The Wirral outfit were simply too strong this morning for David Wilkes' United youth side who were clearly showing signs of fatigue after their FA Youth Cup exploits against Macclesfield on Wednesday night.
Injuries didn’t help the Carlisle cause either as Martin Graham had to be left out of the first eleven after picking up a knock against the Silkmen, James Earl was carrying an injury and left-back Matthew Blake had to be substituted after 41 minutes with a leg problem.
Infact it only took Rovers three minutes to make their first chance and sixty seconds longer to open the scoring. A long ball was played up by the Tranmere left-back which Jamie Garry flicked on in into the path of the right-midfielder who ran into the box but then toe-poked wide of the near-post from six yards out.
With their next move Rovers gained themselves a penalty when Michael Jones held the ball up well before laying a back-heel to the onrushing left-back who made his way into the Carlisle area before having his heels clipped by United centre-half Matty Bell.
The referee pointed immediately to the spot and Jones made no mistake with the penalty as he side-footed powerfully home into the bottom corner past Blues keeper Adam Douglas.
It was never the greatest of games as a strong wind, bobbly pitch and grass the length of Bob Marley’s dreadlocks all made the ball difficult to control with both sides seeming to give possession to each other and back again.
On 21 minutes Rovers’ Garry cut in from the left and tried a speculative effort from just outside the United box but it flew well wide of the target.
Just before the half-hour mark Tranmere’s number six hit a good ball down the right channel to Jones, but stand-in United right-back Ashley Combe tracked across well to clear the danger.
Two minutes later and it was Jones again who was in the thick of the action. The young centre-forward touched the ball off inside to the number eight but his powerful effort from 20 yards out was well held by the diving Bradley.
After 33 minutes United finally had their first sniff of a goal as Blake hurled a long throw into the box which Dan Kirkup flicked on at the near-post but the ball was headed away for a corner which came to nothing.
The away side doubled their lead four minutes later through Garry from a scrappy effort. The young striker spread play out to the right side and the number seven crossed in to the far-post where the ball was part cleared to Combe back from whence it came. The cross came in again and once more it was Combe defending resolutely who headed the ball out for a corner.
The flag-kick was swung in nicely by the Rovers number eleven and it ended up as a game of pinball after Bell had attempted to boot clear for United. Eventually the ball dropped to Garry who was in the right place at the right time to turn and blast it home from close-range.
On 41 minutes an already injury-stretched United were forced to make their first substitution of the game. Ten minutes earlier Blake had received lengthy treatment from Carlisle physiotherapist Geoff Haugh and the young left-back was unable to shake off the knock as he hobbled off the pitch.
A minute on and it was Tranmere again who were pressing the United back-line. A useful ball forward from the left-back into the Carlisle box was flicked towards goal by Garry but Bradley easily saved the effort low down at his far-post.
Just as the referee was about to whistle for half-time Rovers almost went three goals ahead. Jones and the number six worked a short corner well from which the midfielder cut in and a powerful right-foot drive across goal. Fortunately for United Bell was strong under pressure and managed to clear the ball away from the back-stick.
It had been a tough first half for the young Blues who had continually struggled to make any impression going forward against a very physical and organised Tranmere back four.
Five minutes after the interval and Rovers were again pushing forward. Their number eight turned excellently on the edge of the box and then tried a curler with the outside of his right boot. The shot drifted just over the United bar but it was a great individual effort on goal.
Shortly afterwards it was the turn of the number eleven to have a shot on the United goal as he cut in from the left with pace, his well-struck effort was always going wide though to the relief of Carlisle keeper Bradley.
Earl was then the latest United player to go off injured as he wandered disappointedly from the pitch to be replaced by fellow central midfielder Shaun Vipond.
On 57 minutes Tranmere nearly, and should have, gone further ahead. Garry ran across the edge of the United box and hit a powerful drive which was well parried by Bradley. Jones running in on the rebound will have been sorely disappointed to hit his effort straight into the ground, that gave Bradley the chance to get his hand to it and Bell mopped up as he punted upfield for the Blues.
Bang on the hour mark the Tranmere substitute number fifteen received a booking for a very poor challenge on Andy Hardman. The referee seemed to have already blown his whistle for a foul on Bell when the Rovers player dived into a bad tackle as the ball broke to Hardman. In a first-team game the youngster would probably have seen red after earlier getting involved in a spat with Kirkup and later on as he kicked the ball away at a United free-kick.
Three minutes later and Bradley made a brilliant save for Carlisle to keep the deficit down to two goals. Tranmere substitute John Corrigan played a great ball through to the left-winger who was running in along the angle of the box. The wide-man took a touch and looked to have side-footed home from six yards out until Bradley’s hand appeared at the last second to make a firm save, United’s keeper then reacted quickly again to dive on the loose ball.
After 66 minutes Vipond brought down Corrigan in a dangerous position on the right corner of the Carlisle area. The set-piece in from the Rovers number two came to nothing though as Hardman headed confidently clear.
On 69 minutes the Blues made an attempt to spice up their forward play as 16 year-old Mike Stewardson replaced Rob Bainbridge in a direct swap.
Shortly afterwards United finally had a spell of pressure on the Wirral outfit’s goal. From a scuffed Rovers clearance the ball fell to Hardman ten yards out on the left, it was a tight angle though and his effort was pushed away by the Tranmere keeper. The ball was part-cleared to Gardiner and he was unlucky to see well his hit half-volley fly straight into the arms of the Tranmere keeper.
United‘s spell of possession didn’t last long though and five minutes later Jones hit a powerful shot for Rovers from 20 yards out but it was always rising as Bradley watched it over his bar.
With ten minutes to go Bell made the kind of surging run down the left-channel that was missing throughout out the rest of the game from the Blues. His toe-poked attempt from ten yards out went into the side-netting though under a strong challenge from the Rovers right-back.
Two minutes later and Tranmere finally made their better ball retention pay as they put the match well out of United’s reach with a nicely worked third goal as Carlisle pushed up trying to find a way back into the game. Garry played a sideways ball to Corrigan who ran across Bell and Stewart to hit a reverse shot back across the face of Bradley and into the top far corner from 15 yards out, the effort was a sweet strike after a good move.
Six minutes from the end Kirkup headed narrowly over for the Blues from a Vipond free-kick after a foul on Bell but the game quickly petered out with the result all but rubber-stamped.
The last chance of the match came a minute later as Corrigan laid the ball back to the number eight but his shot on goal went well over and to be fair 4-0 would have been harsh on a United side who never threw the towel in.
United line-up :
Adam Bradley, Ashley Combe, Matthew Blake (Martin Stewart 41), Matty Bell, Dan Kirkup, James Earl (Shaun Vipond 55), Richie Hoban, Paul Gardiner, Andy Hardman, Rob Bainbridge (Mike Stewardson 69), Stephen Hindmarch.
Unused subs :
Martin Graham and Neil Thompson.
Other results in the division :
Burnley P-P Wigan
Chester 2-2 Macclesfield
Oldham 3-0 Stockport
Port Vale 1-6 Preston
Rochdale P-P Shrewsbury
Walsall 1-0 Bury
Wrexham 1-2 Blackpool
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