Youth team manager Tony Philliskirk was delighted with his players as they booked a third round clash with Premier League side Bournemouth in the FA Youth Cup.
All goals came in the first half as Brad Kay headed them in front with 10 minutes on the clock.
Rio Murray added Latics’ second a minute later with a neat finish into the bottom corner, whilst he made it 3-0 on the half hour mark scrambling the ball over the line from a corner.
After Morecambe pulled a goal back, captain Jamie Stott powerfully headed home five minutes before the half time break to make it 4-1 to Philiskirk’s men.
Speaking after the game, Philliskirk was full of praise for his side. He said: “I’m very pleased with the victory, especially as we had a young team out and we had a lot of players out injured.
"We won the game in the first half and we started it on the front foot. To get two up in the first 15 minutes was positive and I thought all-round we dominated in the key areas of the field.
"Our two central defenders were excellent and we were a handful in attack. Every single player, and the subs that came on, played a part in the game and I’m really pleased.
"The two early goals really settled us before we kicked on to get the third. I was disappointed to let them back in it but the goal before half time gave us a bit of breathing space and we were just solid in the second half.
“They had the one chance which Chris [Renshaw] had to save but other than that we limited them. We missed putting icing on the cake but all in all, if you said before the game we were going to beat them 4-1 with the players we had missing I would have half laughed so I’m delighted for the players.”
After beating Chester in the first round, and Morecambe last night, that now sets up a clash with Premier League new-boys Bournemouth.
“They will be a good side because the infrastructure of Bournemouth at the moment and the finance being put into the club,” commented Philliskirk.
"They have a fantastic philosophy of how to play and I’m sure that goes down to their youth team. I’m under no illusions it will be tough but we have two or three weeks break now before we play them and it gives us a chance to have a few of our players back.
"When we enter the FA Youth Cup, our goal mainly is just to get to the third round of the competition and get a good draw. We have achieved that now.
“We are never going to win the Youth Cup, especially with your teams like Manchester City and Chelsea, so our aim was to get a good draw and we’ve done that.
"We go into the Bournemouth game massive underdogs but we have nothing to lose. The spirit the boys have got will take them a long way and I’m sure it will be a good game.”