REPORT: Cheltenham Town 3-1 Morecambe
Cheltenham Town recorded a 3-1 win over Morecambe on a sunny afternoon at the LCI Rail Stadium.In an eventful first half Scott Brown saved Michael Rose’s penalty and Harry Pell scored a header to send The Robins in a goal up at the break.
The second period was no different as Alex Kenyon saw red for a handball on the line, with Danny Wright converting the subsequent spot kick, and Pell got his second of the game with a great free kick.
Emmanuel Onariase’s own goal gave The Shrimps a glimmer of hope late on, but Gary Johnson’s men held on to claim an important three points and move up to 21st in the league.
It took just under 10 minutes for Cheltenham to create the first couple of chances as firstly Dan Holman’s turn and shot was spectacularly cleared off the line by Aaron McGowan, before Wright then headed over from close range.
A few minutes later a long ball forward saw Morecambe’s Paul Mullin fouled by Jordan Cranston inside the box, but Rose’s penalty was superbly saved by Brown.
The Robins went straight up the other end and looked to have taken the lead when Carl Winchester raced through on goal, but somehow Barry Roche kept out the Northern Irishman’s effort.
After a hectic first quarter of an hour both sides continued to create chances, with Holman’s volley going over the bar for the home side and Kevin Ellison’s shot from a tight angle just about creeping wide for The Shrimps.
On 33 minutes The Robins took the lead when a brilliant cross from Cranston towards the far post was headed back across goal and into the net by Pell.
And, despite Wright going close with a header soon after, it stayed that way until half time.
The second half started in the same frantic manner as the first when Kenyon received a red card for handling the ball on the goal line after 47 minutes.
This gave Wright the chance to double the lead from the penalty spot, and he made no mistake as he stepped up and drilled the ball past Roche.
It then took no more than 10 minutes for Cheltenham to get another goal when Pell hit a thunderous free kick into the top right corner to get his second and The Robins’ third of the afternoon.
As the match went on Morecambe started to pile some pressure on and, after hitting the crossbar moments earlier, pulled a goal back when Onariase looked to have guided the ball past Brown and into his own net.
But Cheltenham saw the game out to hold on to a pivotal win and stay six points clear of the relegation zone.
Cheltenham Town: S Brown, W Boyle, E Onariase, J Cranston, C Winchester, K Storer (C), H Pell, J Rowe (J Dayton, 87), B Waters (L Davis, 75), D Wright, D Holman.
Unused Subs: R Lovett, T Plavotic, J Barthram, J Munns, K Wootton.
Morecambe: B Roche, A McGowan (K Hawley, 87), A Kenyon, R Edwards, D Winnard (C), P Mullin, L Molyneux (P Murphy, 55), K Ellison, A Wildig, A Whitmore, M Rose.
Unused Subs: D Nizic, L Wakefield, A Fleming, A Evans.
Attendance: 2751 (66)