Orient’s indifferent form continued as an apathetic display on The Wirral almost cost the club a place in the velvet bag for the Second Round draw. The Londoners were indebted to another fine display from the resurgent Glenn Morris, who made two superb saves to deny the home side.
It had all started so promisingly for Geraint Williams’ men, who were ahead after jest seven minutes; Luke Ashworth scoring his first professional goal with an excellent glancing header from Sean Thornton’s corner. Tranmere, seemingly still reeling from the farcical Barnes era, couldn’t string two passes together, and with the hopeless Michael Ricketts up front things couldn’t go wrong for the O’s, could they? Well yes, obviously they could.
Having carved out an advantage, Orient did their usual plethora of tricks including: not creating anything, not keeping possession, not tracking their runners and frankly not looking interested. Being shorn of Tam Mkandawire, Andros Townsend and Luke Summerfield wasn’t exactly useful for continuity’s sake after the decent performance against Southampton, but it was a showing devoid of cohesion. Orient were poor all over the park, and a better side than Tranmere would have punished them more severely.
As it was, Tranmere had two fantastic chances to level things up before the break, with both of them falling to perennial thron in Orient’s side, Chris Shuker. On both occasions he was allowed to waltz unchallenged into the area and take a pot shot at goal. On the first occasion he hit a shot low to Morris’ left which the stopper athletically pushed away. It was a brilliant save, and luckily for Orient, lumbering clown Ricketts sliced the follow up out for a throw in. The second chance was perhaps even more clear cut but Shuker shot straight at Morris who had done well to close the angle down.
Orient had a chance of their own before the break, as Luke Ashworth almost managed to score a carbon copy of his opener, but saw his header flash wide of Luke Daniels’ near post. Despite taking the lead, Orient had been second best to a poor Tranmere team throughout the half. It was a worrying trend that continued through most of the second period as well.
The equaliser was as dreadful as it was inevitable, with dangerman Shuker (frankly, the only player in either side’s front six who looked like a League One quality player) afforded space in the box to curl an attempt at goal. Was it going high or wide or in? Who knows. What it did do was take two deflections – the last coming off the much-reviled (on The Wirral at least) Sean Thornton – and squirm past Morris.
It was a goal that went nicely with the soft set piece goal Rovers had conceded and the match in general, which was one of the worst spectacles I’ve had the displeasure to witness in 17 years of watching Orient. The lack of invention in the final third from both teams was shocking, and will no doubt be a defining reason why we’ll be scrapping it out in the bottom eight come the end of the season. Orient desperately missed Andros Townsend’s pace and trickery, and worryingly for Tranmere, a quick scan of their unavailable list shows moonwalking ex-Brighton muppet Bas Savage as their impact player to return (and he may not be available until March).
That said, as far as this game was concerned, there was only one side who could have won it. Two minutes after the equaliser, Craig Curran’s overhead kick forced Morris into a stunning reaction save. He then had to tip a dangerous looping ball over the bar, before watching another Curran volley sail narrowly over. Dreadful attacking play saw the away side limited to a couple of pathetic long range efforts late on, neither of which would have troubled Stevie Wonder. Speaking of Wonders, I wonder why I went to the game (to go drinking with a few Scouse mates, as it goes) and I wonder why I’m going to bother watching these two clueless sides face each other twice in the coming weeks. Would ‘blind optimism’ be too bad a pun? It can’t be any worse than what the comedians on the pitch came up with…
Player Ratings
Glenn Morris 8
Made two class saves, and unfortunate for the goal. Kicking and handling were impeccable, but didn’t really have much else to do other than collect Tranmere’s useless throughballs.
Stephen Purches 5
Struggled with Shuker on the odd occasion, though the Rovers forward did most of his good work roving further infield. Offered nothing in the opposition half.
Charlie Daniels 6
Got forward to decent effect early on, and was defensively sound. One horrible mistake in giving away possession, but generally adequate.
Ben Chorley 6
Solid enough on his return to Prenton Park, but Curran and Ricketts were so poor he didn’t really have much to do. Shuker’s best moments came in his channel, though.
Luke Ashworth 6
As with Chorley, he didn’t have too many difficult moments, though Ricketts general obesity caused him some problems. Nicely taken goal.
Jimmy Smith 6
His best game in a while; the usual reasonable effort in defence, and he actually put his foot on the ball on occasions. Offered little in the way of incisiveness, though.
Jason Demetriou 3
A feckless, anonymous performance from Demetriou who did all his decent work in the right back area. Clearly better suited to either the left hand side or as an attacking midfielder, but that’s no excuse for playing like you don’t even care.
Sean Thornton 4
Was he affected by the constant boos from the home fans, or simply by a lack of match fitness? Hard to say, but he produced very few moments of quality. Our set pieces are notably improved by his delivery, though.
Scott McGleish 4
Hardly in the game at all. Provided with absolutely no service, and clearly didn’t enjoy playing alongside a selfish strike partner.
Adrian Patulea 2
Utterly abysmal. Didn’t hold the ball up, didn’t work hard enough and flatly refused to pass when others were in better positions. With Jarvis and Scowcroft proving equally ineffectual, we’re in trouble up top…
Loick Pires 3
Well, I don’t like tearing into youngsters who are still learning the game, so I won’t. He got a 3. Um. Yep.
Ryan Jarvis 4
Came on, ran around a lot, didn’t do anything, same old same old. And still the best option alongside Scotty. Oh dear…
