Bentley happy with Morecambe’s battling performance in draw against Forest Green

Posted Sunday, February 18, 2018 by PA

Morecambe boss Jim Bentley was the happier manager after Gregg Wylde’s 90th-minute strike earned his side a point in their 1-1 draw with Forest Green.

The on-loan Plymouth man chose the perfect time to open his account for the club and cancel out Chris Clements’ 13th-minute opener to seal a dramatic finish to a nervy encounter.

Bentley said: “I said before the game that this was a real six-pointer and it was a match we could not afford to lose.

“I think we deserved it overall for our second-half performance and I’m delighted with the way the lads fought to the death.

“We were poor in the first half and they played the better football, although we probably created the better chances and had a couple of penalty shouts.

“As poor as we were in the first half they only really had one shot on goal which gave them the lead but we were much better in the second half and went close on a couple of occasions before Gregg’s late goal gave us the point we deserved.

“It was a goal that was a reward for the way the lads went about their jobs and it showed that we have a great spirit too.

“The substitutions we made had an effect on the game and we showed that we can be adaptable and although I would have loved three points in the circumstances we have to be happy with the draw.”

Rovers boss Mark Cooper said his side were disappointed not to have made more of their first half dominance.

He said: “We were much the better side in the first half and we should have put the game to bed.

“Chris Clements scored a great goal but while it is only 1-0 the opposition always have a chance and when you don’t get the goals when you are top you put yourself under pressure and fair play to Morecambe they gave it a right good go in the second half and put the ball in our box when they could.

“When you haven’t won away from home for a while like we haven’t you can see people getting anxious. On the day we just didn’t have that killer quality we needed in their box and we had to settle for a point when three would obviously have been much better.”