Morecambe boss Jim Bentley left fuming at two dropped points against Crewe

Posted Sunday, January 06, 2019 by PA

Morecambe manager Jim Bentley was left fuming after seeing his side drop two vital points as they conceded a stoppage-time penalty to gift Crewe a share of the spoils.

Bentley’s side looked set for their eighth win of the season after goals from Andrew Tutte and Kevin Ellison ruled out James Jones’ first-half opener.

But defender Zak Mills brought down Chris Porter in the area in the third minute of added time as the Crewe striker made no mistake from the penalty spot to snatch a point.

An angry Bentley said: “It is a result that it is tough to take. We had scored a fantastic goal late in the game that should have seen us take the points but then we just didn’t manage the game again.

“It was the third or fourth time this season that we have dropped points because we have not seen games out and we have to do much better all round and start taking things on board.

“We had a chance to get the ball into the corner and take up time but we gave it away which gave them the chance to load the ball into the box, which resulted in the penalty.

“We can’t afford to keep dropping points like we are doing and we don’t seem to be learning from our mistakes which makes it all the more frustrating.

“It feels like we have lost and I can’t keep telling the players the same thing. I think we have dropped about 12 points this season and that is killing us.

“We had done superbly well to get back into this game after going a goal down and dominated the second half so to give away points again today was hard to bear.

“Overall this season, we are doing OK but we are the nearly team and that has to change in the second half of the season.”

Crewe manager Dave Artell said he was relieved his side picked up a point after blasting his team’s performance.

He said: “We were rubbish. That’s the worst performance of the season for me. I had a right go at them at half time when we were winning because it just wasn’t us.

“The pitch was really poor and made it hard for us to play the football we normally try to do but that was no real excuse.

“I should be happy because we have picked up a point away from home with a last-minute penalty but I am more relieved to be honest because there was so much wrong with the performance today.

“We have played a 100-times better than that and got nothing.

“There were so many players off it today and that was not up to our standard. There was no lack of effort, but our decision making was poor.

“Chris Porter was definitely our best player and I’m pleased that he was the one who got the equaliser and kept his cool from the spot.”