Morecambe boss Bentley: It’s brilliant to have Barry back

The Shrimps’ popular number one hadn’t featured between the sticks since hip surgery last October.

With Roche having missed the majority of last season, Jim Bentley having to use six goalkeepers in all, the Shrimps boss said it was a pleasing sight to see the long-serving stopper back in action.

Bentley said: “I thought he was very good.

“His kicking was good and that’s one of the areas that gets hindered when you haven’t played for so long with a hip injury.

“His distribution was good, his throwing out was good, he made one or two good saves, he looked imposing and organised the back line.

“It’s brilliant to see him back.

“He looked like he had a smile on his face when he came off at half-time and he probably wanted to play a little longer.

“But it’s a case of slowly, slowly after such a long-term injury.”

Bentley still needs to sign up a number two for next season having released Andreas Arestidou following a cut in his budget.

Former Rotherham ‘keeper Tony Thompson played the second half at Kendal and could feature again against Bolton on Friday night.