Harrogate Town 1 Morecambe FC 2: Sulphurites told to 'wise up' following sickening defeat to basement boys

Trailing 1-0 at the interval against struggling Morecambe, the Sulphurites dominated the second period, creating a number of decent chances to level matters before substitute James Daly eventually netted an 86th-minute equaliser.

Simon Weaver's men then pressed hard for a winning goal and looked the only side likely to go on and get one, only for Anthony O'Connor's dreadful attempted clearance to gift the Shrimps all three points in the sixth minute of stoppage-time.

“It was a sucker punch right at the death," the Town boss said.

"I can’t just say that we were just poor and we didn’t deserve anything, we did deserve something from the game, but it’s football, isn’t it.

"I think that Wrexham created far more opportunities to score last week than Morecambe did today, yet we’ve conceded two from the very few chances they did have.

"But, we have got to wise up a bit defensively and clear our lines in the last minute and make sure that we come away with at least a point."

In truth, the Sulphurites did deserve at least a point on the strength of their second-half display, but their performance during the first 45 minutes was so poor, particularly given that they were coming off the high of beating big spending, League One high-flyers Wrexham in the FA Cup just six days earlier.

Morecambe arrived at Wetherby Road having won just one of their first 14 league matches, and offered almost nothing going forwards before half-time, but still looked the better side and managed to take the lead on 37 minutes.

On the only occasion the hosts' defence had anything resembling a serious question asked of it, Rhys Williams was allowed to head home Ben Tollitt's inswinging corner from the left, quite literally beating James Belshaw to the punch.

On reflection, it seemed as if the Town goalkeeper lost his bearings, while the defenders in front of him appeared reluctant to either attack the ball or challenge Williams.

Harrogate's tactics, which involved them passing the ball around at the back before O'Connor launched a long pass forwards to either Morecambe's goalkeeper or the visiting central defenders, were as senseless as they were predictable.

There were one or two promising attacks that materialised when they actually passed the ball, but their only remotely threatening moment in that first half came when the largely ineffective Stephen Duke-McKenna cut in off the left and bent a strike narrowly wide of Stuart Moore's top corner.

Something had to change after the interval, and in fairness, the Sulphurites were much better. Presented with plenty of time and space as the Shrimps dropped too deep, O'Connor was able to loft a clever pass over the top for Jack Muldoon to fire into the side netting just three minutes after the resumption.

With Town managing to build some momentum, the pressure on Morecambe slowly began to increase, and just before the hour-mark it looked as if the home side had got themselves back into the contest.

Visiting goalkeeper Moore, who spent a big chunk of the second half writhing around on the floor claiming to be injured, was eventually forced into actually making a save as Ellis Taylor let fly. The rebound dropped to Muldoon, who tapped into an empty net, however the linesman's flag was up.

Undeterred, Taylor then whipped in a delicious free-kick from the left that Matty Foulds met with a powerful header, drawing a superb reaction save out of substitute goalkeeper Harry Burgoyne, recently on for the limping Moore.

An equaliser looked certain to arrive in the 84th minute when Dean Cornelius burst down the right and into the box and delivered a low cross to the back post, though Daly, with the whole goal to aim at, somehow directed his finish wide of the mark from a yard out.

The Town winger would however make amends less than two minutes later as Morecambe failed to clear their lines at a corner. Taylor crossed from the left, O'Connor's initial header was cleared inside the six-yard box and Muldoon's wayward follow-up found Daly, who took a touch then drilled a finish through the legs of Burgoyne.

At this point, with Harrogate's tails well and truly up, it looked as if there could only be one winner and the hosts continued to press forwards with real intent.

As six minutes of stoppage-time ticked away, Morecambe did however manage to creep back into it, and Callum Jones fired over the top before disaster struck for Weaver and his men.

Taylor switched off deep inside his own half and was beaten to a bouncing ball by the marauding David Tutonda, but his low cross from the left was a tired one and only found O'Connor.

Perfectly positioned to intercept the danger as he so often is, the Town centre-half's attempted clearance was however woeful went straight to Gwion Edwards, who took a touch and shifted the ball inside for Harvey Macadam to slot beyond an exposed Belshaw.

There was still time for one last attack and Sam Folarin almost grabbed a dramatic equaliser with a fine downward header from Belshaw's ball in, but Burgoyne reacted superbly once again to make another crucial stop.

Saturday’s loss sees Town drop to 20th in the League Two standings, where they now sit just four points above the relegation zone.