Morecambe boss delighted to reach FA Cup's third round

The Shrimps reached round three following an extra-time victory against Solihull Moors on Saturday.

It’s the first time the club has reached that stage since 2003 with the draw taking place this evening.

“It’s always nice to get through in cup competitions,” said Adams, whose managerial CV includes a Scottish Cup final with Ross County a decade ago.

“We probably made it more difficult than we wanted to but you have to show a lot of respect to Solihull, they are a very good outfit.”

As well as giving them success on the pitch, the Shrimps’ cup progress has aided the club off it.

With every penny counting while supporters are unable to attend matches, Morecambe’s passage into round three has generated a six-figure boost to their coffers.

Victory against Solihull, following on from the win at Maldon and Tiptree in round one, means Morecambe have earned £112,472 so far.

That’s made up of £70,000 from being two multi-camera broadcast matches and £42,472 in prize money.

As Adams admitted, the only downside to Saturday’s win was the lack of fans at the Mazuma Stadium.

“If there were supporters here, with the way it opened up, it would have been a very good atmosphere,” said the manager, whose players return to action against Barrow AFC tomorrow (6.30pm).

“We’ve progressed through the League Cup this season, we’ve got through to the third round of the FA Cup, and it can only help financially in these difficult times.

“We played Liverpool when I was at Plymouth Argyle, when we drew 0-0 at Anfield and lost 1-0 at Home Park.

“We earned close to a million pounds from the tie. It won’t be that this time but it’s great to see the players doing well and seeing the football club progress.”

Having gone behind at the weekend, it was Cole Stockton who got the Shrimps back into the game, firstly with an equaliser and then with the goal that put them 2-1 up.

That gave him three goals in his last two games, following on from his effort at Salford City, and took him to four so far this season – though he could have walked away with three or four on the day.

Adams said: “Cole Stockton got two more goals and I thought he was very good.

“He got himself into really good positions and, to be fair to the midfielders, wide players and full-backs, they supplied him.”

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