Morecambe produced a major shock in the League Cup this evening, beating League One side Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at the Globe Arena.
The visitors were unlucky on a number of occasions, hitting the post twice through Matt Doherty and Leigh Griffiths and the bar once from a Zeli Ismail effort.
Ryan Williams got what proved to be the winner in the 84th minute, producing a stunning free kick that left keeper Carl Ikeme with no chance.
You can read how an historic night for Morecambe unfolded with Sports Mole's live play-by-play coverage below.
Good evening! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's match as League Two side Morecambe look to spring an upset on Wolverhampton Wanderers in the first round of the league cup. Let's get straight down to business.
We'll start by looking at our hosts tonight. Morecambe have not got their season off to the best of starts already, losing 1-0 on the opening day to Wycombe Wanderers courtesy of a Paris Cowan Hall strike.
The result came after a mixed pre-season for the club. They began it well enough with an impressive 1-0 win over Burnley - a scoreline I'm sure they'd be delighted to replicate tonight - but followed that up with three consecutive defeats.
They were beaten 2-0 at home by Middlesbrough before Motherwell picked up a 2-1 win at the Globe Arena. The shrimps then welcomed recently-relegated Wigan Athletic to their ground, but once again were beaten as the Latics won 1-0.
Their warm-up campaign did end on a high note, however, as they beat SPL side St Johnstone 1-0 away from home to give themselves a bit of confidence going into the new season.
If that confidence was knocked slightly by their opening day defeat then a win this evening would surely bring it all back. Wolves may now be languishing in League One, but they are still considered to be a big scalp this early in the competition. They were, after all, playing Premier League football just two seasons ago.
In fairness to Morecambe, they embarked on a fairly ambitious pre-season and wouldn't have gone into any of their games as favourites so, on that basis, they could consider it a success having picked up two wins, especially as they came against an SPL team and a Championship team.
As for Wolves, they must regard their pre-season schedule as a success having only tasted defeat in the final game. They began in style, beating East Fife, Livingston and Wrexham in succession before drawing 2-2 against Championship side Barnsley.
They returned to winning ways in their very next game, overcoming Chesterfield 2-1 before welcoming La Liga side Real Betis to the Molineux. The quality of Betis proved one step too far but Kenny Jackett's side gave a good account of themselves in a 3-2 defeat.
There was plenty of optimism surrounding the club going into the first game of the new season on Saturday, but that quickly evaporated as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Preston. It is safe to say that Wolves did not expect to be where they are now two seasons ago, but they still should have the quality in their squad to return to the Championship this season.
Two seasons ago Wolves were, of course, a Premier League team. They were dragged into a somewhat unexpected relegation battle last season and saw themselves consigned to consecutive relegations when they lost 2-0 to Brighton. It was the first time that the club had been in the third tier of English football since 1985, but they now need to adapt to life in League One and try their best to get out of it.
Putting their league matters behind for a second, the good news for Wolves fans is that they have a very good recent record in the first round of the League Cup. They have won five and lost none of their last seven matches at this stage of the competition.
Wolves reached the third round of this competition last season but were roundly beaten at that stage by Chelsea, who ran out 6-0 winners at Stamford Bridge.
Today's match will be a sombre occasion for the visitors, however, as they remember legendary winger and Wolves Hall of Famer Dave Wagstaffe, who died earlier this afternoon. Wolves will wear black armbands in memory of their former player this evening.
TEAM NEWS: Right, it is about time I brought you some team news! Wolves have made six changes to the side that drew at Preston, all of which, manager Kenny Jackett claims, are enforced. Full team news for both sides coming up.
MORECAMBE STARTING XI: Roche; Hughes, Wright, Parrish, Diagne; Drummond, Fleming, Williams; Amond, Sampson, Mwasile.
WOLVES STARTING XI: Ikeme; Doherty, Batth, Ebanks-Landell, Reckord; Ismail, Davis, Foley, Forde; Cassidy, Griffiths.
WOLVES SUBS: Hennessey, Evans, Price, McAlinden, Ihiekwe, Doyle, Margreitter
What can we make of those two teams, then? Well, the name that immediately stands out among the subs for Wolves is that of Kevin Doyle. The striker has only just recovered from injury, hence his place on the bench, but I would expect him to play some part this evening, particularly if Wolves find themselves needing a goal.
Overall, Wolves have by far the stronger squad, as expected. In terms of sheer quality, they should deal with Morecambe fairly easily tonight, but cup games often don't go with logic so the hosts will certainly fancy their chances tonight.
PREDICTION: Cup matches are always tough ones to call, but Wolves will go into this match tonight expecting a win. Anything less would be a major disappointment for them, but Morecambe certainly won't make it easy. I still expect the visitors to come out on top, however, and I am going to predict a 2-0 win to Wolves.
Morecambe's front three are all making their competitive starting home debuts this evening. Amond and Sampson joined from Accrington and Bolton respectively during the summer, while Mwasile has not started a competitive game here before.
It remains to be seen if Doyle can make what could be a final contribution to the club in the coming weeks. He is largely expected to leave before the end of the transfer window, but could be a useful asset while he is still at the club.
KICKOFF: Morecambe get us underway in this one. Can they spring a shock this evening?
SAVE! Fine start from Morecambe as they immediately go on to the attack. Mwasile's cross is only half cleared and Drummond drills it towards goal from the edge of the box. It is a decent enough effort, but Ikeme was always getting there.
Ismail gets caught ball watching down the left side and Diagne makes a simple run behind him to get into a decent crossing position. His ball into the box is just too heavy, but it has been a very bright start from the hosts. Lazy defending from Ismail, though.
It is a very young Wolves side on show this evening and they are taking their time to get settled here. They have just begun to stem the early tide and get on to the ball themselves, but no attacking threat from the hosts just yet.
SAVE! Now Wolves are beginning to apply a bit of pressure. Ismail has their first shot of the night from just outside the area. His strike moves a bit in the air, but Roche is always behind it and holds on well.
Half chance for Wolves as Griffiths pulls off his man and is found by a very good long ball. He goes for a first-time volley with only the keeper to beat, but it is a very hard skill to pull off and he scuffs back across the face of goal. He got himself into a very good position there, but it would have had to been a spectacular finish.
Wolves have done well to kill the early atmosphere in the stadium here. The crowd were very noisy in the early stages and were buoyed even further by their side's good start, but Wolves have slowed the tempo down and the fans have got quieter and quieter as the game has gone on.
CLOSE! Almost an exquisite finish from Cassidy as he runs across his marker before improvising to flick the ball goalwards a la Gianfranco Zola. It bounces a couple of yards wide, but had the keeper was scrambling.
Half chance for Morecambe as Drummond gets on to the end of a cross, glancing a header towards the far post but sending it wide. That's all it takes to get the fans singing again, however.
Still no really clear chances for either side in this match, but Wolves are the team who look most like creating one. They are in control at the moment and have had the better of the opening exchanges.
Safe to say that this isn't quite like watching Barcelona. Both teams have sent a number of high, largely-aimless balls upfield and it is the defence who are coming out on top at the moment.
There is certainly nothing lacking in the commitment department between these two teams. Unfortunately, there is a significant lack of quality at the moment. It has been a very scrappy match so far.
Griffiths wants a foul given for a tussle with Hughes when competing for another high ball, but the referee is having none of it. The high balls simply aren't working for either side at the moment and are only succeeding in giving away possession.
Fine defending from Parrish as he slides to intercept a dangerous low cross from Doherty. The full-back showed good movement to get into the position, but Parrish put an end to a good move from the visitors.
This match needs a goal to get going I think. Neither side have threatened the opposition's goal seriously yet and they both look content enough with the 0-0 scoreline as it is. No doubt as the match progresses then they will both become a little more adventurous, but we could do with that coming sooner rather than later!
CHANCE! Decent chance for Morecambe as Williams gets on to the end of a flicked header inside the box. He has enough space to line up a shot, but his connection is poor as he scuffs it harmlessly wide.
Wolves captain for the night Danny Batth is sporting an impressive shiner this evening. Black eyes like that are one side effect of playing against Kevin Davies as recently as Saturday!
The home fans want a yellow (some are even screaming 'OFF! OFF! OFF!') as Cassidy goes into a challenge with his studs showing. It was a genuine attempt at the ball but he caught the defender and the ref gives him a talking to. Cassidy immediately apologises and escapes a yellow card.
Cassidy is drifting out on to the right wing quite a lot as he looks for space. He finds some on this occasion, but his cross is deflected into the grateful arms of Roche.
Morecambe have enjoyed more possession in the last 10 minutes or so and the match is quite even at the moment. Wolves are still just about on top, and the possession stats are pretty much indicative of how this match has gone so far: Morecambe have had 45% of the ball to Wolves' 55%.
YELLOW CARD! Davis picks up the first yellow card of the match and he can have no complaints nor will he mind too much, it was a cynical but very valuable foul. Fleming intercepted a pass in midfield and had Mwasile racing completely unmarked on his left, but Davis made the foul before the ball could be released.
Morecambe are certainly growing in confidence the longer these scores stay level. They have more or less matched Wolves for large spells of the game so far and have been on top for the last five minutes or so.
OFF THE POST! That is the closest that we have come to a goal by some way as a one-two release Doherty, who has made another bright run down the right. His low cross almost catches Roche off guard at the near post, smacking against the foot of the upright and bouncing back into the middle of the area. Fortunately for Morecambe it bounced straight to a defender, who hacked it clear.
We will have one minute of added time at the end of this first half.
HALF TIME: Morecambe 0-0 Wolves
The referee brings a poor first half of football to a close. Morecambe started the match well enough but Wolves' superior quality began to show as they took control of possession. They were unable to turn this into chances, however, and Morecambe slowly began to edge their way back in to the match as time went on. All in all, a draw is probably the right scoreline at the break.
If anyone deserves to be winning it is Wolves, and the visitors have come closest to breaking the deadlock. Matt Doherty has made a couple of incisive runs down the right flank and one of those produced a cross which smacked against the foot of the Morecambe post. The ball could have bounced anywhere and the hosts were lucky that it went straight to a red shirt.
Despite the post being struck, we are still waiting for the first good chance of the match. Drummond and Williams have both had sights of goal for the hosts while Cassidy and Ismail have produced efforts for Wolves, but none of them were sitters by any stretch of the imagination.
The lack of chances could well have something to do with the tactics employed by both sides. There have been copious amounts of long balls hoisted forward but the defences of both sides have come out on top time after time. Griffiths showed in Scotland last season that he is a prolific striker, but he doesn't stand a chance with the delivery that he has received so far in this match.
Both sides need a change of tactics I think, but for Wolves it could be even more important. Morecambe wouldn't be too upset with this one finishing 0-0 after 90 minutes, so their priority will probably be defence in the second half. Wolves, meanwhile, will want to put this one to bed as early as possible. They have been enjoying success down the right with Doherty's runs, and I think that they need to exploit that more often.
I would expect to see Kevin Doyle come on for the visitors sooner rather than later. He is not expected to be at the club for much longer, so Wolves should look to get as much out of a player of his quality as they can. He would provide a stronger physical threat up front, which could help with the long balls. He may also be able to link up with his strike partner better than Griffiths and Cassidy have managed so far.
The players are filtering back out for the second half now. Hopefully it will be more of a spectacle than the first.
KICKOFF: Wolves get us back underway in this match. Can either side find a winner in the upcoming 45 minutes?
Williams shows great skill and strength in the middle of the park but perhaps gets too excited by the fans' roars of appreciation as he goes for an ambitious long range strike with his weaker left foot. Unsurprisingly he drags it wide of the far post.
Kevin Doyle looks to be preparing to come on, and that is no surprise. This match is in desperate need for a goal and Doyle is the most likely player in either squad to get it.
OFF THE POST! Wolves strike the post again! Ismail turns his full-back inside out with a couple of tricks, creating space to cross brilliantly. His delivery is equally as impressive and Griffiths has peeled off his man at the far post. He is just a couple of yards out but plants his header against the post. It was a tight angle but he really should have scored there.
OFF THE BAR! The visitors are the width of the woodwork away from breaking the deadlock for the second time in as many minutes! This time Ismail goes it alone, beating his man and smashing a fine curling effort that bounces off the top of the bar. Very unlucky for Wolves, could this be Morecambe's lucky day?
CHANCE! Morecambe respond with a very good chance of their own, but they are denied by a magnificent piece of defending. Ebanks-Landell was harshly penalised for a free kick in a good area for the hosts. Ikeme couldn't hold the effort, spilling it right back into the danger area only for Ebanks-Landell to make a brilliant last-ditch tackle to send it behind for a corner. Much better second half so far.
WOLVES SUB: It is time for Kevin Doyle's introduction, and he receives a good reception from the travelling support as he replaces Cassidy.
Morecambe have responded brilliantly to Wolves hitting the post twice in quick succession. They have put the visitors under major pressure for the last five minutes and caused mayhem inside the box on two occasions with dangerous corners. Wolves were forced to scramble the ball clear on both occasions.
Doyle's first action is to win a free kick in a good position for Wolves having been brought down by a mix of three Morecambe defenders. Griffiths lines the free kick up but can't keep it down.
Amond produces a fine low cross into the box, but three of his teammates are inches away from turning it in. That one was begging to be bundled into the net, it was such an inviting cross.
CHANCE! This match is non-stop at the moment, a far cry from what we saw in the first half. Fleming picks the ball up around 25 yards from goal and manages to squeeze out a shot under heavy pressure. It is a good attempt too as it flashes just past Ikeme's post.
Morecambe have been very impressive in the last 10 minutes or so, and that has really got the crowd rocking. They have had 68% possession since Ismail hit the bar for Wolves.
Very good wing play from Mwasile as he races down the left before putting a dangerous cross in that flashes all the way across goal. Once again there is no-one at the back post, however, and the ball rolls out for a throw.
WOLVES SUB: Second change for Wolves as Lee Evans comes on for Ismail, who has been suffering with a touch of cramp for the last few minutes.
Morecambe have produced a number of very good crosses this evening, but they all seem to miss the men in the box by a whisker. The latest example of this sees Diagne whip a cross from deep towards Amond, who makes a despairing lunge for the ball but still can't get anything on it.
Sampson only has one thing on his mind as he picks the ball up a good 30 yards from goal. No Wolves player does anything about stopping him cutting inside and lining up to shoot, but they were right not to worry - he sliced it a long, long way wide. Poor strike.
SAVE! Forde has a long range shot of his own, and this one is a lot better. He takes the ball down well on his chest and fires a half volley towards the bottom corner from a good 30 yards. It is not too taxing of Roche, but he certainly had to make the save.
CHANCE! A long throw in is flicked on by Kevin Doyle towards Evans, who turns Hughes far too easily inside the box. He is off balance when he strikes the ball, however, and perhaps lacks a little composure as he slices it high and wide.
Doherty perhaps shows a little frustration as he goes studs up into a late challenge on the keeper. That was an unnecessary challenge and he is lucky that Roche doesn't make a meal of it.
MORECAMBE SUB: Defensive change for Morecambe as Kenyon, who plays in defensive midfield, comes on for winger Mwasile.
Amond almost sneaks in at the far post from a free kick, but once again he panics at the vital moment and his shot is sliced into the side netting, fooling half the ground that Morecambe had taken the lead!
SAVE! Roche does very well to deal with this one as it was moving all over the place. Forde drilled a low shot goalwards from around 25 yards out, and Roche has to readjust at the last second to save with his legs.
YELLOW CARD! Doherty brings Felming down just as Morecambe were building a very good chance, and he rightly goes into the book for it. That was another clever foul though, and he won't mind getting a booking for that. Free kick in a very good position, though...
GOAL! Morecambe 1-0 Wolves (Ryan Williams)
Williams comes up with a piece of magic to light up this game! He is involved in a lengthy discussion with Diagne as to who should have the free kick, and it is safe to say that they made the right decision. Williams gets it up over the wall and down in time to nestle perfectly into the top corner. Superb free kick, and Morecambe are on the verge of a big upset here. That would be a worthy winner, too.
WOLVES SUB: Final throw of the dice from Kenny Jackett here as he brings on Liam McAlinden to replace Forde. That is an attacking change from the former Millwall boss.
MORECAMBE SUB: Morecambe make a change of their own immediately after, and Williams is the main to make way. He receives a huge ovation as he trots off the park to be replaced by Joe McGee.
There will be four minutes of added time at the end of this match. Can Wolves save their League Cup campaign?
A good-hearted chorus of 'Que Sera Sera, whatever will be, will be, we're going to Wembley' is now being sung by the home fans. They have some way to go yet, but they will certainly enjoy this occasion. And who is to say that they can't match the incredible achievements of fellow League Two side Bradford from last season?
FULL TIME: Morecambe 1-0 Wolves
Morecambe claim a major scalp and pull of a huge cupset as they run out 1-0 winners over Wolves! It may be a Wolves who are currently in League One, but that won't dampen Morecambe's spirits whatsoever. Wolves are still a huge club and this is a famous night in the history of Morecambe.
It is Ryan Williams who will steal the headlines after his stunning free kick was the difference between the two sides. The second half was a vast improvement on the first and you'd have to say that Morecambe probably deserve their win. They certainly rode their luck on occasions, with Wolves hitting the woodwork three times, but for the majority of the second half it was the League Two side who were on top.
As for Wolves, it is yet another disappointing pill to swallow for their fans, who must be overdosing on the things by now. Many expected them to cruise to the League One title this season and even more assumed that they would make short work of Morecambe tonight, but they looked devoid of ideas at times this evening and the rest of League One will have certainly noted this result.
They did hit the woodwork three times, but in truth only one of those occasions was a real chance and that was one of very few good chances that they created in the whole match. Kenny Jackett will have a job on his hands picking his players up after this defeat.
Right, that's it from me tonight. Thank you for joining Sports Mole on what is a historic night in the history of Morecambe as they claim the scalp of Wolves in the League Cup first round. Be sure to stick around for a round-up of all tonight's League Cup matches, as well as reaction from around the country. From me, though, it is good night!
Written by
Barney Corkhill
Barney Corkhill
