Marine 2-1 Tranmere Rovers

Match report by Nathan McCrae

Carl Macauley has vowed “to continue and become even stronger” following his first victory as coach of Marine FC. The Mariners hosted Tranmere Rovers for their second game of preseason and allowed another chance to see his new squad in action.

Goals from Andy Fowler and Matty Williams proved enough to overcome the Birkenhead side who had boasted an impressive record against Marine of late. However, Marine were great value for their win, controlling large parts of the game and exciting fans with a wide variety of attacking options.

The home side were almost a goal down through a defensive error from their new goalkeeper, Matt Cooper having fooled the striker with some slick footwork his clearance fell straight to a Tranmere player only for captain John Shaw to react with a impressive block to save his goal keeper’s blushes.

Marine continued to utilise Macauley’s new style of football, breaking down Tranmere’s attack with high tempo pressing and passing forward with intent.

Their ambition was rewarded after only eight minutes having been played when trialist Lewis Codling played a magnificent through ball to Andy Fowler who calmly slotted home inside the far post from inside the area.

After falling behind Tranmere responded with Jason Koumas leading their attacking threat. The attacking midfielder consistently found space around the area but couldn’t find a way past the impressive Cooper.

It was Koumas who had Tranmere’s best effort of the first half when he expertly dipped a shot from 20 yards over the outstretched Cooper’s reach, only to see his effort cannon off the crossbar and cleared to safety.

Matt Gill was left red faced when a square ball had left him with an open net but the winger couldn’t manage to hit the target at the amazement of the crowd. A great passage of play from Mutch Dugan and Gerard Brumna played in Gill but his shot was scuffed and missed the target completely.

Marine finally got themselves back into the game following a slow start to the second half, Tranmere goalkeeper, Owain Fon Williams had to be at full stretch after some great determined running from Stephen Wainwright down the right found Jonathan Goulding’s run only for his side-foot effort to be brilliantly saved.

It was Tranmere who were next on the scoreline. Goulding conceded possession in the middle of the pitch and a swift counter attack led to a corner. From the resulting set piece Elliot Richards rose well at the back post to meet the corner and draw the two sides level.

From which point there was only one team in it. Marine responded with a series of chances with Matty Devine and Fowler connecting with a series of through balls with the latter beating the offside trap and attempting to lob the keeper saw his effort draw agonizingly wide.

Marine fans only had to wait two more minutes for their side to break the deadlock. On the 77th minute Matty Williams broke into the box following some great dribbling from Devine. The midfielder attempted to strike the ball only to be bundled over in the six yard box giving the referee no choice but to award to spot kick.

Williams stepped up confidently to send the goalkeeper the wrong way and extend Marine FC’s lead with only fifteen minutes to play.

Macauley was pleased to see how his substitutes were able to come off the bench and display the kind of charisma that could see the game out, and see the game out they did. The new passing game that the manager has been trying to incorporate worked well on a slick surface at the Arriva stadium and fans seemed optimistic for the future.

Following the game manager Macauley said: “We were really disciplined with and without the ball and I thought it was a fantastic performance. I thought their keeper had a magnificent performance in goal and they respected us enough to play a strong team with football league experience.

“We’ve got to give minutes to the boys and let them show us what they’ve got. We keep a record of all the minutes the boys have played so at the end of the day we can see what minutes the boys have played and if they’ve impressed or if they’ll fall by the wayside.”

Marine now travel to Runcorn and Vauxhall motors on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, to allow the squad another chance to prove to their manager that they should be in the starting eleven come the start of the season.

Fans can see their side play at home again next Saturday with a 3pm kick off against AFC Liverpool.