Tranmere Rovers 3, Hudds Town 0

Feb 23 2005 By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

TOWN paid the ultimate price for an awful first-half display at Prenton Park and remain without a point on their travels in 2005.

Completely outplayed, outfought and outthought, Town conceded to Eugene Dadi and Iain Hume and had keeper Paul Rachubka to thank for not being crushed by half time.

It was a different story after the break, however, as Peter Jackson's young side played with plenty of resolve and really rattled Brian Little's third-placed promotion hopefuls.

With a little more luck, a tad more composure and a much more reasonable outlook from woeful referee Mike Pike, Town might have made inroads into the Tranmere lead.

But Rachubka twice saved them in magnificent style before another break from the pacy Hume resulted in a cross finished clinically at the back post by Gareth Roberts two minutes into stoppage time at the end.

It proved the last meaningful kick of the match and, while a 3-0 defeat left a very sour taste for Town and their 1,200 travelling fans, Jackson's young charges will have learned a lot from this testing 90 minutes.

Firstly, that you can't give experienced players like Jason McAteer and Mark Rankine time and space to dictate a midfield - as they did in the first 45 minutes.

Secondly that you have to defend set pieces a lot more solidly than those which led to the close-range strikes by Dadi and Hume on 15 and 24 minutes respectively.

Thirdly, that you can't afford to waste too much possession against a side whose passing and movement was infinitely more slick and productive until Town started to knuckle down after their half-time rollicking.