Morecambe 1 Stevenage Boro 1 GARRY Thompson was Morecambe s hero in the first game as he kept his cool to score a contentious last-gasp penalty and necessitate a replay. The Shrimps striker took advantage of a late lifeline after the home side were award

Morecambe 1 Stevenage Boro 1

GARRY Thompson was Morecambe's hero in the first game as he kept his cool to score a contentious last-gasp penalty and necessitate a replay.

The Shrimps' striker took advantage of a late lifeline after the home side were awarded a controversial penalty four minutes into injury time.

Sammy McIlroy's side looked set to be going out of the competition until the referee pointed to the spot after Barry Fuller was adjudged to have handballed in the area under pressure from Jason Walker.

The decision infuriated Boro who carried on their complaints long after the final whistle.

Thompson kept his composure to send Alan Julian the wrong way from the spot.

Boro's leading scorer Steve Morison fired them into the lead three minutes into first-half injury time.

Chris Blackburn made a mistake with a misplaced pass across his own back line and Morison, who scored a hat-trick at Christie Park earlier in the season in a 3-3 league draw, slid the ball past Steven Drench.

Morison always looked Boro's main threat and he came close on several occasions.

He forced Drench into a fine save with a header from Jon Nurse's cross and almost added a second goal three minutes into the second half when he fired into the side netting after finding space inside the box.

Morecambe had keeper Drench to thank for another fine save late in the game as he saved superbly from Adam Miller who made a storming run from midfield.

The home side struggled to find the final ball after some neat build-up play.

Julian was only called into action twice in the opening hour with neat tip overs from Garry Hunter's volley and Neil Sorvel's near-post drive.

As time ran out, the Shrimps staged a late rally with strikers Jason Walker and Danny Carlton coming off the bench to add some missing firepower.

Thompson saw a well-struck left footed shot from the edge of the box well saved by Julian.

Then Michael Twiss headed Craig Stanley's cross wide when he could have done better.

When skipper Jim Bentley headed against the crossbar and Walker directed the rebound just over, it looked as though Boro would book a place in the last eight.

But the Shrimps maintained the pressure and were rewarded for their efforts late on in highly controversial circumstances.