SUBSTITUTE Danny Carlton was the spark which lit the fire under smouldering Morecambe as the new football season dawned at Christie Park.

It was the introduction of striker Carlton which spurred the Shrimps to a 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers - fielding a full Premiership team including £6 million man Craig Bellamy.

He was involved in the move which set up Morecambe's first equaliser, turned in by the classy Michael Twiss.

And it was Carlton's persistence which paid off with a late second equaliser for midfielder Jimmy Kelly in front of a bumper 2,765 crowd.

Morecambe had always looked second best in a low key first half controlled totally by Rovers.

A full Blackburn first team dominated possession and had the home side chasing shadows for long periods - with the feisty Gary Flitcroft bossing the midfield battleground and Paul Dickov and Bellamy always ready to test out the home defenders for pace.

The only surprise was that it took 24 minutes for Rovers to break the deadlock - within seconds of Morecambe mounting a rare assault on the Blackburn goal.

With defender Darran Kempson out of position on a sortie forward to meet a Michael Howard free kick, the ball was cleared rapidly to Bellamy to sprint towards goal.

He was met by keeper Ryan Robinson close to the edge of the penalty area and Premiership referee Mike Dean ruled, controversially, that the keeper had committed a foul.

He awarded a free kick to Rovers just outside the area but was persuaded by an assistant that the offence was inside the box - giving Dickov the chance to stroke home a penalty kick.

Jemal Johonson and Flitcroft both had chances to extend the lead while Morecambe failed to make an impression, mustering just one high, wide and not-so-handsome strike by Gary Hunter in he first 45 minutes.

But as Rovers made wholesale changes at half time and Carlton and Michael Stringfellow replaced Hunter and Carl Ruffer on 50 minutes the whole game changed.

It took just four minutes for Carlton to impress, harrying he Rovers defence to win the ball before combining in a sweet exchange of passes with Twiss and Wayne Curtis for Twiss to shoot home beyond keeper Peter Enckelman.

Blackburn almost snatched the lead again on 62 minutes as Matt Derbyshire headed against the Morecambe crossbar from a corner but now Morecambe were asking questions of their own.

Carlton outpaced the defence on 65 minutes but saw his effort blocked by a last-ditch tackle by Jay McEveley and Curtis was denied by Derbyshire's interception.

Then, on 74 minutes, close-season signing Shefqi Kuqi showed why Rovers brought him in from Ipswich Town.

He picked up the ball on half way, shrugged off two challenges and hit a scorching shot past the helpless Robinson from 25 yards to make it 2-1 - it is unlikely a better goal will be seen at Christie Park all season.

That looked like being the final score until Carlton proved his worth on 85 minutes, chasing a lost cause through ball to force a mistake out of McEveley and win possession wide out on the right.

He looked up and rolled the ball into the path of Kelly to hit a first time effort inside Enckelman's near post from just outside the area, giving Morecambe a share of the spoils.

MORECAMBE: Robinson, Ruffer (Stringfellow 50), Per-kins (Kelly 35), Howard, Twiss, Curtis, Thompson (Dodgson 65), Kempson, (Smith 80), Blackburn, Hunter (Carlton 50), Walmsley (Heard 72),