League One strugglers Tranmere shock Watford to set up FA Cup tie against Manchester United
Tranmere Rovers 2 Watford 1
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his crisis-hit Manchester United stars will not relish playing on the Prenton Park "beach" after Tranmere set up an intriguing FA Cup fourth round clash on Sunday.
Paul Mullin's extra-time goal earned the League One strugglers a win over Watford's shadow squad and a much-needed £500,000-plus cash jackpot in the fourth round. It will be the first time United will have ever visited Tranmere and they will not be looking forward to facing Micky Mellon's fired-up team, who proved too strong for the youngsters fielded by Nigel Pearson.
Mellon, whose Shrewsbury team lost to Louis Van Gaal's United in the fifth round in 2016, said: "This has got to be up there with one of the best nights in the club's history. It is massive for us. It will be a game-changer for the club on Sunday.
"United playing here is brilliant for the whole area. It is no secret we need the money and it will give us an opportunity to strengthen the squad. They are a fantastic football club and will come here very professional. I've seen the other side of that when I was at Shrewsbury and they came like robots, did the job and got out of town. I know that is the threat they possess. We have to go out there and understand that is what will come here.
"They are an unbelievable football club and we are a League One club, at the bottom end of League One, but we are going to give it everything we've got. We will try to represent the club again and the players will run their socks off again and who knows? What we do know is that we will be up against a formidable outfit. Two days is enough for us to be ready... we will be fine."
Pearson has made it clear Premier League survival is Watford's priority and underlined that by making 11 changes from the side that lost at Aston Villa in midweek. But he refused to use the awful pitch as an excuse and said the game will be a learning curve for his young players - the team had an average age of 23.
He said: "It was a really tough game, congratulations to Tranmere. People said we were not interested - we were. It was just a great cup tie. I couldn’t risk anyone. We would have preferred to have gone through.
"You have to earn the right to play. It was a bit of a reality check for some of them - a wake up call. Welcome to the man’s game. Some of our young players thought they could just turn up in the first half. We showed more desire in the second half: Micky is a good football man and I want to congratulate him and Tranmere."
Super sub Mullin headed home in the 105th minute after Corey Blackett-Taylor had flicked on Liam Ridehalgh's cross. Manny Monthe put the League One strugglers ahead in the first half but Watford's young team improved after the break when sub Kaylen Hinds equalised.
But Mullin, who had completed Tranmere's astonishing comeback from 3-0 down in the first game at Vicarage Road with a penalty minutes after coming on, proved the hero again. Pearson warned his Watford youngsters to expect an "interesting experience" on Tranmere's beach of a pitch and so it proved in a fiercely-fought third round replay.
Only a couple of hundred Watford fans made the trip and they probably wished they hadn't bothered as their side failed to muster an attempt on goal as Tranmere deservedly led at the break. Mellon had said the incentive of facing United was far greater for his team than for Watford, whose priority is clearly Premier League survival, and it certainly looked that way in the first half, with the pitch making it like a classic old fashioned cup-tie.
Tranmere didn't look like a team who have won only one of their previous 10 League One games, a run which has left them three positions off the bottom of the table and 46 places below Watford in football's pyramid. They were far more at ease on the heavily-sanded surface and the more threatening team in the early stages.
Taylor-Blackett's surging run down the left took him past Mason Barrett and he fired just over. Then veteran midfielder Neil Danns volleyed wide form 25 yards. Blackett-Taylor blazed over a great chance to give Tranmere the lead on the half hour after Daniel Blackmann had parried Kieron Morris's shot.
It hardly came as a surprise that they took the lead after 36 minutes when Watford failed to deal with Blackett-Taylor's corner. Peter Clark flicked the ball on and Monthe - as he did in the first game at Vicarge Road - lashed it into the net via the far post. Only a timely block by Mason Barrett stopped Blackett-Taylor's powerful shot from giving Tranmere a two-goal lead at the break.
Watford were much improved in the second half and took the fight to Tranmere. Home keeper Scott Davies denied them an equaliser with a fine save after Joao Pedro had burst through the defence before Joe Holebas struck the outside of a post with a fierce volley from a tight angle.
Hinds brought them level after 61 minutes when he fired home from inside the penalty area after Tranmere had failed to clear a Holebas corner. Mullin came desperately close to putting Tranmere back in front when he latched onto a backpass but in dribbling round 'keeper Daniel Bachmann he was forced too wide and his shit from a tight angle hit the outside of the post. But he made amends in extra-time to put his club in dreamland.
Tranmere (4-1-4-1):Davies; Caprice, Clarke, Monthe, Ridehalgh; Perkins; Blackett-Taylor; Jennings, Morris, Danns, Blackett-Taylor; Ferrier (Mullin 61)
Watford (4-4-2): Bachmann; Barrett, Spencer-Adams, Kabasele, Holebas; Whelan, Dele-Bashiru (Hinds 46), Quina, Hungbo; Pedro, Gray
Referee: Tony Harrington
