A step too far

North Ferriby United v Tranmere Rovers - 21 Mrach 2017
National League
Attendance 638

North Ferriby United                                    

1 Watson; 2 Topliss; 5 Gray; 21 Dixon; 20 Skelton; 15 Middleton; 16 Tinkler; 

14 Fallowfield (Templeton 75);  6 Emerton (Kendall 67); 25 Thompson (Cosgrove 83); 

4 Oliver

Substitutes

7 Cosgrove; 9 Templeton; 10 Kendall; 19 Cooke; 23 Douglas

Tranmere

1 Davies; 5 McNulty; 3 Ridehalgh; 8 Harris; 6 Ihiekwe; 12 Sutton; 2 Vaughan; 

24 J Hughes; 11 Jennings (Mekki 89); 9 Cook (Stockton 71); 

10 Norwood (Mangan 71)

Substitutes

7 Mekki; 13 Turner; 16 Dunn; 9 Mangan; 23 Stockton

Adults £15
OAP (over 65), Students: £8
Under 16: £4
Under 12’s admitted free if accompanied by an adult. (for National League fixtures only)

Programme £2

We are coming to the business end of the season and it has become clear that North Ferriby United are not going to escape the drop back to the National League North.  Promotion last season was brilliant and this season has had its moments but the harsh reality is it is too difficult at this level, it is a step too far.  Ferriby is a village and it is being pitched up against cities with traditional football league sides like York, Lincoln and today's visitors Tranmere.  It doesn't seem too long ago that Tranmere were on the cusp of joining the Premier League and before that playing in a League Cup final.  How the mighty have fallen.

The game started brightly with Tranmere nearly scoring in the opening minutes with Watson pulling off an excellent save to his left when seemingly unbalanced  and wrong footed.  Ferriby were getting into the game and scored first on the 12 minute mark when Gray headed home smartly from a free kick delivered in from the right hand side.

The game then descended into a scrappy period of play with Tranmere wrestling for dominance and they eventually equalised from Harris after 22 minutes.  Rovers were becoming the more dominant side and were stringing together some decent passing moves and producing another good save from Watson.

Just when it looked that they would be going into the half time break level controversy was to strike.  Rovers had a corner and when it looked like United were going to clear it from the box there was contact with a striker who went down and the penalty was awarded.  Yes “we’ve seen them given”, but it looked a little soft considering that Ferriby had what looked a stronger claim turned down earlier.  Watson managed to pull off a great save from the resulting kick but could only push the ball into the centre of the goal and Harris was the quickest to react and stroked the ball home right on half time.  The home bench and fans were clearly not happy with this and their team now had an uphill struggle to get anything from the game.

United started the second half well having another decent penalty shout turned down and attacking in numbers.  However, on 60 minutes they were caught out on the break by their opponents.  An excellent long ball was brought well under control by Norwood, albeit with more than a hint of the use of an arm, and a right footed cross was perfect for Cook to head home.  The United players appealed to the referee and linesman to no avail.

Ferriby continued to battle on gamely but Tranmere were very much in control and always seemed to have more in reserve should they need it.  For them and Harris the icing on the cake was his hat trick goal added in the final minute of four added.

Tranmere were deserved winners and a clearly a very accomplished side at this level being as good as any I have seen this season.  I thought the 0-4 score line flattered them and it is disappointing that once again the talking points revolve around decisions not going our way which is frustrating.  As a Hull City supporter I am used the perceived big club bias and am beginning to wonder if applies as far down as the National League.  Ferriby manager Steve Housham seems to think so and was clearly annoyed when interviewed by local TV.  Yes the fans do get on the officials backs but there does appear to be inconsistency in the application of the laws within games.

Match highlights video 

This is not one of my better videoing efforts; I took the wrong gloves with me and struggled to capture the 2^nd and 5^th goals.  However I will not beat myself up too much over this as I think I saw more of the key incidents than the man in the middle did.

Tranmere are a good side and I wish them well for the rest of the season.  They still could win the title but are likely to be in the play offs.  On the basis of tonight’s match I can see them being back in League 2 in the near future.

Ferriby has given it their all this season and considering the changes since their 6-1 defeat at Lincoln at the start of the season they have made a good fist of it.  If they can keep the nucleus of this side together there is no reason why they shouldn’t have a good season back in National League North and it will certainly nice to see more victories rather than a string of gallant defeats.