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An entertaining game remained goalless until the last quarter, when Mark Robins put the visitors two up with just ten minutes remaining. However, Wolves fought back, and late strikes from Jimmi Lee Jones and Graham Ward resulted in a 2-2 draw.
The following afternoon Tranmere travelled to the Bescot to take on the league’s highest scorers, Walsall. The Saddlers led through a Tony Barras goal until the fifth minute of added time, when Cammel Laird trialist Andy Robinson forced home a corner to give the Rovers a point, much to the delight of their coach and assistant manager, former Walsall hero David Kelly.
Walsall, to their credit, have with other clubs such as Burnley bucked the trend of playing reserve games at non-league venues. In fact, not only do their reserves play at the Bescot, but so too do Aston Villa. The night before the Tranmere game, Villa played Middlesbrough in the Barclaycard Reserve Division (North). Admission was free for Walsall season ticket holders, a mere £2 for others. Incidentally, Walsall’s reserve games are free to everyone. Possibly something for our club to consider? After all, the increased numbers through the gate would surely spend more in the bars than the amount currently taken from the few non-season ticket holders who attend.
On Wednesday evening Preston took on second place Sheffield United at Lancaster City’s Giant Axe. A close game on a poor pitch was settled by a Pawel Abbott strike to move the Lilywhites up to sixth.
The remaining game was of course our hugely disappointing 3-2 home defeat to Barnsley. The Clarets were outclassed by a side which has now won seven out of its last eight league and cup games, moving up to second place in the process. The Reds’ side was largely drawn from their highly-successful U-19 academy team, which enjoys the use of fantastic facilities at Oakwell. They play each Saturday, and games are rarely, if ever, postponed. Contrast this with the Burnley side on Wednesday night, nearly all of whom had not played in a competitive match for weeks, largely due to a lack of fixtures and constant postponements. It was not difficult to see why the likes of Earl Davis didn’t perform in the first half.
Next week, guess what? It’s league cup time again, so there are no league fixtures scheduled. The following week’s fixture at Rotherham has been postponed due to the FA Youth Cup game, so we’re looking at yet another three-week break before the reserves return to action, at home to Preston on December 4th.