Accrington Stanley boss John Doolan on Morecambe defeat

Before Chris Stokes seemed to convert a Charlie Brown free-kick in from close range, Nelson Khumbeni scored the first goal.

After 89 minutes, Lewis Shipley scored for Stanley, setting up a thrilling conclusion. Archie Mair, the Morecambe custodian, made a few saves in extra time, but the Shrimps hung on to win.

The first goal is always going to be important, but I didn’t believe there was much going on in the first half. Both keepers had to make one stop.

Although we thought the build-up was unfair to us, their boy did a great job finishing.

“We have discussed with Radek (Vitek) that he needs to perform better for the second goal.

“We can’t afford to give teams goals like we have, but we then demonstrated incredible character to bounce back and come to life.

We had questions, and I was pleased with how we concluded. We were very close to having an equaliser, but it was not to be.

“Giving sides an advantage is not sustainable, but there is a learning curve with a young side.