Parry’s pride at Rovers performance despite defeat

Jan 3 2012 Liverpool Daily Post

LES Parry reflected with pride on a performance which saw his Tranmere Rovers side come agonisingly close to snatching a draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

A disastrous start saw Rovers fall 2-0 behind after just seven minutes at Hillsborough, where the Owls are yet to taste defeat in League One all season.

A dramatic improvement in the second half from Tranmere saw Ian Goodison’s header half the deficit – but a second goal eluded the visitors as they went down 2-1.

Rovers boss Parry said: “I thought our lads were magnificent to be quite honest. In the second half, they showed character. They could easily have wilted. It’s a big crowd, it’s an intimidating atmosphere to play in. But we knew if we got a goal, then the crowd would turn, which they did. Full marks to our lads.”

Parry was left to rue his team’s sloppy start, which saw Reda Johnson net after just 90 seconds before Chris Lines made it 2-0 in the seventh minute.

“I’d have settled for 10-0 after five minutes,” said Parry. “We just kept gifting them the chances. We kept gifting them the ball in poor areas. You never score 100% of chances but they easily could have got a couple more in that period. I just wanted to get to half time to have a chat with the lads.”

Parry revealed that Rovers had reached an agreement with Leeds United to extend goalkeeper Paul Rachubka’s loan deal by another month. The Tranmere manager will also speak to Everton boss David Moyes this week to discuss the future of Jose Baxter, whose loan deal runs out after the next match.

Playmaker Andy Robinson missed yesterday’s game after suffering a bout of food poisoning.