Tranmere Rovers v Aldershot Town, Second Round, Saturday 28th November 2009

For this round of the cup, I had opted to take in Wrexham v Swindon Town. The day started well with a decent nights sleep behind me and the train to Liverpool being bang on time. One hour later, I transferred at Lime Street onto Liverpool's excellent local rail line to meet my connection to Wrexham at Bidston. This is where things started to go wrong as Arriva Trains Wales had kindly cancelled the service and the next one would not get me there till gone 3.30. It was not 1.30pm and a quick check of National Rail Enquiries revealed the alternate route via Chester wasn't going to get me there any quicker either. As I was already on Birkenhead, the logical option was to once again head to Tranmere.

Disembarking at Rock Ferry, I consoled myself with the fact that at least I knew the way to the ground already and also the location of the local baker which was essential as the catering at Prenton Park is not the best. To try and make for a different experience to my last visit, I opted to go in The Cowshed stand with the Aldershot fans who'd turned up in numbers. Having fueled up on a quality pork pie and pre-match pint, it was pretty much time for kick-off. There was plenty of noise from the Aldershot fans, Aldershot Town were reformed in 1992 when the original club went bust and have worked their back through the various leagues and returned to League football last year and they seemed hopeful of a result today.




The match opened well with the passing from both sides much more fluid than the previous game I'd seen. Tranmere had the upper hand territorially but Aldershot were by and large comfortable with their defending and Tranmere's closest early effort was a long range shot deflected for a corner.


On the 20 minute mark Aldershot had a huge let-off when a superb 20 yard drive from John Welsh beat goalkeeper Ruiz hands down and hit the inside of the post, most fans expected the ball to nestle in the opposite corner but it hit the other post and came back out before being scrambled to safety by a grateful defence. In the run up to halftime, Aldershot managed a couple of long range efforts just wide and Tranmere responded with a couple of decent attacks that Ruiz dealt with comfortably. There was also an appearance on the pitch of Tranmere's caretaker-manager/physio, Les Parry.


Returning to my seat for the second half, the temperature seemed to have dropped sharply in the 15 minute break and I spent the first 10 minutes shivering to get warm. Unfortunately there was not much happening on the pitch to warm the spirits. Aldershot looked comfortable and happy with the draw and Tranmere managed to force plenty of corners but without any clear-cut chances. Aldershot were content with the occasional counter-attack but without the numbers to seriously worry the home defence. When the final whistle came with the score 0-0, the visitors were clearly the happier of the fans.




With both teams surviving until the draw for the third round, both sets of fans can dream of meeting with one the big boys in the first week of January. I also await the draw so I can plot my first outing of 2010. I can assure it will not be at Prenton Park this time.

Tranmere Rovers v Leyton Orient, First Round, Saturday 7th November 2009

For this round of the cup, I found myself in Southport for The Weekender so my choice of match was going to be pretty much down to the shortest possible journey from Ainsdale. Southport FC and Chester City had already been eliminated and with Birkenhead just an hour away by rail, Tranmere against Orient it was. Both teams had endured a poor start to the season, Tranmere 23rd in the League One and without a manager having recently parted company with John Barnes and Orient not far ahead in 18th place. Having had little sleep from Friday night, the journey to the match was thankfully straight forward with a quick change of trains in Liverpool to Rock Ferry which was a brief 20 minute walk to Prenton Park. Having fueled myself with some treats from nearby bakery, I arrived early enough to catch an entertaining 3-2 win for Swansea over Cardiff in the pub next to the ground on TV.

Settling in my seat in the Borough Road stand, the weather was wet and breezy and just over 3000 souls were rattling around in a ground that has capacity for 16,000 mostly developed in the mid-nineties when under John Aldridge they had knocked on the door of the Premier League and reached a League Cup Final.


After the teams took to the field and the game began, it was clear it was going to be a physical battle between the two sides and the home crowd determined to boo every touch of the ball for Orient's Sean Thornton who was a former Tranmere favourite. The visitors took first blood with Luke Ashworth getting a near post flick onto Thornton's corner after just six minutes.



Tranmere immediately responded and were denied an equaliser from Chris Shuker by Morris in the Orient goal with a one-handed save which Michael Ricketts was to slow to react to before the ball was cleared. From this point onwards it was clear that Orient were happy to allow Tranmere the possession and defend deep.


For all their possession Tranmere struggled to create any more clear cut chances and their tactic of using the mediocre Michael Ricketts as the lone target man looked unlikely to bear any fruit. When the half-time whistle came, it was a relief to Orient who had a one goal lead to show from their only attack of the game and also the fans who could get 15 minutes respite from the cold wind under the stands.



Coming out for the second half, Tranmere started a lot more enthusiastically and managed to get an equaliser with Chris Shuker firing home from inside the corner of the box with a deflection from Thornton easing it past the keeper.

Any hopes I had a for a more entertaining game soon faded away and the game was dominated by a series of corners as Tranmere pressed and Orient continued to defend.
Apart from a couple of useful saves from Morris, the highlight of the second half was the caretaker manager, who is also the club physio taking to the pitch to treat an injured player. When the final whistle came I was pleased the ordeal had come to an end it. It was a game neither team wanted to lose and certainly one neither deserved to win.



At the time of writing, both clubs are still awaiting their replay for a place in the Second Round at home to Aldershot. With the draw already made I have opted for a trip to North Wales to see the Robins of Wrexham take on the Robins of Swindon in what will hopefully be a much more exciting affair.

Buxton v Stourbridge Fourth Qualifying Round, Saturday 24th October 2009

The Fourth Qualifying Round of the cup is always a big day for those involved with the 20 teams of the Conference entering the competition alongside the 20 other clubs who have battled through to this stage. I was hoping to take in one of the smaller clubs involved and my first hope was to go to Salford City, but they narrowly lost out in a replay to Blyth. Instead it was to Unibond League outfit, Buxton to see the hosts take on Stourbridge of the Zamaretto League which on paper should be an even match.

Both clubs involved in this tie survive on average gates of around the 300 mark, so the financial as well as footballing prospect of meeting the likes of Leeds, Charlton or Norwich in the next round is a mouthwatering one. Both sides have had to beat three teams to get this far, Buxton seeing off Winterton Rangers, AFC Fylde & Bradford (Park Avenue). Stourbridge's run consisted of wins against Bromsgrove Rovers, Evesham United and Hucknall Town, the latter being a 6-1 away victory in a replay.

The journey to Buxton was a nice straight forward one with a direct service from Piccadilly taking in some amazing views along the climb up to Buxton.

The railway station at Buxton is at the end of the present-day line but the preserved station frontage reminds passers-by of a former glory before the axe fell on the railways in the 60s and 70s.


My first objective was to find the ground, tucked away amongst houses uphill from the town centre, it was a typical autumn afternoon with steady drizzle and a stiff wind so I was fairly soaked by the time I made it to Silverlands, which is handily opposite the police headquarters.

Buxton were founder members of the league they are currently in since 1973 and have spent most of the last 35 years playing at pretty much the same level. As a consequence the ground has a nice retro feel to it, in no small part due to the main stand whilst being perfectly fit for purpose. Silverlands can also claim to be the highest in English football at over 1,000 feet above sea level and with the wind today it certainly felt that way.


The ground had a decent bar which filled with fans from both sides as kick-off approached, the visitors has brought a decent following with them and there was a real buzz about the place and the sun surprisingly broke out as the teams took to the field for the kick-off.


Buxton started the game attacking the open end, with both sets of fans lending their vocal support to their teams. It was a bright opening for Buxton who forced a series of early corners, the last of which clipped the bar directly assisted by the strong wind.



Encouraged, Buxton continued to press and forced a couple of saves from the visiting keeper Stuart Brock the best being from Kieran Lugsden in a one on one situation.


As can happen in football, Stourbridge took the lead with their first real attack of the game, a well flighted free-kick was headed back across the face of the goal leaving Ryan Rowe with a simple header into the unguarded goal.

Buxton went in search of an equaliser and the visiting keeper was forced into action once more as another corner was bending in under the bar. Once again Stourbridge counter attacked and a good through ball picked Rowe again who blasted home to make it 2-0.



With half-time approaching, I had joined the large queue for the pie-hut and it was from here I saw Stourbridge effectively put the game out of reach with a low drive from the edge of the box from Sean Evans. The queue was certainly worth it with an excellent meat and potato effort with gravy and although not the most generous helping of peas they were certainly the best quality so far and yet again mint sauce was to hand.

Feeling somewhat shell-shocked at half-time, Buxton made all three substitutions and looked a lot more solid in the second half without looking like making a break-through.



Any hopes of a comeback were put to an end when a slip in the Buxton defence allowed Ryan Rowe a free run at goal, he was denied a hat-trick by a smart save but the rebound fell straight to Evans who converted the easy chance. Buxton continued to press for a consolation goal but it was to no avail and Stourbridge were the ones to progress into the first round draw.

It was a sad end for Buxton who had last appeared in the first round in 1962, the reward for Stourbridge turned out to be a thrilling home derby with Walsall. As I will be in Southport that weekend my attention will be turning to Tranmere v Orient.