A LATE, late goal from Steve Jones denied Morecambe a deserved victory against fierce rivals Southport in their Tuesday night derby.

The Shrimps had high hopes of achieving a sweet three points when they went ahead after just six minutes.

Chris Lightfoot got his head to a free kick from Adriano Rigoglioso and saw the ball bounce past Steve Dickinson at the far post.

That encouraged Morecambe, with the ever-dangerous Garry Thompson and youngster Danny Crumblehume both going close.

However, Southport got back into the game with a diving header from striker Simon Parke shortly after the half hour, meaning scores were level at the break.

It took just two minutes from the re-start for Morecambe to regain the lead.

Substitute John Norman did the damage, playing in Ryan-Zico Black to slot home from close range.

However, Jones had the last word, bursting into the penalty area before placing the ball through Craig Mawson's legs to ensure that a point returned to Merseyside.

Norman was Morecambe's hero in the Trophy game at Margate on Saturday.

The experienced striker spent the first half on the bench as a defensive Shrimps line-up repelled wave after wave of attacks from the home side who, despite enjoying plenty of possession, struggled to carve out clear-cut chances.

Thompson had a long-range shot well saved for the visitors but neither side really looked like taking charge.

Morecambe were forced to replace Robbie Talbot, who failed to make an impact on his return from injury, on the hour and also pulled off skipper Dave Mckearney.

On came Norman and young Danny Carlton and, 10 minutes later, Jim Harvey had his reward when Norman smashed a Thompson cross home from the edge of the six yard box.

The game was virtually over within five minutes when Norman repeated the trick with a dazzling free kick.

Paul Lamb pulled one back with four minutes remaining with a goal that owed more to pinball than football, with his shot deflecting around the Morecambe box and into the net.