Parry’s legacy – a team with spine and spirit

Nov 9 2009 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Echo

IF Tranmere had found the elusive knack of converting solid performances into results over the last five games, then Les Parry would have built a compelling case for being given permanent control of team affairs at Prenton Park.

They would also be safely through to the second round of the FA Cup, instead of facing another battle with Leyton Orient in a replay at Brisbane Road tomorrow week.

The bare statistics from the month of matches in which Parry and coaches Shaun Garnett and Wayne Allison have been in temporary charge do not indicate a strong turnaround in form. At a glance, they might not impress the casual observer.

But those dedicated followers who took the trouble to watch the games against Stockport, Brighton, Hartlepool, Swindon and Orient, not to mention the two months of matches that went before, know the full story.

They understand that should the caretaker regime hand over to someone else this week, they will be passing on a team in much better shape than they found it back on October 9.

Parry, Garnett and Allison have drawn four robust and competitive displays – plus one poor show against Swindon – out of the side that lost regularly and often heavily under John Barnes.

They have done a job that any experienced manager would have cause to take pride in.

They have built some spine and spirit into the team, a spirit Rovers will need to break out of the relegation zone over the final two thirds of the season.

Whoever takes Tranmere forward will have to find some of those extra ingredients that turn good work into tangible results.

Rovers had Orient on the back foot for more than threequarters of Saturday's first round tie and deserved to win it. The Londoners survived thanks to several smart saves from goalkeeper Glenn Morris and a slice or two of luck.

Manager Geraint Williams admitted: "We were fortunate to be in the draw for the second round. Hopefully we will learn something from this game and be better for it when we meet Tranmere again."

Parry responded to the below par performance against Swindon by making changes in defence, midfield and attack.

He gave Ash Taylor a start at the heart of the the back four, at the expense of Marlon Broomes and was rewarded with a forceful performance from the youngster.

He recalled Alan Mahon to the centre of midfield in place of Paul McLaren and saw the Irishman show flashes of his old fire.

Parry gave Chris Shuker a full 90 minutes to expand on the 30 minute cameo he played against Swindon. Shuker emerged as the most threatening attacking player on either side, putting himself on the end of a couple of clear-cut chances before striking Tranmere's 51st minute equaliser via a couple of deflections.

Shuker had to share the man-of-the-match champagne with Craig Curran, who harried Orient's defence with boundless energy and came closer than anyone to notching a winning goal for the home side.

Tranmere also came through an important psychological test early in the game. Going behind to a seventh minute goal by young Orient defender Luke Ashworth, Rovers had to show they could handle a set back and show more strength of character than they mustered against Swindon the previous week.

Ashworth was left unmarked to head in a left wing corner by Shaun Thornton at the near post. But Tranmere's response was to seize control of the game to such an extent that the visitors were not able to pose a sustained threat to Luke Daniels' goal until the last few minutes.

Shuker's ability to make a well timed run into space saw him take Curran's 16th minute pass and drive a low shot that Morris pushed out at full stretch. The loose ball just eluded Michael Ricketts as the big striker attempted to follow-up.

Three minutes later Ricketts looked to be hauled down manually by a red shirted defender as he attempted to reach a cross from Shuker, prompting vehement penalty appeals from the home side that were turn down by referee Oliver Langford.

When Shuker found another path into the box from Ricketts' knock down, his attempt to curl the ball into the far corner was too close to Morris, who made a catch.

Shuker's luck turned six minutes into the second half when he took a return pass from Mahon and drove in a fierce, low shot from a dozen yards that took deflections of Stephen Purches and Thornton before finishing in the back of the net.

The equaliser fired Rovers into a flurry of attacks. When Rickettsknocked down a header into the box on 53 minutes, Curran's scissor-kick from eight yards was clawed out by Morris. A minute later Ricketts' deflected header was nudged over the bar by the keeper.

Even though Rovers continued to dominate, they could not find the penetration to make another clearcut chance. The last half-hour was something of an anticlimax.

TRANMERE: L Daniels, Logan, Taylor, Goodison, Bakayogo, Edds, Welsh, Mahon, Shuker, Ricketts, Curran. Subs not used: Collister, Cresswell, McLaren, Broomes, Thomas-Moore, Gornell, Fraughan.

Booked: Logan.

LEYTON ORIENT: Morris, Purches, Chorley, Ashworth, C Daniels, Thornton, Demetriou, Smith, Pires, McLeish, Patulea (Jarvis 67). Subs not used: Jones, Jarvis, Cave-Brown, Baker, Scowcroft, Beautyman.

Booked: Chorley, Simth.

REFEREE: Oliver Langford, West Midlands.

ATTENDANCE: 3,180.