Tranmere Rovers
Rovers Retain Masters Title
By Matthew Jones
July 4 2010
Tranmere Rovers' Masters team tonight retained their regional title for the third successive year
Tranmere Rovers' old boys were once again in sparkling form tonight as they won the Mersey Masters title for the third successive year, maintaining their record as the only side to win the title.
The side again qualified for the National Finals, this year to be held in Birmingham, where they will be aiming to defend their title as National Champions after they won the crown at the Echo Arena last September.
Tonight's competition saw Tranmere name an eight man squad that for the first time didn't include defender John McGreal or Ian Nolan, with Georges Santos and Paul Cook replacing the pair in the squad. Ian Muir was also absent from Tarnmere's title winning side from September as squad numbers were reduced from nine players by one.
In full, then Tranmere's squad was:
1. John Achterberg (GK)
2. Georges Santos
3. Ged Brannon
4. Eddie Bishop
5. Paul Cook
6. Stuart Barlow (C)
7. Shaun Garnett
8. Kenny Irons
Over the evening, those eight players were in sparkling form, as they beat off competition firstly from Preston North End and Blackpool, both making their debut in the competition, and then a vastly improved Wigan Athletic in the final, after the Latics had beaten off competition from Everton and Liverpool, who included former Tranmere striker and manager John Aldridge in their squad.
A new format for the competition saw six teams take part in the competition instead of four. There were two groups of three teams, with the winner from each group progressing to the regional final at the end of the evening.
In group 1, Wigan finished winners after picking up four points thanks to a win over Everton and a draw with Liverpool, and with Everton beating Liverpool, it meant to Toffee's finished second, with Liverpool bottom of the group.
Group 2, in which Tranmere were drawn, started with a huge grudge match between debutants Blackpool and Preston, with Blackpool winning the match against their local rivals 3-2.
Next up in the group were Tranmere, and they continued their form from 2009 as Kenny Irons, Georges Santos, Eddie Bishop (x2) and Ged Brannon scored the goal in a 5-1 mauling for Rovers against Preston, who were therfore eliminated from the group.
Blackpool's narrow win over Preston meant that Tranmere now only needed to draw against the Tangerines in order to qualify for the final against Wigan.
Rovers however went one step further and picked up a win against Blackpool, though they had to do it the hard way, coming from 2-1 down to beat the Tangerines 3-2, with goals coming from, yet again, Ged Brannon and Kenny Irons, who netted twice.
It was a narrow win for Tranmere then, but they saved the best for last as the old boys stepped up a gear in order to beat an impressive Wigan side heavily in the final.
An almost faultless display saw Tranmere put in a superb display in the 16 minute match, despite having had less rest time than their opponents, as Bishop and Cook scored alongside Brannon and Irons, who scored in every match of the tournament, as Rovers went on to win 4-1.
Tranmere scored what was without their best goal of the night in this match too, as after a patient build up, Paul Cook clevely flicked the ball over the Wigan defender on the right, with the ball dropping perfectly for Kenny Irons to hit the ball home on the half volley from a tight angle.
Just minutes after the final whistle, Stuart Barlow then picked up the Mersey Masters trophy for the third year in succession, as Tranmere extended their unbeaten run in Masters football to ten matches.
It was a superb display by Tranmere, as their beautiful, effortless, patient passing game, consistent throughout all their appearances in Masters football since 2008, saw them grind teams down and then strike when openings came in the oppositions defence.
Kenny Irons was once again the orchestrator, as the Tranmere legend scored in every match and showed that he still has excellent vision and a brilliant touch to go with it.
Tranmere were, quite simply, the best team in the competition and thoroughly deserved the title. They were well organised and had goals and talent throughout the team.
The icing on the cake of an excellent evening for Tranmere was Ged Brannon being awarded the player of tournament award for the night.
Tranmere now move into the tournament's Grand Final for the third successive season, which will take place in Birmingham on September 5th.
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04/07/2010 22:42
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Bring on the National Final on 5th September!
other than that it was a brilliant night
05/07/2010 19:09
Maybe Rovers should give up playing 11 a side and just play this instead!
Why is the current team not coached to play like the Masters team? I.e. keep the ball!
Quote:SWA
How do people have a fight at a Masters match? bunch of pond life retards.
Maybe Rovers should give up playing 11 a side and just play this instead!
Why is the current team not coached to play like the Masters team? I.e. keep the ball!
THought that a long time ago. That, IMO, is what Barnes would want.
CAn be done in training What do@#$%&teams do in training ?
05/07/2010 23:20
Passing and keeping the ball would be nice though - it's the easiest way to defend too!
