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.