Morecambe 0 Altrincham 1 MORECAMBE misfired miserably as they turned in their worst 45 minutes of football since Sammy McIlroy took over as manager to gift struggling Altrincham a Conference lifeline on Tuesday night.

The slapdash Shrimps were simply dreadful during the first half against a committed - but equally inept - Robins.

And even though they upped the ante after the break, they could not find the cutting edge to get back into the game as their home form took a serious dip to the bottom of the barrel.

Let's get this into perspective, though. This is not a bad Morecambe side, far from it. It was a case of a bad night at the office from too many players - and their expressions as they trudged away from the dressing room after the game illustrated just how bad they were feeling.

That feeling certainly matched anything suffered by the fans who, for the first time this season, booed the Shrimps off at the break.

The Robins should have been ahead after 21 seconds when Colin Little inexplicably found space in the six-yard box only to miss his kick.

Matty Blinkhorn was busy for Morecambe and skimmed a shot just wide before Danny Carlton saw a tame effort saved by Stuart Coburn.

Then Craig Stanley and Carlton combined to free Garry Thompson and the cross was met by Blinkhorn - but Coburn sprawled across his goal to make the save.

So things appeared to be going to plan...but.

Joe O'Neill crossed for Alty and Chris Senior rose magnificently to plant a header goalwards and it took a quite magnificent save from Steven Drench to keep the scores level.

Drench, slightly wrong-footed, changed direction before plunging down to get a hand on the ball as it was about to cross the line - a tremendous stop that should have acted as a wake-up call.

But the Shrimps didn't heed that warning and on 19 minutes Little found space in the box and fired in a shot. Drench again saved marvellously but reacted furiously as his defence admired his handiwork and allowed Little to blast home the rebound for the game's only goal.

The keeper was getting a real workout and had to be brave to collect a Little cross under tremendous pressure, while at the other end Thompson and Stanley both tried their luck with attempts that were more danger to spectators behind the goal than the net itself.

That first half was dreadful with passes going astray from both sides and Drench had to be alert at the start of the second as he got down to block from Senior.

Then it became one-way traffic as Morecambe stepped up a gear and surged forward with Blinkhorn a constant threat and Neil Sorvel just off target.

Michael Howard played a ball through which Blinkhorn chased, Coburn sliced his attempted clearance but the on-loan Blackpool man was off target with his shot.

Wayne Curtis headed wide, while Jamie Burns wasn't brave enough to get a header in at the back post after excellent work from Stanley and Jim Bentley - spending as much time in attack as defence - was denied by a plunging tackle from Karl Munroe before Coburn had another lucky escape as he flapped at a Stanley corner.

The ball may even have crossed the line but referee Mark Brown - amazingly on the Football League list given his performance - blew up for a foul.

Mind you, Coburn was under pressure from Bentley, Danny Adams and Curtis so you could see why he was nervous.

Burns and Blinkhorn then opened up a gap for Bentley to break into the box but he is no natural striker and the chance was gone.

Four minutes of added time came and went but the Shrimps couldn't create an opening. It was a bad night - but they will be better on Saturday at Exeter.