Weary Morecambe slip to Aldershot defeat on first away trip of season

Morecambe fell to a 4-0 defeat at Aldershot Town in their first away game of the National League season on Bank Holiday Monday.

Playing again less than 48 hours after their hastily assembled squad beat Altrincham on Saturday, the Shrimps made the long trip south to North Hampshire, making two changes to their starting line up, with defenders Ben Williams and Luke Hendrie dropping to the bench, and midfielder Ma’Kel Campbell and forward Dan Ogwuru coming in for their first starts.

Morecambe started brightly, and Gwion Edwards saw an effort blocked by Marcus Dewhurst before the rebound fell to Paul Lewis whose effort was cleared from close to the line.

Aldershot began to see chances as the half progressed at The EBB Stadium.

Midway through the half, a defence splitting pass saw Tristan Abrahams come close as he was put through, but Archie Mair stood tall to block the effort. 

Campbell saw a long range strike blocked by the defence, before another good save be Mair kept the scoreline blank on the stroke of half time.

The Shots were keen to take advantage of a team who would inevitably tire in the second half, and came on strongly after the interval, and took the lead on 53 minutes.

The ball was crossed into a congested penalty area, and a weak header from Clarridge slipped past an unsighted Mair. 

The home side were able to double their lead in the 60th minute, after Archie Taylor smashed home a rebound after a low cross from the right.

Gwion Edwards charged into the penalty area before striking the ball from a tight angle but Dewhurst turned it behind for a corner, before the hosts added another when Josh Barrett found space on the edge of the box, drove into the area and fired their third into the back of the net.

Moments later, the victory was complete when Dejan Tetek curled the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.

The Shrimps now have back to back home fixtures, starting with the visit of Woking to the Mazuma Mobile Stadium on Saturday (August 30), followed by the visit of Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday (September 2). 

Morecambe: Mair, Conte, Francillette, Edwards, Panayiotou, Cain, Lewis (Hendrie, 57'), Tollitt (Williams, 68'), Campbell (Wright, 96'), Ogwuru (Dobson, 96'), Songo'o (C) 

Subs not used: Scales, Goodyear

Bookings: Conte, Tollitt, Lewis

Aldershot Town FC: Dewhurst, Hargreaves (C), Thomas (Rai, 72'), Barrett (Mullins, 83'), Meerholz, Hill, Nightingale, Taylor, Abrahams (Ghandour, 58'), Clarridge, Tetek (Anderson, 83')

Subs not used: Nash, Henry, Watson

Goals: Clarridge (53'), Taylor (60'), Barrett (79'), Tetek (82')

Bookings: Hill, Barrett

Attendance: 2371 (167 away)