Morecambe landed a huge blow in the League Two relegation battle as Gwion Edwards’ second-half strike secured them a vital 1-0 victory against 10-man Carlisle.

Both sides had chances to score in the first half, but it was Edwards who broke the deadlock for Morecambe in the 61st minute and Carlisle’s hopes of a win virtually disappeared a minute later when Jon Mellish was shown a straight red card.

Carlisle nearly opened the scoring in the first few minutes as Aaron Hayden missed a close-range chance at the back post from a corner.

The Shrimps failed to make the most of a defensive error from Ben Barclay midway through the first half as Ben Tollitt fired wide.

After the break, the visitors looked the more likely to score and Harvey Macadam missed a gilt-edged chance as he fired over from close range after a corner was nodded across goal.

The Shrimps took a deserved lead when Edwards diverted in a Marcus Dackers cross from close range.

Things turned from bad to worse for Carlisle when Mellish was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Tom White just moments later.

The hosts did have a chance to equalise, but Cameron Harper fired wide after he met a Dan Adu-Adjei cutback.