Ged Brannan hails 16-year-old Adam Fairclough after debut Morecambe goal

Morecambe boss Ged Brannan was full of praise for Adam Fairclough after the 16-year-old scored a debut goal in the 3-3 draw at Swindon.

Fairclough put the visitors into a 2-1 lead but they needed a late Cameron Smith equaliser to earn a share of the spoils.

Charlie Austin netted a double for Swindon, who were heading for victory thanks to Williams Kokolo’s effort before Smith struck.

Brannan said: “It was outstanding, a great performance by the lads, for the first 25 minutes of the first half we looked the better team.

“Then we took our foot off the gas a little bit and they got back into it and in the end they could have won the game.

“It’s a dream come true for him [Fairclough], going and scoring and playing the way he played.

“He took a knock second half and had to come off which was a shame but he got a standing ovation from the fans. He’s going to have a good career.

“I knew we would get back into the game the way we played. And what a volley by Cam.”

The Robins went ahead after just five minutes when Sean McGurk whipped in a free-kick from the right on to the head of Austin to nod home.

But the lead didn’t last long as Smith put in a low ball that made it through to Joe Adams, whose shot took a big deflection to wrong-foot goalkeeper Jack Bycroft and crawl in.

Morecambe made it 2-1 six minutes later when Fairclough got in down the right and picked out Charlie Brown. His shot was blocked and flicked off his heel back to the 16-year-old to
score his first senior goal.

Austin was at the double in a crazy first half as Frazer Blake-Tracy darted into the middle and slipped through the 34-year-old to tuck beyond the goalkeeper.

After the break, substitute Dawson Devoy swung a cross in for Kokolo to power home but Smith levelled with a fierce strike four minutes from time.

Swindon boss Gavin Gunning was highly critical of his team’s defensive performance as they once again struggled to keep goals out.

He said: “I think that as a team we have shown a lack of defensive nous all season and that today just summed it up.

“[Conceding 99 goals across all competitions this season] is unacceptable and you know where you need to improve in recruitment and that is going to be key.

“I think that the goals which we conceded were a shambles.

“Anybody who was watching will know the first two goals are ridiculous, the third one was just unfortunate but the first two are dreadful.

“We were marking space and standing in the box not marking our man, you just can’t do that at any level.

“It was an end-of-season game and we were trying to get the kids minutes but obviously you want to win the game first and foremost.”