Oh We Do Like Two Two Beside The Seaside

Morecambe (A) - League 2 - 15th March 2025

On the full-time whistle, as a cruel but necessary rendition of "going down with the Carlisle" rolled out across the sparse turf, Tom White - reduced to a crouch like the majority of his Morecambe colleagues (temps?) - raised a tentative palm up to the Barrow fans with whom he shared more glories than frustrations over 100 and plenty appearances. The song wasn't aimed at him, needless to say, nor his hired-gun teammates, but the home support: stunned into silence 20 minutes earlier by the equaliser, but for much of the afternoon enjoying themselves a lot.

The image was symbolic of a couple of things; sure, you can sense the delicate nature of loyalty in football, but more relevant to us, it was emblematic of the failed experiment that this season has become. White was one of a few players deemed unworthy or incapable of the way Clemence initially had us operating, but as the season dragged, caught on some barbed-wire, and unravelled, it became clear that he was the sort of player (if not perhaps the player) that had been overlooked. Only when MJ Williams was signed did we have a proper destroyer in the heart of midfield. And then, typically for our season, poor recruitment in other areas eventually led to him being deployed further back in a still-creaking back 3.

None of this can be laid at Whing's door of course, but we entered this game still without enough to control the centre of the park, and still without the defensive solidity to snuff out danger around the box (not to mention three players who aren't our players up front). Obviously, Morecambe scored with their only two real chances; carving us open with the first, and barrelling through bodies for the second. It was bleak, but true to form. Without the midfield, the ball was pushed wide at every opportunity. Duru, though, wasn't quite on it by his standards, and possession didn't turn into pressure.

Between the goals though, came the sending-off that would end up tipping the scales if not in our favour then back to neutral, and the second half mirrored the one-way traffic that has bedevilled Lancaster City Centre for as long as I can remember.

We wondered before kick-off whether the clinical finishing Andy Dallas displayed while on loan for us would be in evidence, and thankfully it was. Pushed back deeper after the red-card, he somehow found himself unopposed with 60 plus yards to contemplate how he was going to get it past Farman. The keeper, frozen to a spot inside his area, spooked Dallas and pounced on the ball. Jesus Christ Barrow.

Soon, it was 2-1 when, in apparently trying our best not to score, Gotts managed to contort his body around a ball that was slightly behind him, the ball having come off the post from Newby's header. For once, it did seem inevitable that a goal would arrive to give us a barely deserved draw, and it came teasingly with enough time remaining to win the game. Campbell looked back to his best and a shot from the edge of the area was spilled by the Morecambe keeper straight to Smith. If we can keep any of our loan players for next season, I'd like it to be him. As effective as Pressley has been, Smith has a rare knack of finding himself with simple opportunities and usually puts them to bed.

Apart from a late Canavan burst into the box, there wasn't any sense that we'd been unlucky not to win. Some of the better chances actually came in the first half, when an equaliser might have more readily turned into three points.

If Morecambe do go down, and it looks more likely than not, I won't miss the experience. It's essentially the same layout at Christie Park, reimagined on the edge of town, topped off with a Sky Sports themed Beefeater. Very much not how to do new stadiums, thank you very much.

For us, although there's - almost unbelievably - still 10 games to go, thoughts have got to turn to what the summer will bring. A level of turnover beckons that will, perhaps, rival that on Evatt's arrival. Whing will hopefully build the squad in his image; a no-frills outfit that gets results first and asks questions later. Would I take White back, should he be released by Morecambe (and should he feel like it)? Sure, why not. Whatever. Just wake me up in August.