Both sides may harbour ambitions of league football but on this dour showing, neither will feature in the end-of-season play-off scramble.
In a game of few clear-cut chances, David McNiven's 57th minute header was enough to fire the Shrimps to a vital victory.
While the visitors were efficient and well-organised they were not a patch on the side that twice defeated Grays last season which probably says as much about the hosts' shortcomings as it does Morecambe's own performance.
Despite the plethora of goal scoring talents on the pitch - including Aaron McLean and Michael Kightly for Grays and Danny Carlton and Michael Twiss for Morecambe - neither side managed to carve out an opportunity of note in a mind numbingly dull opening half-hour.
Both teams struggled to string their passes together and the game was constantly interrupted by a series of niggling fouls that kept referee Declan Ford busy.
The crowd of just over 1,000 had to wait 33 minutes for the first opportunity and it was no more than half a chance at that.
Michael Kightly's corner was met by the towering figure of Jim Sangare but the centre-half's header drifted harmlessly wide of Steven Drench's goal.
Prior to that, Morecambe had looked marginally the better of the two sides, but never looked like scoring.
Six minutes before the break, bad blood between Grays captain Jamie Stuart and McNiven threatened to inject some much-needed drama into a poor opening half.
Aggrieved by an innocuous looking challenge by Stuart, the burly striker grabbed the Blues skipper by the throat and was arguably fortunate to stay on the field.
Referee Ford opted to show a yellow card to McNiven and also booked Stuart for retaliating.
Ged Brannan and David Perkins were also booked for the visitors in a scrappy and instantly forgettable opening 45 minutes.
Morecambe's best chance of the half came just before the interval when Adam Yates skipped past Glenn Poole on the right and stood up a cross for McNiven, but the forward could only loop his header on to the roof of the net.
After the break, both sides came out showing some long overdue gusto, with Blues' Kightly going close seconds after the re-start, fizzing a shot inches over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.
At the other end McNiven swept a shot just past the far post after a swift counter-attacking move involving Perkins and Carlton.
McNiven's persistence paid off minutes later, however, when he glanced home the winner, rounding off a wonderful passage of play that was totally out of keeping with the mediocrity that had gone before.
The Shrimps strung around 15 passes together, from one side of the pitch to the other, before Yates crossed for McNiven who ghosted past his marker and nodded into the bottom corner.
Stung into action, Blues began to find some form of their own and Stuart should have equalised minutes later when he found himself all alone in the penalty area.
Glenn Poole's over-cooked corner was retrieved by Lee Boylan who beat his man and sent in a wonderful cross for Stuart who headed back across goal and off the inside of Drench's post.
Shrimps' midfielder Craig Stanley then curled a shot just over the bar after being teed up by Carlton as Morecambe threatened to extend their advantage.
Grays huffed and puffed but failed to test Drench until Poole's free kick, from 25 yards out, which was struck with plenty of power but landed straight down the throat of Drench.
Blues boss Frank Gray threw on Jamie Slabber for full-back Adam Green and went with a three-pronged attack for the closing stages but to no avail.
McLean did come close when he headed Poole's cross on to the roof of the net but the visitors' defence held firm and in truth, never looked like being breached.