Shaun Derry’s men made the 460 mile roundtrip to Morecambe hoping to get their promotion push back on track, but it ended up being the same old story of late, as the Amber Army slumped to a 2-0 defeat.
Derry said he was disgusted after the defeat, which saw United fall to 14th in League Two, suffering four defeats on the bounce. Morecambe started brightly and put the U’s under early pressure, but Cambridge seemed to be defending resolutely and went into half-time on level terms. The Shrimps had a ninth minute Peter Murphy goal ruled out but were frustrated by the stubborn figure of Will Norris in the Cambridge goal. Both sides struck the woodwork in the first half but there weren’t too many other clear-cut chances and the U’s will have fancied their chances to at least take home a point, as they emerged for the second half.
Morecambe again started strongly, and in the 50th minute Kevin Ellison volleyed in the rebound from Michael Duckworth’s initial shot, and once again the U’s found themselves trailing. Derry’s men barely had chance to register they had conceded before Morecambe had scored their second. Once again the veteran Ellison was perfectly placed to mop up a rebound, after another good Norris stop. The goals were scrappy and looked easily avoidable but once again there were serious questions raised about the reactions and quality of Shaun Derry’s defence. This proved to be a killer blow for Cambridge who tried to force their way back in to the game, but had little joy going forward and once again failed to register on the scoresheet.
It was Morecambe’s sixth game unbeaten, and they now only sit one place and one point behind Cambridge, in 15th. The U’s are now seven points off the play-off places and are desperately in need of three points, against Yeovil tomorrow evening. They then host Newport on Saturday and if they could win both of these games, the Amber Army’s faint promotion hopes could be reignited.
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Published by Jack Swindlehurst
