“A travesty” for Morecambe to not beat Portsmouth, says Adams

Morecambe manager Derek Adams said it was a travesty to not beat Portsmouth.

Morecambe hosted Portsmouth in the away side’s longest journey of the season, the Shrimps hoping to secure three vital points in their fight against relegation.

The team would score the first goal of the match after a quick run down the left side by Adam Mayor left them in a strong position, finding Liam Shaw who tapped it neatly into the net.

The first half saw attempts from both sides narrowly fall short, Pompey’s Owen Dale narrowly tipped over the goal by Morecambe keeper Connor Ripley.

Across the match, Morecambe would continue to find plenty of opportunities across the final 45 minutes of the match but their weakness proved to be their ability to take their chances, with shots from Caleb Watts, Ryan Delaney and Dylan Connolly all falling short.

Adams believes that his team should have taken these and won at the Mazuma Stadium, saying:

“How we haven’t won by five or six is a travesty with the chances that we had today.

“I’ve played against Portsmouth many times in my career as a manager and never had as many glaring opportunities as we had today.

“We out-defended them, out-played them, out-ran them and we should have won by a landslide.”

With a January transfer window on the horizon, Adams does not seem confident with the backing he’s receiving, adding:

“Over the summer I’ve been disappointed because I’ve had to make changes and unfortunately I’ve not been backed enough to make the changes.

“If I had been backed in the summer, we would have had a far different team to what we have now.

“We’re skint! We’re absolutely skint! January doesn’t mean anything to me.”

Adams was quick to praise his team, though, notably a very strong defence as their back-three of Anthony O’Connor, Delaney and Jacob Bedeau stood strong against their opponent’s attacks.

Portsmouth would find a single goal through Colby Bishop, capitalising on a scramble in the box to net the ball home, securing a single point for Pompey.

But this was Portsmouth’s sole shot on target of the afternoon, with the rest put over the net or skating past.

The result leaves Morecambe 22nd in the league table, missing out on a crucial chance to jump ahead of relegation rivals MK Dons.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth hold their place in fifth, equal on points with Bolton and Derby on 28 points.

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