Ged Brannan suffers opening defeat as Morecambe boss against Newport

Posted Wednesday, November 29, 2023 by PA

Morecambe boss Ged Brannan saw his first game in charge end in defeat as Newport came from behind to take the points.

Brannan, who took over from Derek Adams this week, saw the Shrimps take an early lead through Michael Mellon but they were then undone by goals from Will Evans and Bristol City loanee Seb Palmer-Houlden.

Mellon – also on loan, from Burnley – gave Morecambe the lead on 12 minutes with an excellent finish from the edge of the area that squeezed into the bottom right corner of Nick Townsend’s goal.

After a sluggish start, the visitors came into the game.

Will Evans flashed a shot wide but found the target on 29 minutes when the home defence failed to clear a corner and he hammered home the rebound.

The Exiles went ahead on 57 minutes when Morecambe keeper Adam Smith and midfielder Eli King failed to deal with a bouncing ball in the Morecambe box and Palmer-Houlden took advantage of the gift to score from close range.

Mellon forced Townsend into a late save with a shot from 12 yards as the Shrimps searched for a leveller but the visitors held on to take the win.