Derek Adams admits 10-man Barrow pushed Morecambe all the way

Posted Wednesday, December 02, 2020 by PA

Morecambe boss Derek Adams was a relieved man after his side won 1-0 against a stubborn Barrow side who were forced to play more than 75 minutes with 10 men.

Carlos Mendes Gomes was the match-winner with his third goal of the season on 12 minutes after latching on to Adam Phillips’s through-ball.

And when Barrow defender Sam Hird was controversially sent off three minutes later for a handball to deny Mendes Gomes a run on goal Morecambe looked set for a comfortable victory.

But a brave Barrow response saw the Shrimps struggle to finally clinch the win, as Adams was happy to admit.

He said: “We started the game very well and got the first goal and when they had a man sent off a few minutes later we were thinking how many we could score.

“But after the sending-off they kept a really good shape and made it hard for us.

“We created a few chances but they came right into it and although they didn’t have too many chances we had to work hard to keep them out.

“We had a few chances towards the end but we kept them out and ended the game well.”

Barrow boss David Dunn said the sending-off of Hird changed the game.

He said: “The red card wasn’t a good decision. It was a foul on Sam Hird in the run-up to the incident. I think he did handball it but it was because he was being pushed and that was really disappointing.

“Overall I was proud of the lads’ performance but am bitterly disappointed not to get anything from the game.

“I thought the start we had wasn’t great to be honest. They got on the front foot quicker and started the game better than us, which was a bit strange because we had a really good preparation and really good warm-up.

“I don’t want to stand here and make too many excuses because again we’ve lost a game and we are here to win football matches.”

The game saw few clear chances after the early incidents.

Scott Quigley threatened for Barrow with a run to the edge of the box and a shot that was deflected just wide and in the second half the frontman was denied an equaliser by an excellent save from Mark Halstead low down to his right.

Quigley also thought he should have had a penalty when involved in a collision with Harry Davis but referee Martin Coy waved the appeals away.

Morecambe struggled to break the Bluebirds down but had one golden chance to double their lead on 42 minutes when the unmarked Kelvin Mellor failed to find the target from a close-range header.

The home side’s best period came late in the game when A-Jay Leitch-Smith came off the bench as the striker drilled two efforts inches wide.