As you enter the grounds of the Preston Athletics Arena - the training base for conference high flyers Morecambe FC - you get the impression that the training facilities wouldn't look out of place if they catered for a Championship side. On the far side of the complex Morecambe are participating in a practice match preparing for their play-off assault. In the thick of the action are manager and ex-Manchester United midfielder Sammy Mcilroy and his trusted assistant and ex-Manchester City striker Mark Lillis. Suddenly the 56-year-old Mcilroy springs to life controlling a high ball with his back to goal on the edge of the area and in an instant turns and executes a perfect lob over the helpless goalkeeper. "You never lose it gaffer," shouts Lillis in a 'seen it all before' sort of tone. Morecambe have quietly gone about their business this season finishing third in the Nationwide Conference and are set for a two-legged semi-final against York City in the play-offs. Mcilroy and Lillis first met when they both signed for Manchester City on the same day as each other in 1985 and the two of them have never looked back since. Mcilroy and Lillis have worked together at Macclesfield Town in the early 90s, Stockport County and Northern Ireland. Lillis explains the relationship: "It's just based on honesty and trust and they are the biggest things in football. If you've got staff around you who you can trust and respect then your half way there." When the pair joined forces again at Morecambe in 2005 they quickly realised the task at hand. Mcilroy explains: "At Morecambe we didn’t have any facilities and we had to train on the beach. It's ok once in a while to have a bit of fun but when you want to do specialist coaching you can't do it so you need a good area and this (Preston Athletics Arena) is a fantastic place for us." Last season saw Mcilroy and Lillis steer Morecambe into an unlikely play off spot where they met Hereford Town in the semi-final only to lose 4-3 on aggregate. Mcilroy thinks the agonising experience from last year will help his side to succeed this time around. He said: "At the start of the season we knew we had a decent enough squad that was going to give us a chance of promotion, we added one or two players but I have never been one to say this or that because football can kick you in the face." Lillis agrees. He said: "The experience of playing in two semi-finals in the playoffs last year will help us plus the fact that we have added players who have experience of getting out of this division in Danny Adams and Craig Stanley." Lillis also highlights a change in the players mentality. "Last season a lot of the players we had inherited were telling us after games how such and such a team had got on and the gaffer and myself both said to forget about that it's down to us and what we do. We had to get the players mindset to think along the lines of get your own house in order first." What Mcilroy and Lillis have in their favour is that they too have the experience of getting out of this division when the pair took Macclesfield Town up as champions in 1997. But Mcilroy says the job is a lot tougher now. McIlroy said: "In the Conference these days everyone is full time. The league is that tight from 1st to 11th that there are no easy games, as teams have been beating each other. It’s a hard league and it’s improving all the time." To make the job even harder for Mcilroy and Lillis they have to deal with the lure of Premiership and Championship football at Blackburn Rovers and Burnley just 40 minutes down the road. It is therefore surprising that Morecambe’s home attendances would embarrass some League Two clubs with crowds regularly hitting 1,800. It seems that the good feeling on the pitch has spread to the town as a whole. "The other day against Halifax there was an extra 800 people on the gate," acknowledges Lillis. "We didn’t let them down which was good because at this level when you get a big crowd and end up losing you lose quite a few of them." With such a good track record in lower leagues Mcilroy says their secret is simple. He explains: "You have to make every training session fun, I have never had a player turn around to me and say that session was crap because that’s not how we work. We make sure the players enjoy it and that goes along way." But with the season coming to an end and the play offs beckoning Mcilroy and Lillis have only one thing on their minds, promotion. Lillis believes the current squad are good enough to go up a level. He said: "The players we have here are more than good enough to compete in League Two." Morecambe fans can be rest assured that even if they suffer any injuries between now and the play-off semi-finals that they have two people on the touchline despite their age who still possess the quality to step in. | 
