From the Archive | Knocking Tranmere for Six

As far as nightmare returns go, things don’t get much worse than Micky Mellon’s first visit back to the Croud Meadow back in 2018.  

Mellon was back on the sidelines at the Meadow for the first time since leaving the club for Tranmere in 2016 when his Rovers side visited in the first round of the Football League Trophy.  

Despite the eventual scoreline, Tranmere made the more positive start of the two teams, with Larnell Cole forcing a great save out of Steve Arnold inside the opening five minutes.  

That would be as good as it would get for the visitors, though, with Lenell John-Lewis opening the scoring in the 11th minute, driving a low-effort past Patrick Wharton after some brilliant work from Greg Docherty.  

Docherty would then add his own name to the scoresheet seven minutes later, smashing the ball into the top corner following a pullback from Fejiri Okenabirhie.  

The midfield was also involved in the third goal, with Wharton fumbling a free-kick at the near-post, allowing Omar Beckles to tap home in the 23rd minute.  

Town were not going to rest on their laurels in the second half, with Okenabirhie latching onto a poor back pass from Gilmour in the 55th minute before placing the ball in the bottom corner from the edge of the box.  

He would grab his second of the evening in the 74th minute, firing another low-effort through Wharton’s hands.

The striker would complete his hattrick in stoppage time, smashing home a delightful half-volley after being teed up by Amadi-Holloway.