Tranmere Rovers 2014-15... Sky Bet League 2 Champions and FA Cup WINNERS

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Half time performance:
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Skokic not having the best game, but we can't replace him. The midfield is playing well, and Gabriel of course taking great shots.
 
Few minor chances in the second half so far, and an injury to Oscar.

87 minute
van Ginkel in space, Chelsea pushing forward for an equaliser
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He blasted past the defender as if he wasnt there, now Skokic motors across to close him down.
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van Ginkel spies Hazard in space to his right, and passes
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Wait, it wasnt to Hazard, but to a barnstorming right back rushing on to the overlap. He crosses in towards Aboubakar
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Dangerous looking half-volley
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but he hits Glover! Ball skews out to safety
 
90 mins. 3 mins extra time.

Da Silva strips van Ginkel, and gives the ball to Macleod ahead of him. He sees Gabriel further up, with the Blue shirts all pressing for goal so gaps behind.
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Gabriel has a lot of space again, and support on his right.
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He skips straight past his marker
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And moves into shooting position...
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But he hits it over the bar - still 1-0
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Easier to miss that one!
 
Extra time: 92 mins

Ward-Prowse with the corner
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2 Chelsea and 2 Tranmere players challenge for the back post header
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Daniels rises above Aboubakar to win the header, but he can't control it, and it heads straight across the face of the goal towards Volland
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Volland meets it with a header of his own directed toward goal.
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Glover gets a hand to it, and knocks the ball along the goal line
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Skokic clears off the line to safety - scores still locked at 1:1, but Chelsea have all the momentum.
 
94 mins

Hazard receives the throw and moves the ball to the middle of the pitch. 7 Chelsea players in attack in front of him (and all of them offside!)
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He tiredly dribbles the ball toward the left side of the pitch, and somehow runs into Gabriel who has stayed back to help in defence.
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He strips the ball from Hazard, and punts it upfield.
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Torrano receives it on half way, and holds the ball while Tranmere players stream forward. Gabriel has rushed up the right line
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Torrano plays a great through ball, and now we have Gabriel steaming down the right, Galloway in space in the middle and the Chelsea players converging on Gabriel...
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The Chelsea defender shepherds Gabriel wide, and he dribbles all the way to the corner before delivering a cross into the box
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Galloway hits it on the volley
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Courtois saves, but the ball dribbles to Torrano.
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The force of the shot has put Courtois on the back foot, and he is unable to follow the ball. Torrano finds himself with the goal totally open in front of him
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2:1 Tranmere!
 
101 minutes, Teixeira has a throw on the left
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Chelsea defence clears, but find Daniels in the middle of the field
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Daniels finds Sweeney in the middle of the field, who turns and puts a quick pass towards the box
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Chalobah intercepts and Nkoulou clears, suddenly Chelsea is on the attack! Aboubakar charges clear on the right wing
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He finds Volland deep in Tranmere territory, and the Chelsea forwards surging for the equaliser
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But Macleod intercepts his pass, and clears.
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The clearance finds Nkoulou, who puts it back to Ward-Prowse who now takes the ball and sends a quick pass forward to van Ginkel
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He takes a shot, it rebounds straight back and he hits it on the volley.
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It sails well wide. 2-1 Tranmere still.
 
105 mins, second half of extra time. From the kick off there is lots of space everywhere, tired legs in attack and defence. Galloway finds Gabriel with a bit of time.

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He hits a through ball to Torrano on the right
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Torrano knocks it ahead of himself, and it is a foot race with Chalobah! It's neck and neck, but Chalobah launches into a perfect sliding tackle to get in front of Torrano and put the ball out.
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Still 2-1, 15 mins to go!
 
108 mins.
Azpilicueta takes a long throw on Tranmere's right flank.
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It glides dangerously into the box, but Haroyan is up to it and heads it away.
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The clearance lands at Gabriel's feet, and Chelsea is all in Tranmere's box - there are only 2 players back.
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He is too tired to make anything of it though, and is easily dispossed on the half way line. Chelsea push forward yet again, Khadeira finds Aboubakar.
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The defence copes well, and sends the ball back out. Gabriel takes it and once more launches an attacking run. The sting is a bit duller than before, but it's still dangerous.
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Gabriel knocks it to Torrano on the right
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Torrano pushes back to Sweeney, as the Chelsea defence gets organised.
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Sweeney passes to Galloway with his back to the goal.
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The Chelsea defence collapses onto Galloway - huh? They ALL try to tackle Galloway. That's not smart - Macleod is totally open right next to him, and he's facing the right way!
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Galloway noticed and puts it to him... the Chelsea defence realise their mistake too late! The keeper is well out of position, and Macleod has the whole goal to aim at
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Uh oh.
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3-1!
 
109 mins, from the kickoff. Van Ginkel sends a hopeful ball forward to Aboubakar on the right
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He finds some energy, and bursts on to the ball. Suddenly it's a one on one with only Glover to beat!
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He dribbles in and smashes the ball past Glover. No trouble for Aboubakar, 3-2 Tranmere still leads, but 10 mins left!
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What an extra time!
 
After this goal we make some changes. We have the back four at the moment of Sweeney on the right, Daniels who came on at the end of normal time, so is fairly fresh, Haroyan who is at 60%, and Skokic at 69%. I have no more reserve backs but Galloway is a competent centre half, so I move him back in place of Haroyan, and bring on Billing. Galloway had also only just come on so we now had a totally fresh centre half pairing, and tired but still ok wide defenders. Billing slots into DM to further bolster the defence, and I move Da Silva (also at 60%) up to MC where any tired defensive mistakes he might make will do less damage. Chelsea has no more subs so they are running on empty.

Anyway, 117 mins and for some crazy reason, Tranmere is attacking. Gabriel collects the ball in the middle
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He puts the ball forward to Torrano, who is now in a one on two situation
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The insane Tranmere players run into attack, but Torrano is easily dispossessed and suddenly Chelsea has the ball in a counterattacking position!

Van Ginkel gathers at half way
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I am very glad I put Billing into DM, because he rushes back to hold up the play and blocks any passing options forward. He shepherds van Ginkel and the Tranmere players run back into a defensive position.

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He still manages to find Hazard on the right.
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Hazard tries to make something happen, but Skokic is up to it and tackles him. Teixeira takes the ball.
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Skokic rushes off up the line, but Teixeira has some sense and holds the ball. And that's pretty much it, Tranmere goes into defensive mode and closes out the game. It finishes 3:2, and we've won the Cup again!
 
Now for the annual prizes for the best players in the competition.

Players team of the year:
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3 Chelsea players in the first XI, two Man U players and a few others. Tranmere has three players in the starting lineup - Gabriel up front, Richie Towell in centre midfield and Pierce Sweeney in the centre of defence. Delighted for all of them! Marco Da Silva and Joaquin Torrano feature in the substitutes.

Golden Glove: Simon Mignolet from Liverpool. I don't know how he pipped de Gea, they both had 19 clean sheets and played 36 games, but de Gea only conceded 21 goals total and had an average rating of 7.06 compared to 6.96. It's the third time in a row Mignolet has won this award.

Top goalscorer is Gabriel with 30 goals from 36 games, just pipping Falcao with 29 from 34. Diego Costa is third with 15 goals

Players young player is Joaquin Torrano from Tranmere. I didnt think he played all that brilliantly but well enough apparently!

Players player of the year is Eden Hazard for the third time running.

The Footballer of the Year is Gabriel!

Manager of the year is Andre Villas-Boas for turning United from easy beats into champions - the start of a new era? They were also runners up in the Capital One Cup, losing the final to Chelsea, and are in the Champions League final against AC Milan in a week. Chance for a double.
 
Transfers this summer will be interesting. I have Galloway, Ake, Billing and Barbosa still in my preferred lineup, and Ryan Kent not far off. Of these five, Ake, Billing and Kent are off contract in a month. Galloway and Barbosa have another year to run on theirs.

I will try to pick up each of the off contract players, they are too good to lose. I highly doubt Everton will loan Galloway to me this year, but I can try, and same for Barbosa although he's less necessary now with the regens coming through.

Basically the team has matured much quicker than I had hoped, revolving around the brilliant Gabriel. He was a great find, shows that scouring the Brazilian youth teams for good regens pays off! We have a few other regens now finding their way into the first team after maturing over the last few years. I'll check out this years U19 European Champs for some more future talent - these youth competitions are by far the easiest way to find superb young players that the scouts miss. I'm not sure ongoing updates will be all that interesting with this team, it's no longer an underdog story, but has become a "rule the world" situation!
 
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