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Tranmere v Swansea City |
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Why not visit our sponsors lounge TRANMERE Rovers showed they have not lost the old habit of blowing opportunities to make a decisive move in the promotion campaign. Swansea City’s visit to Prenton Park presented Ronnie Moore’s team with a chance to open up a seven-point advantage over a team that has to be regarded as a serious rival for a play-off spot. Rovers responded by falling flat on the face at the starting gate. They were so slow to get moving that the game was lost and beyond their reach by the time Swansea were reduced to 10 men just before the hour mark. By the end of a grim afternoon for the home supporters, Rovers had slipped out of the top six and their advantage over Swansea was down to a single point. No wonder a disappointed Moore admitted he couldn’t find a positive feature in Tranmere’s performance or a worthy candidate among his players for man of the match. Just about his whole team were out of sorts, with poor passing the most obvious problem. No excuses could be found in selection restrictions as the line-up, packed with experience, was Moore’s a regular first XI during the first half of the season. It was a day when Tranmere needed to be near their best because Swansea were in compelling form. They set the tempo from the opening minutes by hounding the home side out of possession and moved the ball with a crispness and confidence Tranmere could not match. No-one was more influential than Andy Robinson, the Birkenhead-born midfielder who used to play amateur football for Cammell Lairds just a mile or two from Prenton Park. Tranmere rejected Robinson after a season-long trial in 2003 and 27-year-old rarely misses an opportunity of making Rovers pay for their misjudgement. Robinson’s sixth -minute goal was his third at Prenton Park in a Swansea shirt. His darting runs and sharp passes made him a constant danger to an uncomfortable home defence. Roberto Martinez, the young Spaniard who succeeded Kenny Jackett as Swansea manager a fortnight ago, has made an encouraging start. Although the 33-year-old is new to management, he is no stranger to English football, having played in this country since 1995 for Wigan, Swansea and Chester. Martinez, though clearly delighted with his team’s performance, was inclined to be cautious about the implications for Swansea’s play-off chances. He believes they will require six wins from nine remaining games to finish in the top six. Tranmere may well be looking at a similar equation. Swansea’s cause will not be helped however by the loss of leading goalscorer Lee Trundle to suspension as a consequence of his 58th-minute dismissal on Saturday. Trundle paid the price for one moment of exuberance and another of foolishness early in the second half. The Liverpudlian’s celebrations after scoring Swansea’s second goal on 52 minutes did not appear to be so over the top as to merit a yellow card from fussy referee Graham Laws. But knocking the ball away from Gavin Ward, when Tranmere keeper was trying to restart the game with a free-kick a few minutes afterwards, was asking for trouble. Another yellow and a red followed. Ward was booked for taking an angry swing at Trundle in the same incident. The game’s most unusual yellow card offence was committed by Swansea striker Pawell Abbott, who failed to respond quickly enough to a signal from the bench that he was being substituted. Swansea, starting brightly, were given a helping hand for the first goal. The diminutive Robinson was a unmarked when he headed home his fifth goal this season from a sharply delivered right-wing cross by wide man Leon Britton. Swansea coped better with the unpredictable nature of the pitch as it cut up. A 30-yard shot from Robinson bounced awkwardly in front of Ward, who was grateful to diverted for a corner with his chest. Ward made a more convincing save from Britton’s rising shot on 26 minutes. But the goalkeeper was grateful to escape on 49 minutes when a free-kick from Robinson slipped through his grasp and hit the top of the left-hand post. Ward was quick to get his body behind Abbott’s shot from the rebound. Swansea were for value for the second goal on 52 minutes. Ian Craney caught Tranmere cold with a long ball from deep in his own half that sent Trundle galloping clear of Chris McCready on a 40-yard run towards goal. Trundle applied a cool finish from just inside the box. Trundle’s dismissal prompted Moore to gamble on adding a third striker, Calvin Zola, to the Tranmere attack on 62 minutes. But the move simply encouraged Rovers to throw ever-more long, high balls into the Swansea box and the visiting defenders handled the bombardment with calm efficiency. It was 85 minutes before Swansea goalkeeper Willie Gueret was seriously tested by rising shot from 15 yards by John Mullin. icLiverpool |
This article first appeared on JACKARMY.net.