MIGHTY Morecambe were almost felled by little Sutton Coldfield Town in the FA Trophy and the minnows made their journey home believing they had been robbed after the Shrimps' 2-1 win.

Jim Harvey's men, sweeping all before them on a march towards the Conference play-offs, had to rely on a late, late goal from Wayne Curtis to avoid an unwanted trip to the West Midlands.

And that goal had a big suspicion of offside about it as Morecambe failed to reach anything close to their best.

They were stunned after just 10 minutes when the Southern League Division One West outfit went into the lead thanks to a rocket from defender Nathan Moran.

And Sutton Coldfield had the ball in the net again shortly afterwards but Richard Gardner's volley was ruled out for offside.

The Shrimps improved after the break but only noticeable after record signing Terry McFlynn replaced Dodgson and immediately made an impact.

He had a shot saved by Justin Bray with virtually his first touch but it didn't take him long to draw Morecambe level as a shimmy and turn was followed with a peach of a shot into the corner of the net from 20-yards.

Morecambe pressed for a winner with little success as Bray denied Lee Elam. And it appeared the Shrimps would have to travel to the outskirts of Birmingham on Tuesday until Jamie Heard fed Curtis who shot home with less than a minute remaining.

Curtis did look suspiciously offside but there was no flag from the assistant referee despite Sutton Coldfield's extended protests.

Boss Jim Harvey felt some sympathy for the visitors but was just relieved to be into the fourth round.

"In football you don't always get what you deserve," says Harvey. "In the FA Cup at Hull we put in a great performance and lost to a late goal when we deserved a lot more.

"But we were not at our best and it was all a bit a flat but all that really matters is that we are through to the next round."

MORECAMBE: Sollitt, Heard, Howard, Swan, Walmsley, Elam, Dodgson (McFlynn 59), Hunter (Osborne 46), Curtis, Kempson. Subs (not used): Robinson, Bentley, Mahoney.