Salford felt effects of cup success in defeat to Morecambe – Neil Wood

Posted Sunday, September 03, 2023 by PA

Salford boss Neil Wood felt his side suffered the after-effects of their dramatic midweek Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out victory over Leeds as they lost 1-0 to Morecambe.

Michael Mellon scored the only goal of the game in the 25th minute as Salford struggled to break through a solid defence.

City ended the game with 10 men after Matthew Lund was sent off in added time for needlessly kicking out at Adam Mayor.

The goal came in a flat first half for the Ammies which left Wood with plenty to think about.

He said: “We were poor in the first half but loads better after the break, but it was really hard to break them down which is always hard to do.

“We just lacked the bit of quality we needed where it mattered in the final third.

“The cup run has been great with two hard-fought wins over Preston and Leeds, but we came across a top team in Leeds on Tuesday and that game took its toll today. We were left with a number of injuries and we were missing a number of key players who would probably have started.

“For all the jubilation of going through on Tuesday we were threadbare today. I had four young lads on the bench and it would have been hard to throw them in today.”

Salford started the game on the front foot, with Conor McAleny forcing an early save from Stuart Moore.

But it was the Shrimps who scored the all-important opener when Mellon produced an excellent near-post finish from Mayor’s left-wing cross.

Mellon then teed up Tom Bloxham nicely a few moments later but the striker skied his effort over the bar.

Jordan Slew missed a great late chance to add to the scoreline on 90 minutes before Salford’s frustrations came to the fore with substitute Lund’s dismissal.

Morecambe now have three home wins from four this season and delighted boss Derek Adams said: “We could easily have won the game by four or five goals today on the chances we had and we were just too strong for them. It was a terrific performance from us.

“Some of our football was really good and we got into great positions but just didn’t make the most of them and the fact we didn’t get a second always left them with a chance of getting back in the game because we hadn’t punished them enough.

“At the other end of the field we defended superbly and kept another really good clean sheet and it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon for the fans.”