Wrexham Youth 2
Tranmere Rovers Youth 0
Football League Youth Alliance (North West Conference)

Match Report

The young Dragons made it four points out of six with a well-merited 2-0 victory over old foes Tranmere Rovers at Colliers Park. Steve Cooper’s side got off to the perfect start with a goal inside the opening three minutes. Tom Matischok’s deep cross from the left caused problems for the Rovers defence and Luke Carding’s right-foot shot from 16 yards out forced the keeper to a full-length save diving to his right. Matty Hurdman’s deep corner caused even more problems and this time Carding’s left-foot volley was superbly turned over the bar for another corner by the alert keeper. Though impressing with the two smart saves the keeper then had a moment he’d quickly like to forget, as he somehow punched Hurdman’s second corner into his own net under no real pressure to gift the Dragons the lead.

As the tackles from both sides began to fly in a competitive encounter, first half chances were at a premium though it needed a superb recovery tackle by Lee Jones to deny Tranmere a certain equaliser when a visiting forward beat Chris Maxwell to a bouncing ball just outside the penalty area. The second period saw the visitors enjoy the greater possession, though it was the Dragons that always looked the more likely side to score. Victory was clinched in the last minute when substitute Obi Anoruo was brought down in the box, and he dispatched the spot kick confidently to the keeper’s left.

“It was a good result, and a steady performance,” said Steve Cooper after the game. “We were hanging on a bit at the end but we should already have put the game to bed by then. We now need to go into the next game against Wigan with the same mentality.”