A win on the road and a weight off the shoulders. Let’s not go too mad over our midweek miracle at the Memorial, but you have to admit it doesn’t half feel good to go into a place and get the job done. Now it’s back to the Lamex to welcome a familiar friend – Morecambe. If we play our cards right on this one, we may actually move up the table for the first time since, well, a long time.
If you’re not familiar with the Shrimps, where have you been? We’ve met them plenty of times down the years and aren’t far off getting to know their vital statistics. That said, the only figures we’re bothered about are (in no specific order): three, 50, 10 and 13. It’s 10 years since we lost to ’em, 13 times we’ve beaten ’em, 50 goals we’ve scored past ’em and three points we want off ’em.
From Jonny Hamsher’s late FA Trophy pelanty to Moro’s hattrick and another FA Trophy adventure in the Stevenage fog, we’re no stranger to cherished memories as far as Morecambe are concerned. And it’d be totes amazeballs if we could get another one for the scrapbook this weekend – the two draws in our last two outings aren’t exactly keepsakes we’d want for all eternity.
Morecambe come to us, like a few others in this year, with a tale of two seasons to tell. At home, they’re a bit rubbish and that is why they’re 16th. But on their travels, it’s a flip reverse – they’ve won twice as many as they’ve lost and there’s just one team that find the net more often in someone else’s back garden. Our statistics, meanwhile, are still looking a little worse for wear…
Have we much to fear? Is there going to be an Oxford-style relapse? The hope – and probably the expectation – is no. Our guests are without a league win in four attempts, whereas we haven’t tasted defeat since it was rammed down our throats by the Us. If we didn’t know better, there’s almost a sense of optimism growing from within. That, or the dodgy vindaloo we had last night.
The bookies are cautious enough to make us frontrunners and Marathon’s 17/10 is the best on the block at the moment. You’re likely to be fetching 7/4 (multiple) on the Morecambe win if you’re going down that trail. Both Teams To Score is shaping up to be good value at 4/5 (BetVictor), while we reckon a little bit of Over 2.5 Goals action is well worth considering at evens.
Not for the first time, we’ve managed to piss away our precious free time on insignificant stuff like sleeping, eating and the day job. That means no FIFA 16 verdict, and that means we’ll have to leave it there. But, before we go, please do remember that it’s probably OK to feel a bit upbeat about our chances. Please sir, we want some more – more goals, more points, Morecambe…
BoroGuide’s Morecambe club profile – how do you read yours?
