Morecambe vs Portsmouth Preview

Last updated : 10 April 2015 By Jim Bonner

The immovable object of Morecambe meets the other immovable object of Portsmouth at the Globe Arena tomorrow for the ultimate battle for mid-table supremacy.

Team News

Andy Awford is likely to name an unchanged side after Easter Monday's win over Plymouth with none of his previously unavailable players ready for the trip to Lancashire other than goalkeeper Michae Poke who may take his place on the bench at the expense of loanee David Cornell.

Morecambe will assess the fitness of defenders Mark Hughes and Alan Goodall ahead of the match but Ryan Williams and goalkeeper Barry Roche are definitely unavailable.

The Match

The biggest game in not just the northwest nor the country but the whole world takes place tomorrow as the entire Globe will be watching the mighty Shrimps take on all-conquering Pompey with the hosts hungry for vengeance after their decimation at Fortress Fratton in November last year.

Huge numbers of the Bue Army will march north to one of England's most famous names and bare witness to an epic contest filled with more action than the two World Wars combined and more drama than every episode of Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones aired simultaneously.

Once all of their famous pies have been consumed, Morecambe will have the priviledge of walking out beside Portsmouth, the whistle will blow and the roar from the legions of both sides will be heard from the outer reaches of the universe as everyone will finally discover how the footballing genius of Joe Devera will cope with wily veteran Kevin Ellison.

There will be blood as James "yellow card" Dunne leads his troops into a midfield warzone where Alex Kenyon and Andrew Fleming's lives will be on the line if they dare to get in his way and the crowd will forever be in danger whenever Nigel Atangana misplaces a pass or Dan Butler boots the ball at the stands at a million miles an hour.

The stage is set for Jed Wallace to set the record straight and prove to all of his doubters that he is a better player than a hybrid of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Wolverhampton Wanderers all reconsider their bids for football's most promising prodigy since Freddy Adu.

If that wasn't enough for you then the "dynamite duo" of Matt Tubbs and Ryan Taylor (coz their initials both begin with T and they play up front together, geddit?) are bound to score more than Ron Jeremy on Viagra so long as they can breach the infamous five-man Shrimp Wall and Liverpool's seventh choice goalkeeper.

And finally, the future mastermind champion in Jim Bentley goes head-to-head with the intellectual brain of Andy Awford as both try to outwit each other in a bid to land the ultimate prize in football - to become the mid-table champions of SkyBet League Two.

An accolade that top clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus have never achieved, to become mid-table champions is an honour that twenty-two men (plus substitutes) will gladly die for when a winner of this prestigous title is decided over the course of ninety minutes. Unless it's a draw.

So get ready for the most important day of your lives and be sure not to miss out on this unmissable event tomorrow afternoon. It will blow your minds.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Morecambe

GK: Danny WARD

RB: Shaun BEELEY

CB: Ryan EDWARDS

CB: Alan GOODALL

CB: Andy PARRISH

LB: Laurence WILSON

CM: Alex KENYON

CM: Andrew FLEMING

CM: Aaron WILDIG

CF: Kevin ELLISON

CF: Jack REDSHAW

Pompey

GK: Paul JONES

RB: Josh PASSLEY

CB: Joe DEVERA

CB: Nyron NOSWORTHY

LB: Dan BUTLER

DM: James DUNNE

DM: Nigel ATANGANA

RM: Matt TUBBS

CM: Jed WALLACE

LM: Wes FOGDEN

CF: Ryan TAYLOR

Last Time: Morecambe 2 Portsmouth 2 (League Two - 25/01/2014)

Jake Jervis sent Jed Wallace's cross under the legs of Barry Roche to give the visitors an early lead but that was cancelled out by Mark Hughes' header. Padraig Amond then wasted Morecambe's chance to take the lead as his spot kick was saved by Trevor Carson.

Jervis tapped in a second goal from close range to punish that penalty miss but Carson gifted the hosts an equaliser as he failed to keep out Jack Redshaw's tame strike meaning Richie Barker's Pompey were still without a win in 2014.

My Prediction

After destroying their bitter rivals in the Dockyard Derby last Monday, there's no reason why Andy Awford can't lead his troops to victory again by slaying the Shrimps in a skirmish that will go down in history and should not be missed for anything.

Morecambe 15 Portsmouth 27