CROWD favourite 'Big' Jim Bentley was the man who rescued Morecambe once again as they threatened to stall against woeful Telford United on Monday.

Shrimps huffed and puffed for more than an hour against a well-drilled but unambitious side who had obviously come to Christie Park looking for one point.

Chances came and went at regular intervals as Jim Harvey's men poured forward. But it seemed that no-one was going to hit the target until Bentley gatecrashed the party.

The big defender took up his place at the corner of the penalty area on 68 minutes, running in to meet the flag kick from Wayne Curtis perfectly and place a bullet header beyond Telford keeper Chris McKenzie and into the net.

It was the very least Morecambe deserved for all their efforts to break down Telford in what was, to say the least, a low key affair.

The visitors were happy to take their time over everything they did and to break up play with a string of fouls when necessary.

As a result, Morecambe never really built up any momentum to excite the crowd despite the fact they had possession of the ball for long periods and saw a host of chances pass by.

One of the best came after just nine minutes as Curtis cut in from the left and produced a low cross into the box for Danny Carlton. His effort was well blocked by McKenzie but the ball fell into the path of Stewart Drummond - who side-footed a tame shot high over the bar from 15 yards out.

For 15 minutes it seemed Curtis wanted to beat Telford all on his own as he repeatedly beat his man and cut inside to rain a series of long range efforts on McKenzie's goal. But he found the target only once and the keeper made a neat save.

Garry Hunter had a good opportunity to break his Shrimps duck on the half hour as Danny Carlton - who was constantly stretching the Telford defence - let him in. But his shot had no conviction.

Carlton was next to miss as he fired wide from 20 yards out when he should have passed to the better placed Terry McFlynn.

Telford's first effort, by contrast, did not come until the 44th minute when Paul Moore's effort was easily gathered by Craig Mawson.

The visitors raised their game briefly as the second half opened and it wasn't long before Morecambe boss Jim Harvey range the changes - bringing on Garry Thompson and Ryan Sugden for McFlynn and Paul Osborne in a bid to add a cutting edge.

It took another quarter hour for Bentley to break the deadlock, though, and only then did the game open up as Telford tried, for just about the first time, to come forward.

Thompson put in a couple of trademark runs down the right to set up chances for Hunter and Carlton, and on another occasion forced Mckenzie into a desperate block on the goal line.

Sugden was also denied from close range but Morecambe just could not find the finish needed to ease the tension as time ran out.

MORECAMBE: Mawson, Walmsley, Murphy, Bentley, Perkins, McFlynn (Thompson 49), Osborne (Sugden 55), Drummond, Curtis, Hunter, Carlton (Rogan 78).