Ged Brannan salutes Morecambe’s effort in late draw at home to Harrogate

Posted Tuesday, January 02, 2024 by PA

Morecambe boss Ged Brannan was full of praise for his side as they twice came from behind to earn a point against Harrogate at the Mazuma Stadium.

Jacob Bedeau sealed the point with a stoppage-time header after a late goal from George Thomson looked to have given the visitors another excellent away win.

Harrogate took the lead in the 44th minute when a Matty Foulds cross was only half-cleared by the Morecambe defence and Jack Muldoon was well placed to score from close range.

After a slow first period, Morecambe hit back after 57 minutes when Jordan Slew beat James Belshaw with a superb low strike from the edge of the area.

The home side then looked the more threatening, but were undone on the break when George Thomson curled an effort past Adam Smith from 20 yards.

The Shrimps hit back again and levelled in the second minute of stoppage time when Eli King’s far-post corner was headed back into the danger area for Bedeau to score from close range.

There was late drama when Muldoon hit the crossbar five minutes later, but both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.

Morecambe boss Brannan said: “You could see the lads were dead on their feet at the end and that was because they had given us everything which is all I can ask for.

“They could have let their heads drop after we lost three players to injury during the first half and going 2-1 down so late in the game, but they kept going right to the death and fully deserved to get the equaliser.

“Not much is going our way at the moment on or off the field, but when your team runs 13 kilometres a game, like most of our lads did today, you know that things will turn for us.”

Harrogate manager Simon Weaver said his side were disappointed not to hang on for a seventh away win of the season.

He said: “When you concede so late it is disappointing, especially as we had taken the lead so late in the game, but it is still a valuable point for us and fair play to them for showing their gritty side and coming back twice to keep going to the death.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half especially. We kept the ball really well and although it didn’t manifest itself into goals, there were a lot of positives and I come away proud of the lads’ performance and their creativity.”