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.