Shrimps 5 [Crowley OG Love Stockton Mayor] Bristol Rovers 1

[Phoenix Shrimp 2017]

Must admit great performance today
Crowley looks a class act they should be offering him an extended contract now


But still a poor refereeing performance

Don't want to advertise it far and wide but Crowley had a mighty fine home debut. Probably the best debut I can remember since 'Marvellous' Marvin Ali strutted his stuff at Christie park about 30 years ago. Marvellous Marvin turned out to be a flash in the pan and soon went downhill, but hopefully Crowley will be the real deal and we can offer a contract tempting enough to secure his services longer than the current one to the end of the season.

Personally thought todays ref was one of the better ones. Liked the way in the second half that he played the advantage for us after a bad foul on Mayor and then went back at the first opportunity to book the Bristol player. Also thought he allowed the game to flow and was on the whole consistent with decisions for both teams. Thought the penalty they got was more clear cut than any of our shouts. Any way it just gave us another opportunity to see the talented Mr Ripley display his incredible talents!

[CityShrimp]

5 goals from 5 shots on target all game

A well deserved win though - we played really effective football going forwards. A few wobbles defensively.

Good decision from Derek to keep Rawson in the starting 11 - he could easily have kept in Delaney instead but Rawson proved his worth, dealing with all of Bristols aerial balls.

Donald Love had possibly his best game in a Morecambe shirt. Good involvement going forwards and loads of interceptions to win us back possession.

Crowley had a sensational debut and looks simply too good for us.

Simeu looks combative and a good addition.

Mellon didn’t do loads but hopefully will find his feet and grow in confidence.

Finally… some great play from Stockton and there were shades of last season with his well taken finish. Hope he can score a few more now.

I thought Mellon was fantastic. He won headers, ran at defenders and got shots away. I thought he played really well and looked a step up from Phillips.

He was solid but a step up from Phillips? Really? Well, hopefully you will be proven right over the coming weeks.

[Keith]

Personally thought todays ref was one of the better ones...

I'm with you, I don't think he got much wrong. The penalty decisions were all correct, in my opinion. Let the game flow. I was a bit worried that he may have gone for a red, instead of yellow, for Gibson's challenge as it looked like it may have been 'studs up' or given him a second yellow towards the end, when he spoke to Gibbo instead. Often, a player already on a yellow, doesn't get the benefit of the doubt for a second foul.

Top performances from everyone, including the manager. Not out of the woods yet, but playing like that, we soon will be.

[marky No.1]

Anyone know why the kids holding the flags as the teams come on to the pitch are wearing claret & blue? Where are they from?

From the Burnley Junior section to welcome Mellon on his home loan debut.

Or could it be Overton and Middleton Junior school kids. Nice touch from the club to get local schools and their families into the ground and involved!

Westgate Wanderers...

Brilliant performance today, so exciting to watch

[BerlinWaller]

5 goals from 5 shots on target all game

A well deserved win though - we played really effective football going forwards. A few wobbles defensively.

Good decision from Derek to keep Rawson in the starting 11 - he could easily have kept in Delaney instead but Rawson proved his worth, dealing with all of Bristols aerial balls.

Donald Love had possibly his best game in a Morecambe shirt. Good involvement going forwards and loads of interceptions to win us back possession.

Crowley had a sensational debut and looks simply too good for us.

Simeu looks combative and a good addition.

Mellon didn’t do loads but hopefully will find his feet and grow in confidence.

Finally… some great play from Stockton and there were shades of last season with his well taken finish. Hope he can score a few more now.

I thought Mellon was fantastic. He won headers, ran at defenders and got shots away. I thought he played really well and looked a step up from Phillips.

He was solid but a step up from Phillips? Really? Well, hopefully you will be proven right over the coming weeks.

Phillips scored important goals but he didn't really contribute in build up play or put a shift in. Mellon worked his socks off yesterday and his movement was top quality. Their defenders didn't know where he was half the time and this contributed towards the space that Crowley had. He has a good leap and won some big headers which Kieron hardly ever did. He also has a good first touch and can dribble. It is no coincidence that Cole had his best game of the season playing alongside him. Better than Phillips technically, a better work rate and a better football brain.

[fulwoodshrimp]

I am very critical of the state of refereeing in League 1 bit I thought today’s ref was okay and got majority of decisions right and made good use of advantage. I also thought Love had his best game for us and took his goal. Whoever found Crowley did brilliantly. What a clever midfield talent he is. Hope we can keep him after this season. Also like Simeu, he strengthens the team.

[Keith]

Whoever found Crowley did brilliantly. What a clever midfield talent he is. Hope we can keep him after this season. Also like Simeu, he strengthens the team.

Sadly, I suspect he will do a Greg Leigh. Put himself in the shop window with us, then get a big move somewhere else. But, I'd be delighted if he signed a two year deal tomorrow!

[BerlinWaller]

Hopefully Crowley maintains this high standard and contributes to us staying in L1 for the 2nd season in a row. Leigh flattered to deceive and should have been a top player for us. A flop for me.

[black morse]

Derek was saying that we had enough to take one more player. Maybe we should drop that idea and extend Crowley's contract now. At least we might get some decent money for him then.

[Little Shrimp]

Phillips scored important goals but he didn't really contribute in build up play or put a shift in.

Nonsense this. Phillips made some fantastic contributions to our overall play, whether it was running in behind to stretch the opposition defence or linking up with Weir and other midfielders. Also our top assister currently (although I can't see that lasting long with Crowley!). That said, I thought Mellon did very well. Lots to like in his all round game - similarly to Phillips - and I think he's a great replacement. Couple of naive moments but they'll iron out soon enough I'm sure. Super impressive overall performance for his first ever professional start.

We have some set of midfielders now, blimey. Hard to think of much to add regarding Crowley, what a player! I think he'll continue to thrive given the freedom Derek likes to give to creative types in possession. Really delighted to see things come together for Love. He's got ability (Louis van Gaal gave him a few Utd appearances!) but has looked off it for much of the first half of the season. Picked up a bit in recent matches and was brilliant down the right yesterday - the goal seemed to send his confidence even higher too. I think Simeu at RCB helped massively as well there. I like Rawson and thought he did a great job yesterday in the middle guarding the box, but he's a bit uncomfortable stepping out into those wider areas when playing RCB. Someone more mobile and better on the ball like Simeu really helped sort things. He's also super aggressive and very physically dominant - another great January signing.

Following on from that, good tactical work from Derek yesterday. Lots of difficult movement from Bristol Rovers to cope with. At times we kind of had a lopsided defence with Gibson sitting deep with the centre backs to help deal with Sinclair pushing up. Simeu being able to shift a bit to the right helped give Love some attacking freedom, which worked out nicely.

Leigh flattered to deceive and should have been a top player for us. A flop for me.

Again, nonsense sorry! Was great for us last season. Offered a lot defensively, one of the few players we had who could win a header, and gave us loads of drive going forward. Decent return of two goals and four assists as well. Always worked super hard. There's a reason Ipswich went for him.

Is this just a shop window from Crowley? Who knows, I'd love him to stay for longer but if he helps keep us up this season, I'll take that!

[BerlinWaller]

Phillips scored important goals but he didn't really contribute in build up play or put a shift in.

Nonsense this. Phillips made some fantastic contributions to our overall play, whether it was running in behind to stretch the opposition defence or linking up with Weir and other midfielders. Also our top assister currently (although I can't see that lasting long with Crowley!). That said, I thought Mellon did very well. Lots to like in his all round game - similarly to Phillips - and I think he's a great replacement. Couple of naive moments but they'll iron out soon enough I'm sure. Super impressive overall performance for his first ever professional start.

We have some set of midfielders now, blimey. Hard to think of much to add regarding Crowley, what a player! I think he'll continue to thrive given the freedom Derek likes to give to creative types in possession. Really delighted to see things come together for Love. He's got ability (Louis van Gaal gave him a few Utd appearances!) but has looked off it for much of the first half of the season. Picked up a bit in recent matches and was brilliant down the right yesterday - the goal seemed to send his confidence even higher too. I think Simeu at RCB helped massively as well there. I like Rawson and thought he did a great job yesterday in the middle guarding the box, but he's a bit uncomfortable stepping out into those wider areas when playing RCB. Someone more mobile and better on the ball like Simeu really helped sort things. He's also super aggressive and very physically dominant - another great January signing.

Following on from that, good tactical work from Derek yesterday. Lots of difficult movement from Bristol Rovers to cope with. At times we kind of had a lopsided defence with Gibson sitting deep with the centre backs to help deal with Sinclair pushing up. Simeu being able to shift a bit to the right helped give Love some attacking freedom, which worked out nicely.

Leigh flattered to deceive and should have been a top player for us. A flop for me.

Again, nonsense sorry! Was great for us last season. Offered a lot defensively, one of the few players we had who could win a header, and gave us loads of drive going forward. Decent return of two goals and four assists as well. Always worked super hard. There's a reason Ipswich went for him.

Is this just a shop window from Crowley? Who knows, I'd love him to stay for longer but if he helps keep us up this season, I'll take that!

Not knocking Phillips, he did a very good job for us and a shame to see him leave but Mellon's showing yesterday was a step up from him.

Leigh was a flop. For all his attributes and undoubted ability, he should have done much more than he did. Derek bombed him out pretty early on when he returned.

[redrobo]

Wouldn't go as far as to say Leigh was a flop but his attacking down the wing was too predictable. Always went outside his marker and never went inside.

Just my opinion....

[Keith]

International call up for Jamaica and a move to Ipswich. Not too bad for a "flop"