Dragons blast Tranmere Rovers out of FA Trophy

Wrexham.......................4

PRESSURE is mounting on Gary Brabin after his Tranmere side suffered the indignity of a ruthless 4-2 reversal at the hands of rivals Wrexham in the FA Trophy first Round at Prenton Park.

Wes York gave the Dragons an early lead and Dominic Vose doubled their advantage before James Norwood pulled one back for Rovers on the stroke of half time.

For Rovers it was their eighth defeat in 12 games.

Adam Mekki in action for Tranmere Rovers during their FA Trophy first round clash with Wrexham at Prenton Park. Picture: Richard Ault. 

Second half goals from Emmanuel Smith and Sean Newton rendered Norwood’s second goal of the afternoon academic as the Birkenhead side were dumped out in the first round of the competition, as they were by Lincoln in the FA Cup.

The visitors took the lead in the fourth minute when Vose broke free down the left hand side and squared a ball for York, who’s shot hit the post and a sliding Liam Ridehalgh before settling in the net.

Action from Tranmere Rovers' FA Trophy first round clash with Wrexham. Picture: Richard Ault. 

Rovers nearly drew level five minutes later when Norwood forced a smart save out of Rhys Taylor before the Dragons’ stopper denied Adam Mekki on the rebound.

Rovers settled into the game with Ben Tomlinson shooting over on quarter of an hour, after good work from Jake Kirby.

Taylor had to be alert to save a header from Lois Maynard in the 25th minute as Tranmere continued to dominate the play.

Mekki looked certain to score a minute later when Ridehalgh’s in-swinging free kick reached the far post but Taylor somehow punched it away.

The incident resulted in Mekki receiving treatment after he collided with the post.

On the ball for Tranmere Rovers during their FA Trophy first round clash with Wrexham. Picture: Richard Ault. 

On his swift return to the field, Mekki then tried his luck with a curling right foot shot but the imperious Taylor flicked it round the post for a corner.

As the rain lashed down, a succession of tasty challenges eventually resulted in a caution for Wrexham’s Sean Newton after he unceremoniously upended Lee Vaughan.

Mekki – involved in everything – found himself clean through five minutes before the break but his first touch was poor and it allowed Smith to make a recovering block.

Adam Mekki on the ball for Tranmere Rovers during their FA Trophy first round clash with Wrexham. Picture: Richard Ault.

But against the run of play, Tranmere’s fragility was exposed when Wrexham went two up thanks to a superb curling shot from Vose on the edge of the box, sending the visitors into delirium.

On the stroke of half time however, Norwood threw Gary Brabin’s men a lifeline after Maynard held the ball up in the penalty area for the former Forest Green striker to smash the ball home.

After the break, Mekki was at it again, this time sending a 25-yard shot just over the bar.

Wrexham responded through substitute Mark Carrington but his 20-yard strike was into the mid-drift of Scott Davies.

The industrious York then fired a long-range effort just wide of the post as the Welsh side looked to ease the flow of Tranmere pressure.

 Andy Mangan and Adam Mekki on the pitch for Tranmere Rovers during their FA Trophy first round clash with Wrexham on Saturday. Picture: Richard Ault.

And on the hour they did just that as Newton extended the visitors lead in front of their ecstatic supporters.

Ross White whipped a brilliant ball in for Newton who hit the post before recovering to smash the ball into an empty net.

“You’re getting sacked in the morning,” sang the visiting supporters, before chants of: “We want Brabin out” could be heard from a section of fans on the Kop.

With Rovers reeling, Davies had to be on hand to tip a Vose shot wide before James Gray fired over the bar.

But things rapidly got worse for Brabin minutes later when the Dragons extended their lead through Smith, who headed home from a corner.

Adam Mekki during Tranmere Rovers' FA Trophy first round clash with Wrexham. Picture: Richard Ault.

Brabin introduced Adam Dawson and Andy Mangan as Rovers looked to desperately salvage something from the match.

Mangan cannoned a free kick against the legs of Taylor before Taylor forced another save out of the excellent Wrexham goalkeeper.

With eight minutes to play Norwood pulled one back for Rovers; cutting in from the left, before executing a right foot finish.

It was too little too late however, as Wrexham advanced to the second round leaving the patience of the Prenton Park faithful wearing ever thinner.

Action from Tranmere Rovers' FA Trophy first round clash with Wrexham. Picture: Richard Ault. 

Brabin said: “Obviously we’re conceding goals, which is alarming. A couple of weeks ago we were fighting to score goals but we still had the second best defensive record in the league and of late we’re conceding goals far too easy.

“I don’t think anyone’s come here and ‘footballed us’, working hard to the get the chances. It is alarming the goals we’re conceding at the moment. Take away the score line, first half we’ve played some good stuff with good chances again and then we find ourselves two nil down.

“I said at half time, I think we can go on and win this, I genuinely believed we could do that. We needed to react better to the silly goals we conceded in the first half. I always felt like we had another goal in us but unfortunately we’ve conceded another two bad goals."

Tranmere Rovers' manager Gary Brabin (back, left) watches his squad in action against Wrexham. Picture: Richard Ault

Brabin continued: “I’m not really taking any plusses from today.

"There’s a big responsibility that we need to meet head on. We need to start winning games. At the moment we feel like everything is against us. We need to just roll our sleeves up and keep battling on and working hard and believe we can tighten things up at the back.

“I always knew it was going to be hard for the club coming into this league and everyone expects to jump straight back up but it’s a tough league.

“Our opposition today can vouch for that. Their fans have accepted it now and have started to enjoy their football again and I think that helps in terms of wanting to progress and get forward.

“I understand the frustration because the results haven’t been good enough of late. I’m not going to hide behind that. We’ve got reasons and it’s something that we’ve got to put right quickly.

‘The chairman loves the club. He’s got it at heart. He feels the frustration. I probably feel like I’m letting him down because he wants life to be a little bit easier than it is at the moment.”

Match Stats:

Tranmere Rovers: 2 Norwood 45+3, Norwood 82

Wrexham: 4 York 4, Vose 44, Newton 60, Smith 66

Half time: 1-2

Star man: James Norwood

Attendance: 3,397

Entertainment: 4/5

Ref rating: Tom Neild (8/10)

Tranmere (4-4-2): Davies player rating 6; Vaughan 6, Ihiekwe 6, McNulty 5, Ridehalgh 5; Tomlinson 6 (Mangan 69, 6), Jennings 5, Maynard 6, Kirby 6 (Dawson 69, 6 (Sutton 90, NA)); Mekki 7, Norwood 7.

Subs not used: Rutter, Gumbs

Wrexham (5-4-1): Taylor player rating 8; White 8, Smith 6, Hudson 6, Fyfield 6, Newton 7; York 7 (O’Brien 80, 6), Moke 5 (Carrington 6, 34), Vose 8, Jennings 7; Gray 6 (Cofie 70, 6).

Subs not used: Evans, Caton