The Shrimps' manager was clearly frustrated after seeing his side produce a much better all-round performance from the one shown a week earlier in the home defeat by Rotherham but leave empty handed after conceding two poor goals.

He said: "That was our best performance of the season so far in the League and we got a great start but when you concede kamikaze goals like we did you can't expect to win games.

"We just keep continuing to make the wrong decisions and the second goal was a catalogue of errors which cost us the game.

"I don't want to blame the defenders but both goals came from situations where we should have done better.

"It's the same old story really from set plays. We work on it in training and everyone knows what they should be doing but it just doesn't happen. It was the same last year and it has carried on into this year and it has got to stop.

"I thought we had some positives in the game with our front two being a handful and our wide players getting more of the ball but wrong decisions are costing us. As a group we did a lot better but we need to work harder at the ugly side of the game.''

McIlroy's frustrations can be borne out by facts. It is now 20 League games since the Shrimps managed a clean sheet – a 1-0 win at Barnet in February – and it is proving to be something that is hitting their ambitions.

On Saturday, the Shrimps looked threatening going forward, especially with their own set-pieces. But at the other end they looked fragile when Bury attacked and the goals they conceded were, once again, all too easy.

The game started well enough with the Shrimps on the front foot and they took the lead for the first time this season when Rene Howe, who has been a real plus this season, opened his League Two account for the club.

He showed sharp reactions in the box to beat the hesitant Wayne Brown to Matty Blinkhorn's flick-on and stroke the ball home from close range.

But that lead lasted just six minutes as Bury levelled from a corner.

There was a hint of a push as Paul Scott outjumped Wayne Curtis at the far post but there was no denying it was another soft goal to give away.

Then 10 minutes later came a real killer blow with a calamitous second goal. Michael Carr inadvertently played in Elliott Bennett with an attempted clearance which went badly wrong.

The Bury winger took advantage by skipping past Henry McStay and putting in a low cross which David Artell stabbed past his own keeper, Barry Roche, as he tried to block the ball from reaching two Shakers' strikers lurking behind him.

Morecambe then had the better of things with Curtis desperately close to making it 2-2 with a curler from the left-hand byline which just evaded the far post before Howe threatened again with a sweet run into the box which ended with a low shot brilliantly tipped away by Brown.

Blinkhorn was also close with a header from an excellent Howe cross and the same combination produced the Shrimps' best opening of the second half when Blinkhorn volleyed acrobatically wide from a right-wing cross.
Roche was called into action twice in the final few moments with saves from long range from Andy Bishop and Michael Jones but, despite five minutes of injury-time, the Shrimps failed to trouble Brown again.

Morecambe: Roche 6; McStay 6, Artell 6, Bentley 6, Adams 6; Curtis 6, Wainwright 7, Carr 6 (rep Drummond 80), McCann 6 (rep O'Carroll 86); Howe 8, Blinkhorn 6. Subs not used: Davies, Hunter, Parrish. Booked: Blinkhorn, McStay.

Bury: Brown, Scott, Buchanan, Futcher, Sodje; Dawson, Barry-Murphy, Jones, Bennett (rep Racchi 65), Morrell (rep Hurst 75), Bishop. Subs not used: Cresswell, Baker, Belford. Booked: Dawson, Sodje.

Ref: L Probert - A mixed afternoon - though he was far better than his assistants
Att: 2,679.

Star man: Rene Howe - a handful for the Bury defence all afternoon.