Kenyon insists Morecambe should not have been fighting for survival

Their final day draw at Coventry City meant Jim Bentley’s players stayed up ahead of Barnet as they ended the season four goals better off than the Bees.

The old cliche goes that a football team ends a league season where they deserve to be but it’s not something with which Kenyon necessarily agrees.

“With the squad that we’ve got, I don’t think we deserved to finish where we have,” Kenyon said.

“I think, this season, we have only had something like two penalties and we haven’t had a game where someone from the other side has been sent off.

“That’s a bit of a shock because you’d normally expect to play 10 men somewhere in the season so, if that had happened, you’d have expected us to finish higher.”

It could have been very different had Morecambe’s players avoided making key mistakes in the latter stages of matches.

They conceded goals from the 85th minute onwards in seven games, costing them nine points.

Defeats home and away against both Mansfield Town and Crewe Alexandra came as a result of late goals, as did the loss to Accrington Stanley at the Globe Arena.

They also turned victories into draws by shipping late strikes against Stevenage and Crawley Town.

For good measure, they could have claimed three points at Carlisle United, only for Adam Campbell to miss a late penalty which saw another two points disappear.

As a result, those late goals and missed spot-kick cost Morecambe 11 points over the course of the season.

Instead, then, of finishing 22nd, those extra points would have lifted them into 15th place in League Two, only seven points adrift of a top-half spot.

n Morecambe have announced the ‘early bird’ season ticket prices have been extended for a further fortnight.

Fans have the chance to obtain a discounted season ticket until Friday, June 15.

To book, visit the club shop or call 01524 411797 (option 3).