The winning goal was totally out of place in such a poor game. It was a wonderful strike from Duffy. He had Parkin screaming clear to his left and normally hits a feeble shot, so we were ready to berate him, but he hammered it in the top corner. It was going to take something special, because apart from a short spell in the second half and a couple of break aways in the first, our approach play had been poor. We're trying to force things to happen too quickly. Either by hitting long balls, or by trying fancy passes or mazy dribbles. Despite not creating a lot, Tranmere made good positions by moving the ball around simply and working off it. They looked the better footballing side.
Throughout the first half, we hit aimless balls. Burgess and Fagan tried to get near them, but that was a task in itself. Dawson was the main outlet, with Bo finding him short whenever possible, but he passed very poorly. He was either too slow to spot openings or he just hoofed it. It wasn't good enough from a player with the quality that he has in his left foot. Dean Marney always looked a threat, but he tries to do too much. That he wants to get shots away is a good thing, but when that's not an option, he doesn't appear to have a plan B. He's a great passer of the ball, so he needs to use that more often by playing balls in for the front two. At the moment, he's effective when breaking quickly, but not when we're facing 6 or more defenders, which we did last night on occasion. We were at our best when Livermore was involved. He keeps the ball moving, slows the play down and just keeps the ball in general. Unlike Andrews, he can run and pass in all directions, including forward (gasp!). The rest of the team need to follow his lead and move the ball in the same simple, effective manner.
Bo had a solid night in goal, making one fine save. He was nowhere near Ellison's outstanding cross for the goal that they might have scored (we thought it had gone in, but the ref had to flip a coin to decide, the lino certainly didn't give it) but he was being blocked off. The defence was sturdy enough when making headers and tackles, but distributed woefully, Ricketts aside. Turner and Collins look like 3rd Division defenders. Collins won't make this level. Turner has a chance, but at the moment, he's similar to Leon Cort when he came in, only a level higher, which is quite frightening. He has no concept of playing his way out of trouble, even when under little pressure. We'll be much happier when Coles and Delaney are back fit. Ricketts did well, he drove into open space and got forward in support of France/Fagan.
France had a quiet game, even quieter after he moved left. He didn't make the most of good positions. Elliott was very poor. He made one driving run and forced a good save from Ward, but in general play, he was lost. Nothing came off, headers, passes, flicks, runs. He's a shadow of the player he was and just isn't good enough. Ben Burgess is struggling to get back to the sort of form he showed before his injury, but you get the real sense that he's desperate to do so and is trying hard. With Elliott, he doesn't give you the same confidence. He doesn't look up for it. Speaking of Burgess, he struggled to get into the game, which is unsurprising considering the service. In the second half, he started to get the ball into his feet and linked play, with about a 50/50 success rate. On the plus side, he scored a fine headed goal and caused problems for the keeper from 2 other crosses. He'll score goals, there's no doubt about it, but he needs someone to put the ball in the danger zone, just like Parkin. Outside the box, BBB has to do more to bring the rest of the players into the game, but in turn, they have to get the ball to him. Too often this season Burgess, Duffy, Parkin and Fagan have been chasing aimless balls and that has to stop. Fagan had another good game. He just doesn't give anything up, he's a menace to defenders and he worries them. He should have done better from wide positions. Duffy didn't look like changing the game, but did with a fantastic strike after 'The Beast' had headed down a long ball.
Not a great game or a great performance, but nice to get a win in the Cup and hopefully a result that will give the side confidence. It's very pleasing for Darryl Duffy to get off the mark and hopefully, this will ignite his season. Unlike others, I do think we have enough up front to score 40 or 50 goals, but as a team, we've got to put the ball in an area where they can do that. Apart from the first half an hour against Barnsley, we haven't done that enough. If we can move the ball into midfield quickly, and provide service for the wide players, we can harm teams. The management obviously knows that, but the players aren't taking it on board.
Ratings: Bo 7, Ricketts 7, Dawson 5, Collins 6, Turner 5, France 6, Elliott 5 (Duffy), Livermore 7, Marney 6 (Welsh), Burgess 6 (Parkin), Fagan 7.