Town negotiated the potential banana-skin at Morecambe without any real moments of drama, winning 3-0. Goals from Marcus Stewart, Alun Armstrong and Jermaine Wright saw the Blues home in the face of feisty, but limited opposition.
The Blues left out Jamie Clapham, once again bringing in Martijn Reuser. At the back Gary Croft played at left-back as Hermann Hreidarsson joined Titus Bramble at the centre of the defence. Both John McGreal and Mark Venus missed out with injury. Jim Magilton remained on the bench for a second game after recovering from his injury. David Johnson was missing which led to some speculation on the terraces regarding his future. However, this was quashed by Town chairman David Sheepshanks on a ‘meet and greet’ amongst Town fans. Sheepshanks revealed that Johnson pulled up in training with a groin problem and that the transfer situation was as stated earlier in the week — Johnson is not for sale and the only offer that has come in was considered derisory. He added that with Armstrong cup-tied for the Worthington Cup and Naylor injured Town are certainly not looking to sell at the moment.
The early exchanges were fairly even, but it wasn’t long before Town went ahead. Marcus Stewart shrugged off defenders after a long ball had been pumped forward by Richard Wright to Alun Armstrong. Stewart picked the ball up, went round the keeper and slipped the ball home. It was a typical finish from the man in form, his fourteenth goal of the season.
Town had several shots throughout the rest of the half. Jermaine Wright had a couple of efforts saved and Matt Holland hit an effort as Town pushed forward for a second.
At the other end Morecambe had a shout for a penalty when Mark Quayle went sprawling as Richard Wright picked up a through ball with Hreidarsson in attendance. A penalty award would have been harsh and the Town crowd made their feelings known to the Morecambe striker. Ryan-Zico Black had perhaps their best chance when he ran on towards a ball played across the box. Richard Wright was quickly off his line to pick the ball up.
The second half saw Town withdraw James Scowcroft and bring on Jim Magilton. This may cause worries for Tuesday’s match against Birmingham as Armstrong is cup-tied and Johnson has a groin injury. If Scowcroft went off because of a problem Town could find themselves short of strike-power.
The half gradually saw Town take control and dominate things. The non-leaguers lack of fitness began to show as they spent the latter period of the half chasing shadows. Town went two-ahead when Alun Armstrong bulleted an excellent Jermaine Wright cross home. Earlier Hermann Hreidarsson had hit the bar and Martijn Reuser had blazed over with the goal at his mercy. To be fair to the Dutchman the ball had taken a massive bobble as he hit it.
Town’s third came when Jamie Clapham hit a cross in to Jermaine Wright who looped the over keeper Mark Smith. By this stage Smith had become a bit of a cult hero amongst the Town fans. ‘How wide do you want the pitch?’ asked the Blue Army. Quite wide gestured the keeper. ‘How wide do you want the goal?’ came the question after Town’s second. Not very wide at all gesticulated Smith. He became ‘England’s number two’ and Town were urged to ‘sign him up’ as Town fans and the keeper got into the true spirit of the FA Cup third round.
The final whistle went and the Morecambe fans ran on to the pitch waving flags and chairing their heroes off. The home side had given their best and hadn’t embarrassed themselves, however, Town had put together a professional performance without ever really going into top gear. As I left the ground a Town fan and a Morecambe fan ran toward each other, hugged and then exchanged scarves. There was a pantomime atmosphere about the whole tie, however, Town took the game seriously and progressed to the next round of the cup.