and Vessel taking Marriott's place in the starting 11. Right from the start, the town set about their task of taking the game to Morecambe with some really decent link up football as they really tried to move the ball quickly and put Morecambe under pressure. That pressure on the Morecambe goal almost paid off early in the game as we created a number of half-chances. Thankfully the Town kept up that pressure and after 28 minutes a really fine shot from Hylton from outside the penalty area sent the ball crashing into the bottom left-hand corner of the net: a really fine goal from our leading scorer Hylton a guy playing at the top of his game. Other chances or more correctly, half chances followed, and by halftime, it really would not have been at all flattering if we had been at least two goals in front of our hosts. However, having said that, I do feel that in that first half we missed Cuthbert's height and dominance in the air a touch as seen with a couple of really nice crosses that our defenders slightly struggled with but that was the only time the defence creaked a touch as the remainder of the time they were really tops. Well, in keeping with other travelling Hatters, I was both happy with the lead and the style of our first half performance which was more like a conventional home performance than a cagy away performance. There was lots of possession but possession with players looking to move into space and make themselves available to receive the ball in midfield and move forward; all encouraging stuff. Predictably, the second half started with Morecambe showing more intent having been given words of wisdom possibly concerning their future employment at half time. However, in that first 10 minutes or so of the second half, they did not really create anything of note that threatened the excellent Walton's goal. After that little Morecambe flutter early in the first half, it was the resumption our domination and it was not that surprising when we doubled our lead. The goal came from a sweet attacking move with Pelly nicely passing the ball to the outstanding Justin who cut into the area and unleashed a terrific shot that the keeper parried onto the bar only for the onrushing “universal soldier” Vassell to head over the line from almost 6 inches out; simple!y just great to see Isaac Vassell get his first goal in league football and a goal that his performance richly deserved. It has to be said that the Morecambe defenders simply found it really difficult to cope with Vassell’s strength, pace and energy; I am really pleased for the guy and now he is up and running let's see what he may do; I reckon we really have a player there. From that point on, we could with a touch more luck have added a couple of more goals as Pelly, Hylton and Vassell went desperately close and Morecambe had no answer other than the odd long range shot such was dominance of our defence. Late in the game Whitmore of Morecambe was given a straight red for a foul on fabulous Olly Lee, no not a typo, Olly had time on the ball as was not pressurised and had a very decent game. Whoops, nearly forgot, the oh so excellent Danny boy did a really stupid thing very late on in the game when in a position of totally no threat, he fouled a Morecambe player and added to his priceless collection of yellows; silly boy! I have no doubt that if Nathan’s body language was anything to go by at the end of the game that they won't be singing Oh Danny Boy in the bath together. Overall impression: A thoroughly accomplished performance from our team with lots of possession and thoughtful passing that always gave us the upper hand against a fairly poor Morecambe side. To our great credit and the pleasure of Hatters fans, we really tried to move the ball about quickly and get at Morecambe. Our approach proved very effective particularly as Hylton supported by the “universal soldier” Vassell did not give the Morecambe defence a moment's rest; simply no ball was a lost cause for these two and it was just so impressive to see the pair winning back the ball from defenders; great stuff. Maybe if we had not tried to take that extra step or two on several occasions and shoot, then the score could have matched that of the famous 5-0 Alfreton victory. We really did have some outstanding individual performances which I give some thoughts on below but it has to be said that every player had a good performance and most importantly played for each other; just the way we want it to be. The Sunday Rant Well, I don't really have one as such as it was in total a brilliant day out. However, although it's hardly a rant, I did sympathise with some long distance Exeter supporters on the train travelling back from Carlisle where they were winning up until the 89th minute only for Carlisle to hit two ultra late goals. I said I would catch up with them next week for a pint in the Centre Spot club at St James's park. I really hope that these guys pull their way back up the league but only after next Saturday's game when I hope we collect another three points. OK, I am ranting, but for me, the type of football supporters I respect so much are the likes of these Exeter guys; lovers of their local club and not Chelski bandwagon jumpers. Some Impressions of Individual Performances: Walton: simply as impressive as ever, caught the ball very cleanly and used the ball well with almost every clearance: a top keeper at this or indeed the next level up. I do hope Brighton get promoted to the Premier and decide they need a cartload of foreign goalkeepers maybe that way we could keep him. Incidentally, same wish applies to Gilliead and to be honest if Newcastle do go back to the Premier as seems likely, they will simply chuck cash around the globe chasing the dream, so we may have a chance there. Justin: composed, classy, fast and showing every game what a really fine wing back he is maturing into. I have to say I really rate James Justin simply the best right back we have had at the club for a very long time. Mullins: very sound game and showing what a really good reader of the game he can be: possibly a more athletic version of that great game reader from the past Steve McNulty but without the gift for rugby tackles. Rea: a good game at the centre of the defence getting his tackles in really well. With Rea you know what you are going to get game after game; L1 would be so easy for this guy. Sheehan: he does take some really good corners and apart from those dear ball efforts, really sound and safe game. Lee: really this was his type of game as he was not totally pressurised by the opposition thus giving him time to show the prettier side of his ferocious nature. Joking aside, Olly had a very good game but I won't get excited in L2 terms unless we play Morecambe every week. I still reckon he could do a very useful job with Rea as holding midfielder behind him. Pelly: a very decent game and almost scored on a couple of occasions as he worked little triangles and cut holes in the Morecambe defence; keep playing him Nathan, he will get better and better. Just do remember Mr Pelly to shoot a bit more often; you have a cracking shot so don’t be afraid to use it. Gilliead: sorry if this is getting monotonous but like others, he played well; not at his sweet best but a good game as he forever looked to take the opposition on and did his bit in winning the ball back. McGeehan: stuck at it all afternoon and whilst not outstanding, simply decent enough and as ever, always willing to power his way into the area. Vassell: well we are balanced on a knife edge here with Vassell in my opinion: just a little tip of that balance in the right direction that suggests we really may have a star player in Isaac Vassell. He has pace, power, bravery, he can head the ball; I have to say I like him. Hylton: simply superb; he was a total pain to the Morecambe defence all afternoon. Every time a Morecambe defender thought he had won the ball then in flies Danny boy to take the ball off his toe and get another attack moving. The travelling supporters just love the guy; totally the real deal when it comes to a clever centre forward. The Subs: Smith: Came on at about the 80th minute for Pelly and as ever with Smith “what you see is what you get”; total commitment. Marriott: Nathan sent him on in the 83rd minute to give Vassell a break and in the moves he was involved in, Marriott looked hungry. Gray: came on as the last sub and never really had time to make much of an impact on the game. The Teams: Morecambe: Roche, McGowan, Edwards, Winnard, Murphy (Turner 71), Molyneux, Ellison (Mullin 71), Whitmore, Jennings, Stockton (Massanka 82), Rose. Subs: Nizic, Wakefield, Conlan, Dunn. Yellow: Rose Red: Whitmore Luton: Walton, Justin, Mullins, Rea, Sheehan, Lee, McGeehan, Mpanzu (Smith 83), Gilliead (Gray 86), Vassell (Marriott 80), Hylton. Subs: O’Donnell, Mackail-Smith, McQuoid, King (GK) Yellow: Smith, Hylton
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Hi there, welcome to my site where I chronicle various things about the Hatters, a team I have followed since the mid 60’sArchives
December 2017
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