Wembley Here We Come!

By: Ian Blakemore
Date: 05/03/2008

THERE was a mixed feeling of excitement tinged with nervousness around Blundell Park. The Imp was busy with Town fans getting a thirst for a trip to Wembley.

The Ground was full with Town fans and a small following of around 250 of the Shrimpers were tucked away in the Osmond Stand Corner.

Morecambe won the toss and chose to make Town attack the Pontoon, which rang out with displeasure from the home stands.

A strong wind was swirling around the ground making balls in the air hard to judge.

Town started the first half brightly, Northy looked to get in amongst the Morecambe defence. Inside the first ten minutes Town had a good effort which went inches over the Morecambe goal.

Till looked to run at the away defence and caused havoc in the first half.

Chances were not at a premium, Town looked good on the counter but also looked cagey at the back as they looked to try and not allow the Shrimpers any space in the final third of the pitch.

Morecambe had more of the ball, but Town got the blocks in and Till and North were involved in some good counter attacking football.

The second half was even more tense, Morecambe really looked to get at Town and put balls into the box at every opportunity.

Chants of Mariners rang across the stadium as Town defended more desperately. Midway through the second half Buckley introduced Jones and Bore for the hard-working pair of Till and North. Northy looked disappointed to be brought off, but both had helped to stem Morecambe's backline from pushing too far forward.

A late linesman's flag denied Bore a great goal, with the decision looking harsh.

Town continued to defend deeper and deeper, a string of corners in the last ten minutes caused an uneasy feeling.

Barnes made a fantastic save in the dying minutes to be a real hero of the night and of both legs.

The ref signaled four minutes of injury time, The Pontoon sang loud with Que Sera Sera being belted out from the stand.

Eventually the final whistle went with a pitch invasion. The fans sounded their appreciation to Alan Buckley by singing "Theirs only one Alan Buckley"

A hard working performance by Town, the pressure was on, Morecambe did cause some problems, but Town had chances to kill the game off. The fans turned up and now a trip to the home of football beckons for Town, their their trip to Wembley under the maestro, Alan Buckley.

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