Derek Adams delighted as Morecambe hammer Bristol Rovers

Derek Adams was a happy man after seeing his Morecambe side maintain their magnificent home form with a 5-1 victory over Bristol Rovers.

Four second-half goals helped the clinical Shrimps to a fourth successive home win and moved them out of the Sky Bet League One relegation spots.

Adams said: “It was a fabulous performance and to score five goals against a side like Bristol Rovers, with the quality of goals we scored too, was superb. It was a great day for the players and the staff.

“It was nice to see five players get on the scoresheet and the way we took the game to them and passed it around to open up Bristol Rovers was brilliant.

“Dan Crowley made his debut and showed the quality he has with a goal and some assists but there were a lot of players who really delivered and caused them a lot of trouble.”

The Shrimps took the lead on 20 minutes when debutant Dan Crowley fired a long-range shot that beat Ellery Balcombe low to his right.

On-loan Burnley striker Michael Mellon doubled the lead on 47 minutes with a shot that deflected off Rovers defender James Connolly and, two minutes later, Donald Love scored his first Morecambe goal after a neat short-corner routine.

Crowley then set up Cole Stockton for a Morecambe fourth with a superb defence-splitting pass on 62 minutes.

Rovers had a chance to pull one back with a penalty after Dynel Simeu had fouled Josh Coburn but Scott Sinclair’s effort was superbly saved by Connor Ripley.

To make matters worse for the Pirates, Morecambe scored a fifth through teenager Adam Mayor’s low drive two minutes from time before Aaron Collins fired home a last-minute consolation from the edge of the box.

Joey Barton apologised to the Bristol Rovers supporters after a performance he called “embarrassing”.

He said: “It was probably the worst 60, 70 if not 90-minute performance since I’ve been here.

“It was really poor and I can only apologise to the fans who spent their hard-earned money to follow us. It wasn’t acceptable and it was quite embarrassing actually.

“Everything went wrong really and it was one of those days. It just wasn’t good enough right across the board.

“We had a lot of the ball but didn’t really do anything with it and there are a few lads who will be disappointed with their efforts and their application.”