Ten-man Shrimps defeat Championship opposition in Carabao Cup

Morecambe are in the second round of the Carabao Cup after beating Championship side, Stoke City in a thrilling penalty shoot-out at the Mazuma Stadium.

The Shrimps played almost 40 minutes of the contest with 10 men after Jensen Weir was given his marching orders after receiving two yellow cards in the space of a minute.

The first chance of the game went the way of the visitors as a corner from Lewis Baker was met on the head by Morgan Fox, but the defender could not direct his header on target.

After that, Derek Adams’ side sprung into life, firstly a chance for midfielder Jensen Weir who fired wide from the edge of the box, before a chance for Ash Hunter from the same area ended up in the same outcome.

It was Hunter again who proved to a thorn in the side of the visitors, he managed to win the ball inside of Stoke’s penalty area, caught between crossing and shooting, he chose the latter forcing Jack Bonham into a save at his near post.

The Potters started the second-half brightly and came close to taking the lead two minutes after the restart, a through ball Baker found Tyrese Campbell on the run, he managed to get a shot away which forced Connor Ripley to save with his feet.

Just after the hour mark the Shrimps were reduced to 10-men after midfielder Weir was shown yellow cards for back-to-back challenges on forward Jacob Brown, in the space of a minute.

In the 77th minute, the visitors thought they had the lead. A ball through found Dwight Gayle alone in the six-yard box, his side-footed effort found a way past Ripley but celebrations were cut short as the assistant referee had her flag up on for offside the near side.

With six minutes of the half remaining, Michael O’Neill’s side came close again, another cross from the left this time from Sam Clucas was met on head by Harry Clarke, again, forcing Ripley into another save.

On the 88th minute the away side were in again, this time the ball fell to Jordan Thompson with his effort cannoning off the bottom of a post and away from danger.

In the first minute of additional time, Caleb Watts off from the bench decided to take aim from outside the box, his rasping effort went narrowly over Bonham’s crossbar.

With no extra time played in this competition, the game went to spot kicks, with Dylan Connolly, Jon Obika, Caleb Watts, Donald Love and Shane McLoughlin all converting in good fashion for the Shrimps. Stoke defender Morgan Fox blazed the Potters’ opening penalty over the crossbar, and that proved to be decisive, with Derek Adams’ men victorious 5-3 in the shoot-out.