Shrimps climb table with

a point from old rivals Southport 1 Morecambe 1 MORECAMBE'S run of good results against old rivals Southport continued at Haig Avenue on Tuesday night. A late equaliser from striker Justin Jackson denied the home side all three points and means that it is now eight games and three-and-a-half years since Southport managed to beat Morecambe. In a goalless first half, Southport had 18-year-old 'keeper Stephen Howard to thank for a series of fine saves as he denied big Jim McCluskie and the excellent Ian Monk.

And the Sandgrounders must have thought they had the game in the bag when they took the lead in the 62nd minute thanks to a rare strike from Morecambe's bogey man Dave Fuller.

He was in the right place as Andy Whittaker's deflected effort fell to his feet in the box and the Port defender notched his third career goal against the Shrimps. He's only ever scored four in total!

The lead was short-lived, ten minutes to be exact, thanks to an excellent goal from Jackson - his second in four days. He collected the ball on the edge of the area and showed a great turn of speed to leave two defenders in his wake before finally beating Howard.

That point from the Shrimps' fifth game without defeat lifted Morecambe into an impressive eighth in the Conference table with four games to play, the first of them at Slough Town on Saturday. TEAM: McIlhargey, Burns, Lavelle, Tomlinson, Hughes, West, Grimshaw, Monk, Jackson, McCluskie, Cain. SUBS: Knowles, Norman, Sang. Morecambe 3 Kettering Town 2 THEY say it only takes a second to score a goal. Jim Harvey gave substitute John Norman two minutes to do it on Saturday and the striker duly obliged with a dramatic winner.

With the game even at 2-2 and just two minutes left on the clock, Harvey dragged off Jim McCluskie and sent on Norman. Within 60 seconds he had touched the ball twice, once to control it and then to slot it into the net.

All that after Morecambe had thrown away a 2-1 lead built up after the home side took the early advantage in a ding-dong affair.

The first goal went to Kettering in the seventh minute, Oxbrow getting up the highest and nodding home a corner. Morecambe levelled five minutes later, Ian Cain flying down the wing and providing the cross for Justin Jackson to finish.

The Shrimps were in front in the 38th minute, Monk feeding West who crossed to the far post where Jim McCluskie was waiting to finish the move.

That brought some pressure from Kettering and they found their way past Steve McIlhargey in the 73rd minute, Benjamin shooting past the Morecambe 'keeper.

All that action set the stage perfectly for John Norman's dramatic arrival on the scene. He took down a long ball, rounded the 'keeper and sparked the travelling fans' celebrations. TEAM: McIlhargey, Burns, Armstrong, Tomlinson, Hughes, West, Monk, Grimshaw, Jackson, McCluskie, Cain. SUBS: Lavelle, Knowles, Norman.

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