Tranmere R 1 - 4 Swindon T

    Shuker 78                                      Paynter 34 and 39

                                                         McNamee 65

                                                         Ferry 90 (+1)

             Attendance: 5,811

On the day of Tranmere Rovers' 125^th year anniversary, Swindon were the visitors and they ran riot with a 4-1 victory.  The Tranmere legends who paraded the pitch pre-match will have preferred to think of better times in the clubs history on Saturday.

Caretaker manager Les Parry made one change to the side that lost away at Hartlepool last week with Michael Ricketts coming in upfront in place of Terry Gornell.  So the team looked like this:

Martin

Logan, Broomes, Goodison, Bakayogo

Edds, Welsh, McLaren

Curran, Ricketts, Thomas-Moore

The game started openly with Billy Paynter scuffing a shot at Martin early on whilst Ricketts was creating openings for Thomas-Moore and Edds for Rovers.

From a McLaren corner Ian Goodison's header had to be turned around the post and Curran had a volley well saved by Lucas from the next corner.

After Welsh was fouled, McLaren curled a free kick around the wall and Lucas had to parry the ball wide.  Ricketts laid the ball off for Edds whose powerful volley was surprisingly well held by Lucas as Rovers dominated the opening period of the game.

Timlin fired over for Swindon and soon after the visitors took the lead when McGovern swung a cross in from the right and the keeper and defence failed to react, allowing Billy Paynter to net from close range.

Billy Paynter Scored Twice Against Rovers Yet Again

Rovers looked like they should have had a penalty moments later when Curran's run was blocked off by the defender.

However soon after that incident, Swindon doubled their lead.  Bakayogo failed to clear the ball and Amankwaah sped down the right and swung a cross for that man Billy Paynter again who directed the ball in with a side footed volley.

Paynter threatened a first half hat rick, but the visitors were happy to go in at 2-0 at half time.

Half Time: Tranmere Rovers 0 - 2 Swindon Town

Within a few minutes of the half beginning, Billy Paynter was again clean through, only for Ian Goodison to produce a superb hook tackle to claim the ball and keep the score down.

The hit man Paynter then smashed the post with a long range effort and had a head cleared off the line as Swindon continued to dominate.

Chris Shuker came on for the disappointing Paul McLaren and he injected some energy into a lethargic looking Rovers side.

However, it was 3-0 soon after when Anthony McNamee netted from the edge of the box.  Terry Gornell then replaced Michael Ricketts.

Substitute Chris Shuker Netted a Consolation for Rovers

At last Rovers gave the home fans something to shout about when a Bakayogo throw was flicked on by Goodison and headed in by the substitute Chris Shuker at the back post.

There was still time for one of the funniest moments seen at Rovers in recent years to occur when Ian Goodison appeared to have put the ball down for the corner kick taker Shuker. But in fact he had touched it and in effect already taken it.  The Swindon players were eventually onto it and charged it down an although Goodison panicked he did end up beating the two defenders and getting a cross in.

Welsh then fired over for Rovers who had slightly improved before Swindon added a fourth with the Tranmere defence asleep as Simon Ferry scored from a short corner.

Full Time: Tranmere Rovers 1 - 4 Swindon Town

Chris Shuker

Unusual for a substitute to get the award, but it was that bad that the half hour Shuker was on the field he did more than anyone else did in the whole 90.  He showed energy and audacity that became common in his early years at the club.

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