Morecambe 1 Stevenage 0 CONFERENCE toppers Stevenage should have twigged what they were getting into at Christie Park on Saturday with just five minutes on the clock. The outstanding Jim McCluskie had the ball in the back of the net after a clever piece of anticipation only for the linesman to cut short his celebrations with an offside flag. But the league leaders continued to allow the Shrimps to play their attacking style of football and paid the price eight minutes later when Mark Ceraolo halted their charge towards the Football League.

The winning and only goal of the game came early and was a classic. Andy Grimshaw fed Ian Monk who made the most of a bit of space on the left before cutting a superb cross into the area. Ceraolo did the rest with a simple tap in.

It could all have been level again two minutes later when Ken Webster's free-kick beat the excellent Steve McIlhargey but not the crossbar allowing Morecambe to survive.

That proved to be Stevenage's closest effort of the game and the only time they beat McIlhargey despite a number of close calls as the full-time whistle got closer.

The best of those fell to Barry Hayles who broke free of Paul Tomlinson's shackles only to play the ball back into the Morecambe defender's path when he seemed certain to score. TEAM: McIlhargey, Burns, Lavelle, Tomlinson, Hughes, West, Monk, Grimshaw, Ceraolo, McCluskie, Jackson. SUBS: Knowles, Norman, Sang. Runcorn 1 Morecambe 3 THE Shrimps recorded their second win in three days with a 3-1 victory at Conference strugglers Runcorn. With Mark Ceraolo and Justin Jackson missing through injury the goal scoring burden fell onto the broad shoulders of Jim McCluskie. And the big striker didn't disappoint as he netted once, hit the woodwork and set up one of Ian Monk's two goals.

Morecambe scored their opening goal in the seventh minute when McCluskie's low cross was converted by Monk but the second wasn't to come for another 70 minutes.

In the meantime, the Shrimps were put under a spell of pressure from a blustering Runcorn side desperately fighting to pull away from the bottom of the Conference.

For all their determination Runcorn rarely troubled Morecambe's defence and when they did McIlhargey was in fine form once again, one full length save from a Jamie Bates effort drawing applause from both sets of fans.

The second goal on 77 minutes gave McCluskie his reward as he turned a Michael Knowles cross into the net. And Ian Monk made it three with an individual goal before Eyre grabbed a consolation for Runcorn.

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