MORECAMBE bounced back from their disappointing defeat at Cheltenham with an excellent performance to hold in-form Bury to a draw at Gigg Lane.
It was a performance that delighted boss Sammy McIlroy who said his players redeemed themselves for their weekend defeat.
Said McIlroy: "It was a great point and we had chances to win the game as well. I was delighted how the lads responded after
Saturday. They showed great commitment and a lot of skill as well on a difficult pitch and helped make it an entertaining game which could have gone either way.''
McIlroy recalled skipper Jim Bentley to the starting line up in place of Dave Artell and he almost made the worst possible start when he passed back to Barry Roche without spotting Bury striker Ryan Lowe lurking on the edge of the area but thankfully the Morecambe keeper was alert to tip the resulting shot around the post.
The Shrimps then settled into the game with home keeper Wayne Brown getting down sharply to block Garry Hunter's right wing cross and Mark Duffy's long range effort.
He was forced to make the best save of the half when on 42 minutes Paul Mullin latched on to a loose ball in the box and forced the Bury keeper into a neat block low to his left.
The second half followed a similar pattern with both sides pushing for a winner. Craig Stanley fired wide from the edge of the area before Bury skipper Stephen Dawson was denied a clear shot on goal by Will Haining's superb challenge. Mike Jones then saw a low shot well blocked by Roche before Morecambe came into the game again with Stanley curling an effort wide and Garry Hunter seeing a shot deflected off target.
Both sides produced a late flurry and had chances to win the game. Mark Duffy had a golden opportunity on 82 minutes but volleyed wide before Dawson ran on to Tom Newey's great through ball at the death but failed to trouble Roche when he should have done much better.
·SHRIMPS defender Laurence Wilson picked up his 10th booking of the season on Tuesday and will now miss his side's next two games.
Bury: Brown; Scott, Futcher, Cresswell, Newey; Hewson (rep 82) Racchi, Dawson, Barry-Murphy, Jones; Lowe, Morrell (rep Bishop 67). Subs: Buchanan, Baker, Belford, Elliott.
Morecambe: Roche 7; Parrish 7, Bentley 7, Haining 8, Wilson 7; Hunter 7 (rep Twiss 89), Stanley 7, Panther 7, Duffy 7; Mullin 6, Jevons 6 (rep Curtis 77). Subs: Davies, Moss, Adams, Artell, McLachlan.
Booked: Panther, Wilson, Mullin.
Ref: S Attwell.
Star man: Will Haining.
