THE supposed magic of the FA Cup may have been largely conspicuous by its absence, but at least Tranmere survived to fight another day in the competition after earning a replay with Leyton Orient.

Having squandered a couple of fairly simple chances in the first half, Chris Shuker finally made Orient pay at the start of the second period with an equaliser that deflected off a couple of visiting defenders before finding its way past Glenn Morris.

The strike, which cancelled out Luke Ashworth’s 7th minute opener, was enough to earn Rovers a replay at Brisbane Road and a potential home tie with Aldershot Town in the second round.

A break from the woes of league action was certainly welcome, and Rovers made improvements in some areas in a fairly dull and uninspiring encounter.

After a pathetic performance against Swindon, caretaker manager Les Parry swung the axe to make four changes, Shuker, Alan Mahon, Ash Taylor and Luke Daniels replacing captain Ian Thomas-Moore, Paul McLaren, Marlon Broomes and David Martin, and the recalled quartet certainly made an impact.

The biggest winner on the day was probably teenage centre-half Taylor, who produced an accomplished performance alongside Ian Goodison that should place him ahead of Broomes in the pecking order, while the goalscorer Shuker also looked sharper than in recent weeks.

In general, however, Rovers still have strides to make, both going forward and defensively.

Despite boasting seven strikers on the books, goals are still proving frustratingly hard to come by, particularly with chances at a premium and those that are being created going begging.

Here, it was Craig Curran and Michael Ricketts who were given the chance to shine, and neither truly grabbed their opportunity.

Curran, who always catches the eye with his endeavour, again worked tirelessly and could have given Rovers the lead immediately after Shuker’s equaliser with a point-blank volley that Morris saved, but in general the youngster has yet to make a real impact in front of goal.

His strike partner Ricketts had loud appeals for a penalty waved away and also went close twice, in the first half when just failing to finish the rebound from a Morris save, and in the second when his effort was tipped over the bar, but otherwise found chances at a premium.

Instead, the home side’s principal threat came from Shuker, who twice should have done much better after slicing his way through the Orient defence before shooting fairly tamely at the goalkeeper.

At the other end, Rovers were much better defensively, but still made an elementary mistake that proved costly.

Orient won a corner in the early exchanges, former Rovers youngster and pantomime villain Sean Thornton swung his cross towards the near post, and Luke Ashworth headed home for the simplest of openers.

Conceding goals like this is simply unacceptable, and Rovers must tighten up if they are to make progress. How Les Parry must wish for a player like Ben Chorley, who returned to Prenton Park for the first time after departing in the summer and produced an effective, no-nonsense performance at the heart of the Orient defence.

With three away games coming up, the new manager, whoever he may be, could well be in for a baptism of fire.

Globe Man of the Match: Ash Taylor – stood out in defence.

Tranmere: Daniels, Logan, Bakayogo, Goodison, Taylor, Edds, Welsh, Mahon, Shuker, Ricketts, Curran.