Wednesday 24th August 2022: EFL Cup: Prenton Park: Tranmere Rovers vs Newcastle United
Having already been to Prenton Park last season for both Tranmere and Liverpool Women’s matches, in 2 separate competitions, I had no intention of returning to the ground until I had explored other areas of the Northern football landscape. However, when I was looking at whether it was possible for me to make it too any of the midweek League Cup fixtures this one jumped out at me and I couldn’t not go to it.
The Wirral’s premier (only) team where facing a visit from a Premier League team and not just any old one either. The League two minnows would be taking on the world’s richest team, who were coming down south fresh off the back of a pulsating 3-3 draw against Man City at the weekend. That’s right Tranmere Rovers, 17th in League Two with just a single win so far this season, were taking on Newcastle United.
World Class players were coming to the Wirral and this once in a generation occurrence was too tempting to pass up. Though just how many of his best 11 Eddie Howe would risk on a fixture that looked like a nailed on Toon Army win on paper was an open question. Particularly with matches at both Molineux and Anfield to deal with in the 7 days that followed this match.
Despite this doubt as to whether I would be treated to an exhibition of Newcastle’s top talents in the back of my mind I made the short journey across the water to Prenton Park in good spirits. I had my reasons to hope for a decent game and perhaps even a reverberation of the cupset that Crawley, 23rd in League Two, had pulled off at home to high flying Premier League Fulham the previous evening.
These hopes were fed further by the fact that, whilst Tranmere’s league form is undeniably abysmal, Rovers were able to overturn a 2-0 deficit away at Accrington Stanley in the previous round with a 93rd minute equaliser before winning 12-11 on penalties. With matches in this round going straight to penalties if scores are level at the end of the regulation 90 a repeat of their previous round’s performance was the hosts most realistic chance of springing the upset that would send the home stands into raptures.
The club crest above is part of the view on the direct, if always left leaning, road that guides you from Birkenhead Central station upto the stadium and Rovers would need Faith and both physical and mental strength if they were to deliver the result of a lifetime for their passionate fans. Help towards achieving this goal was given by Eddie Howe when his matchday squad and starting 11 were revealed. Howe had decided that the match could be won with a largely second string team and as such he had left first-teamers Nick Pope, Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin back up on Tyneside.
In place of those first-teamers run-outs were instead given to Karl Darlow in goal and the likes of Jacob Murphy and Elliot Anderson. Players that Howe considered had more than enough quality to deal with whatever their League Two hosts could throw at them. The only concessions made by Howe to the potential that things may go sideways for his team were the inclusions of Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier amongst the substitutes. This lack of first team members amongst the visitors ranks rankled with the gentleman next to me who admitted later in the game that he had attended because ‘I only wanted to see Allan Saint-Maximin and he’s not even in the squad’. This was a frustration fully shared by myself as Saint-Maximin is a player I would love to see live.
For his part Micky Mellon named a strong Tranmere team for this one. Though the lack of strength in depth at the club may have influenced his team choice. The lovely lady seated behind me, who has been following Rovers for 20 years was particularly concerned about this lack of depth in the squad, ‘we could win here but our players will be so exhausted that we will struggle against Colchester on Saturday. She even made the morbid prediction that ‘we win here and advance a few more rounds but get relegated to the national league.’ Perhaps that prediction of relegation will be proved prescient come the end of May, but heading into the match I remained hopeful that no matter the result this evening Rovers would put in a good performance that could inspire them to a run of much needed good results in the league.
Whatever happened on the pitch though one thing was for certain, Newcastle fans are amongst some of the most passionate in the country. There were 6 coach worth’s of them who had made the long trip south to the Wirral for this midweek evening game. Such commitment is incredible to see and despite the long journey their chants were still at an ear-splitting volume as the atmosphere ratchetted up in preparation for kick-off.
As the hosts rolled the match underway it quickly became obvious that any notions the visitors had of simply turning up and rolling over their lowly hosts were badly mis-aligned with reality. Newcastle may have able to get on the attack within 150 seconds of kick-off but Rovers were resolute in their defending and set their stall out early with a smattering of agricultural challenges designed to remind the visitors that they were in for a battle if they wished to take anything from the match.
The Magpies proved themselves upto the challenge though and only another 150 seconds had elapsed before they created the first presentable chance of the proceedings. Sean Longstaff flicked a 40 yard switch ball across the pitch with the outside of his boot for Jacob Murphy to take in stride as he barrelled his way into the box in space on the left. All that was left for Murphy to do was stroke it home past the onrushing Mateusz Hewelt, but all he managed to do was toe-poke it into the keeper’s grateful arms.
A huge let off for Tranmere there but after that warning across there bows of the hosts as to just what kind of quality their illustrious visitors possessed. Overall though things looked good for the ‘super white army’ (relax that’s not racist, it’s just the team’s nickname in reference to their all white home kits) as they were able to compete in midfield and prevent utter domination of possession by the Magpies. A dark turn appeared to be on the horizon for the host in the 5th minute though as Kane Hemmings was lying prone on the grass with a head-injury. A heart-stopping minute elapsed as he recovered before the home stands breathed a collective sigh of relief as it became clear that Hemmings would be able to continue, without even needing a second of physio intervention.
Perhaps Hemmings was still feeling the effects of his injury 5 minutes later though as he was slower than an arthritic slug to respond to the excellent closing down of Emil Krafth by his teammate Joe Nolan in the 10th minute. Nolan harried Krafth into coughing up the ball deep into his own defensive third but when the ball broke free, with Nolan and Krafth still recovering his feet after their battle, Hemmings failed to move even an inch towards it.
Nolan was screaming at him to take advantage of the loose ball but Hemmings was so infuriatingly statuesque, in receipt of this gilt-edged opportunity to drive at the disorganised Magpie’s back line, that it fell to Nolan to chase up the opportunity on the regaining of his balance. Unfortunately for both him and the home fans Krafth was milliseconds quicker off the mark to the loose ball and despite it appearing that Nolan had timed his next tackle impeccably there was enough delay in it’s timing in the ref’s view for him to give the visitors a free-kick with which to clear their lines.
The hosts may have proved incapable of causing the visitor’s back-line any catastrophic issues in the opening 10 minutes, but they had succeeded in ensuring the opposite was also true. Seeing the match devolve down into a grinding midfield battle was ultimately a win-win situation for Rovers as getting the match to 90 minutes all square would lead them into the pot-luck of penalties. Joe Willock took Newcastle’s attempts to avoid this doomsday scenario into his own hands in the 12th minute, advancing to the edge of the box before firing a pot-shot just 2 yards over the top of the bar.
This warning shot across Rover’s bows heralded the start of a mini Newcastle siege on the hosts goal as they hemmed the hosts into their own half. Hemmings was the only Tranmere player to escape the siege lines as he looked on from half way in a desperate hope to provide the hosts with a outlet to break the siege. Thankfully for the home fans Newcastle were unable to breach the final line of defences protecting the net.
They did come close though. First from a Krafth cross to the back post that flashed in front of Jacob Murphy’s outstretched boot then from Anderson’s speculative effort from the edge of the D which had just a touch too much fade on it, as it slunk behind a couple of yards wide the left hand post. Matt Ritchie was twice able to find enough space in the last ditch defences to have a simple tap-in lined up to break the dead-lock, but unfortunately for him both time Willock’s pass failed to slip through the passing lanes without being cut off by an expertly timed Tranmere leg or boot.
By the time the match ticked over the 20 minute mark Tranmere had broken out of the siege and with Newcastle having become so used to being on the attack their defences were none-existent. It took the visitors less than 60 seconds from breaking out to taking the lead. The ball through to Hemmings was incisive and he found himself with the freedom of the final third to take the ball to Darlow. Rather than be wastefully selfish though he gave up the chance to score himself by rolling the ball to his left for Elliot Nevitt to roll it home into the unguarded net. The elation in the home ends knew no bounds, until they came inches away from doubling their lead a minute later.
A hopeful ball forward from the midfield left goalscorer Nevitt in a simple sprint with the keeper for the loose ball 20 yards from goal. If Nevitt had won the race he would have been gifted the deliciously simple task of tapping home into an empty net for the second time in as many minutes. Much to the disappointment of every single soul in the home ends it was Darlow who won the race and hoofed the ball up-field. He almost made up for ruining the party there by presenting a goal on a silver platter in the 29th minute by dropping a regulation cross into prime tap-in range, but there was no-one in Tranmere white within 10yards to bury this golden opportunity.
Tranmere were then given even more encouragement to get at Newcastle as the match trundled over the half hour mark and towards the final 5 minutes of the half. Jamaal Lascelles had to take multiple trips to the bend during these 10 minutes of play to receive treatment for a recurring nosebleed, he even required a change of shirt on one occasion, leaving his team a player down in the meantime. Tranmere were unable to make use of the player advantage they now possessed though as Newcastle employed the age old tactic of ‘just keep the ball’ during this time without attacking or risking any silly mistakes.
The hosts were dealt a devastating blow to their chances of holding onto their lead in the 39th minute though when they were given foolish false hope by a Newcastle injury. Emil Krafth went down on halfway, I did not see the incident itself that caused this turn of events, but whatever happened to put him there it was clearly very serious. He left the pitch on a stretcher to a rousing round of applause from all corners of Prenton Park.
Whilst it is never nice to see any player leave the field this way and I wish him a speedy recovery, his removal from the action turned out to be a humongous boost to Newcastle’s chances of winning the match. As Krafth was taken down the tunnel for further medical treatment Eddie Howe had his most difficult decision of the match to make, who to send on in Krafth’s place. The man he chose was Kieran Trippier and the introduction of this insanely talented right-back irrevocably changed the trajectory of the match.
A young Tranmere fan came close to prophesizing the terror to come for the home team when he said “we cannot concede free-kick’s now or he will score from them”. The young lad was almost completely spot on as within a minute Newcastle would pull themselves level from a Trippier deal ball delivery. Sure the equaliser came from a corner on the right rather than the free-kick he took with his first touch of the ball. Both deliveries were floated up to the back post to be met by thunderous headers across the box and whilst the header from the free-kick was cleared off th
e line and away from danger the header from the corner was not. Instead it ricocheted off Hewelt and back out into the 6 yard box from where it was poked home by Newcastle captain, Jamaal Lascelles. It had taken less than a minute for Trippier’s incredible dead-ball delivery to claw his team back into the match.
From the restart the host’s Reece McAlear set off on a personal crusade to stamp them right back out of it. He drove himself on a mazy run through the Newcastle half, beating 3 players on his journey to the edge of the box before he was finally felled on the edge of the box. Even then he was straight back up on his feet and hustling to get the ball back, it’s just a shame he was having to do so without any support from his teammates. The nearest one was 15 yards away and could have made a statue look like it was sprinting faster than Usain Bolt.
This was the last major action of a first half that at times devolved into a turgid midfield slug-fest, but was also sprinkled with moments of supreme quality and a goal a-piece. If you had offered that deal to Tranmere fans before kick-off I’m sure many would have taken it and with the match going directly to penalties if the scores remained level till the end of the full 90 all the home fans needed now was a nice relaxing, uneventful second half to see them through to that particular lottery.
e line and away from danger the header from the corner was not. Instead it ricocheted off Hewelt and back out into the 6 yard box from where it was poked home by Newcastle captain, Jamaal Lascelles. It had taken less than a minute for Trippier’s incredible dead-ball delivery to claw his team back into the match.
From the restart the host’s Reece McAlear set off on a personal crusade to stamp them right back out of it. He drove himself on a mazy run through the Newcastle half, beating 3 players on his journey to the edge of the box before he was finally felled on the edge of the box. Even then he was straight back up on his feet and hustling to get the ball back, it’s just a shame he was having to do so without any support from his teammates. The nearest one was 15 yards away and could have made a statue look like it was sprinting faster than Usain Bolt.
This was the last major action of a first half that at times devolved into a turgid midfield slug-fest, but was also sprinkled with moments of supreme quality and a goal a-piece. If you had offered that deal to Tranmere fans before kick-off I’m sure many would have taken it and with the match going directly to penalties if the scores remained level till the end of the full 90 all the home fans needed now was a nice relaxing, uneventful second half to see them through to that particular lottery.
Perhaps Howe was thinking that they might make it to that lottery too as he decided to change things up in the visiting ranks at half-time by removing Matt Targett from the fray and replacing him with Jamal Lewis. The hosts were content to leave things in much the same state as they had finished the first, with Newcastle all over them and Trippier producing deliveries of exquisite quality from set pieces. It was from one of these set pieces that Newcastle would take the lead.
A high ball over the top down the right for Chris Wood to chase all the way to the by-line opened up the Rovers defence and it remained open when his cross, intended to flash through the corridor of uncertainty, was instead blocked behind. Trippier’s delivery into the 6-yard box was dropped on a dime on the goal line for the unmarked Wood to nod home and give the Magpies the lead in the 52nd minute. Why Wood was unmarked just inches out from goal is anyone’s guess? Whatever the reason for the lack of defensive attention on Wood was it served as a warning of how things would go for the hosts for the next 38 minutes of the match.
To give anyone a free header that close to the goal is foolish in the extreme but they beat that foolishness 2 minutes later when a mis-placed magpies pass in midfield gave them a free-kick just inside the opposition half. They took this gifted possession and rather than surge forward, they instead turned their backs to where they were meant to be shooting and sent the ball back to Hewelt.
The lack of the belief pervading the Rovers’ ranks was further telegraphed to everyone in the ground as the match ambled towards the hour mark. During the 5 minutes leading upto the hour Newcastle were a player light as Lascelles received treatment for a nosebleed, but instead of pressing home their man advantage Tranmere decided it was only fair to let Newcastle keep the ball till they were back up to full strength again. Whilst that may be excellent sportsmanship, it really isn’t what’s needed when you’re losing to a team from 3 divisions above you. Particularly when all you need is 1 goal to have a chance of winning the game and progressing to the next round of the competition.
Treatment of Lascelles nosebleed took so long that Tranmere were also able to break up the flow of the match with a substitution whilst he was attended too. Micky Mellon chose to replace Jon Nolan with Josh Hawkes for the final half hour. This change did little to unsettle Newcastle though as they were able to slip balls down the left channel for Willock to burst onto and bare down on the home goal.
First time round he was denied by Hewelt and the ball cleared upfield, but on the second try he managed to get the ball blocked behind for another corner that Trippier could launch into the box. Swinging it out to Anderson on the edge of the box he guided the ball through a corridor of home defenders to find his teammate. Anderson picked it up as lashed it goalward on the spin but his shot slipped past the left post by a couple of yards. It could’ve been a hat-trick of goals from corners if only the radar on the shot had been tuned in.
Not that Newcastle were cowed by this miss in the slightest as they were back in behind down the left channel again just minutes later. This time they decided to give Jacob Murphy a go at exploiting this clear vulnerability in the Rovers back line and he did a brilliant job of driving to the by-line before firing a ball across the corridor of uncertainty that was begging to be tapped home. It would have been too if any of his teammates had been in the box but only white shirts were in there and they were able to shovel it clear,
The visitors were now now swarming all over their hosts and it was only through the heroic goalkeeping of Hewelt that their defecit was kept to just one goal. The keeper kept Newcastle out with a string of spectacular last-ditch saves as the ball moved towards it’s 70th minute. Unfortunately for the hosts Kyle Jameson tried to take the pressure off his teammate in the 69th minute and picked up an injury whilst blocking a vicious Newcastle drive that saw him unable to continue. Jameson made his was off the pitch with the help of a physio supporting his weight either side to be replaced by Paul Lewis, cue huge groans from those around me. Apparently Lewis is not a favourite of the home faithful.
Howe chose to make the most of the break in play to make his 2nd and 3rd changes of the proceedings. Finally choosing to save Lascelles from further injury by replacing him with Sven Boatman and also deciding that Joe Willock had done his bit and could take a deserved rest for the final 20. The man Howe sent on in place of Willock was greeted with excitement from those around me as well as those in the visiting end as Joelinton was unleashed into the Wirral night time. A second of the Newcastle big stars was now coming out to play and with how much of a difference Tripper had made to the course of the game I waited with baited breath to see if Joelinton could have a similar impact.
He was not given a chance to show his talents in his first 5 minutes on the grass though as Darlow decided now was the perfect time to present the hosts a gilt-edged opportunity to level the scores. He shanked a goal kick into row Z off the stand behind him, but luckily for his team the hosts did not possess a Trippier of their own to deliver a telling ball. The corner was floating into the box where it was easily cleared away by the visiting defence.
Tranmere now had their heads up though and were applying real pressure to the visitors goal. They managed to find a raking ball forward to Nevitt on the right but the Newcastle defence were able to push him out wide and then knock his cross behind for a corner at the back post. From this corner Tranmere came as close to a goal as you can without actually scoring one when their header back across goal from the back close was hacked off the line by a defender, I was took focused on the tension of the chance itself to work out who was involved on either side.
Lewis then tried to get the equaliser for his team singled handed as the match entered it’s final 8 minutes. His tackle in midfield was timed perfectly and he sprung to his feet to drive forward into space on the right. The only problem with his attack was that eventually he ran out of room for a shot and had to cross the ball into a teammate to finish things off, at which point Newcastle were able to thump it clear. The visitors were back on the attack just a minute later though and things were going great until the ball headed across the box ended up directly down Darlow’s throat for a simple catch.
With 5 minutes to go Tranmere were in full attack mode and so when they lost the ball in the final 3rd Newcastle were able to turn and burn forward on the break. They were able to secure a corner which Trippier curled towards Boatman at the back post. His strike on goal was only kept out by more heroics from Hewelt as he kept his Rovers team in with a chance by keeping them within a single goal of their illustrious visitors. The joy from this save was dampened somewhat by Newcastle introducing Bruno Guimaraes off the bench for the final few minutes, in place of Elliot Anderson.
Just 2 minutes from the end of the 90 Newcastle were given another Trippier corner with which to finish off the host’s dogged resistance but once again Hewelt had other ideas. The delivery was sumptuous and Boatman was able to spin away from his marker without a problem but his shot was aimed for the gap between the keeper and the bar before the gap disappeared in a flash as Hewelt produced a fingertip save to send it over the top. He even followed this up with another excellent piece of keeping a minute later to punch the ball clear under the close attention of two Newcastle attackers with a defender blocking his way to the ball aswell.
This was the last action of the regulation 90 but the match was not yet over as the home fans rose in rapturous applause when the 4th official held up a board indicating 6 minutes of added time. They were unable to make any use of this time though as Newcastle played their game management hand with aplomb. The visitors even managed to have 3 players go down with cramp simultaneously in an effort to waste as much time as possible. Perhaps they were also trying out strategies for use when they were back down on the other side of the Mersey a week later, but what I do know is that they worked this time round.
Newcastle eked out a 2-1 win over their league 2 hosts and if Tranmere had just been able to deal slightly better with 2 corners they would have been leaving the Wirral with their tail between their legs. Tranmere were well disciplined in defence and if they’d been a little more committed to their attacks during the match they could easily have scored a second goal. For crying out loud they didn’t even send their keeper up for a last second corner in added time. The hosts laxity from corners and the cultured dead ball deliveries from the boots of Kieran Tripper proved to be the difference betwen the teams and the reason Newcastle United will be progressing to the third round draw, where the regional restrictions are lifted and the tournament goes truly national.
Newcastle were drawn at home to Crystal Palace, so enjoy the long journey north Palace fans, as Tranmere have just 2 moments of defensive laxity to blame for missing out on another chance at a Premier League giant killing. My beloved Brentford for their part have a home tie against 4th tier Gillingham to prepare for.
As I finish off this blog I am looking out of a hotel window on the Tangerine’s famous promenade, in a city most famous for it’s incredible ballroom that is the spiritual home of ballroom dancing. Consequently I will not be able to soak in the atmosphere of the Merseyside derby at Goodison park and other commitments mean that I will not be back in the stands again until Sunday 18th September. My return to live football will be for a rematch of Brentford’s first game in the Premier League, the match that inspired me to start this blog.
I will be bringing you a blog in the meantime though as I was able to catch Erling Haaland’s masterclass in footballing genius at the Etihad in midweek. Nottingham Forest were there too but by the end of their pummelling I’m sure they wished they were anywhere else. See you for that blog soon.
The Football tourist 