David Artell rues Crewe’s poor finishing after being held at Morecambe

Posted Sunday, March 01, 2020 by PA

Crewe boss David Artell said his side’s poor finishing proved costly in this 1-1 draw with Morecambe.

Crewe had the chance to go top of Sky Bet League Two with Swindon’s game postponed but they missed a host of chances to take the three points against a stubborn Morecambe side who moved 10 points clear of bottom club Stevenage.

Perry Ng gave Crewe the lead two minutes after half-time. A Jamie Jones corner was allowed to travel across the Morecambe six yard box and the Alex skipper made no mistake from close range.

The Shrimps hit back in the 68 minute with a well-taken goal from AaronWildig. A Ryan Cooney cross caused confusion in the Crewe defence and the Morecambe midfielder drilled home the loose ball from 12 yards out.

Stephen Walker hit the post for Crewe and then blazed wide from a great opening before Ng missed a similar golden chance to win the game for the visitors.

Morecambe threatened themselves however with Carlos Mendes-Gomes hitting the underside of the bar with a fine shot on the turn.

The game ended in a flashpoint with Adam Phillips sent off as the visitors threatened a quick break, with Artell receiving a yellow card for his protests.

Artell said: “We lacked a bit of quality up front today and just lacked that bit of care you need in front of goal.

“We created the chances but we didn’t take them. We hit the woodwork twice but we had more chances that we didn’t take and it cost us the game because we should have been out of sight before Morecambe scored.”

Phillips was sent off for the home side in the third minute of stoppage time for a lunge on Perry Ng, which left Artell scathing over the challenge.

He said: “The tackle was one of the worst I have seen in 20 years and for the lad to start swearing at me when he was going off was unreal.

“If he thinks that’s appropriate then good luck to him because it was scandalous what he did.”

Morecambe manager Derek Adams said his side were good value for the point.

He said: “It was a really good advert for League Two with both teams looking to play football and get down the sides of each other.

“There were lots of chances created for both sides and it was pretty much end-to-end for 90 minutes and a really good spectacle.

“When you think that Crewe are challenging at the top I think we matched them for much of the game, like we have a lot of top teams this season. We showed a great spirit to come back from a goal down.

“We felt hard done by for their goal as Sam Lavelle was held down in the box but I was really pleased with the way we responded.

“We showed great enthusiasm, drive and desire and it was great to see Aaron Wildig on the scoresheet again with his third goal in four games.”