Comeback kings

Twice the Shrimps found themselves two goals behind at Brunton Park but they refused to lie down and came home with a point.

Jim Harvey's battlers could have caved in but in the end it was Carlisle who bottled it on the big stage in front of the TV cameras.

Those cameras do not lie and now the whole country knows Carlisle will not catch leaders Barnet and that Morecambe's outside chances of making the play-offs are very much alive.

It could have been even better for Harvey's heroes as all three Carlisle goals were down to shocking defending on a freezing Cumbrian afternoon.

Morecambe may as well have stayed in the dressing rooms as Carlisle came racing out of the blocks.

Only three minutes were on the clock when the returning Adam Sollitt couldn't hold Andy Preece's 25-yard free kick and got absolutely no support from his defence as Glenn Murray was allowed to tap in.

Murray scored a bagful of goals for Workington last season and was on fire for Barrow this term until Carlisle swooped and it's a fair bet that Ian Swan would have been tossing and turning in bed on Sunday as the nightmares brought flashbacks of his game against a striker making his first Conference start.

And things got worse for Morecambe after nine minutes when Preece was handed the freedom of the penalty area from Peter Murphy's free kick and after 21 years of scoring goals he was never going to miss with his header.

That stung Morecambe into their best spell of the half and Michael Twiss set Garry Hunter in. His shot was saved by Matt Glennon but there was Wayne Curtis to tap home from a yard.

Twiss then cut through most of the Carlisle defence on a run from the right but Glennon smothered his shot. And then the fleet-footed ace took the wrong option cutting in from the left to shoot when a ball across goal would have set up Lee Elam as he loitered with intent.

Then Morecambe pressed the self-destruct button as half time loomed. Preece crossed when he had no right to and Sollitt and Michael Howard left the ball for each other and allowed Magno Vieira to tap home. The Brazi-lian was almost too embarrassed to celebrate so imagine how Howard and Sollitt felt.

But the second half was better for Morecambe as the game ebbed and flowed from end to end.

Carlisle had chances but the Shrimps were not going to roll over again and after 62 minutes they were back in it.

The excellent Dave Perkins zipped down the left and crossed for Hunter - and the impressive young striker finished at the second attempt.

Then 13 minutes from time Morecambe made an indelible mark on the Conference season as they grabbed the draw their play probably deserved.

Curtis swung a cross over from the left where were Carlisle's defenders on the right flank and Garry Thompson rose to place a header into the net.

Carlisle huffed and puffed in the closing stages but Morecambe were not going to be denied their point a point that took them to the very fringe of the play-offs.

MORECAMBE: Sollitt, Heard, Kempson, Swan, Howard (Stringfellow 90), Elam (Carlton 89), Osborne (Thompson 45), Perkins, Curtis, Twiss, Hunter. Subs (not used): McFlynn, Robinson.