The year is 2001 – August 21st, to be precise. The location is a sparsely populated Racecourse Ground in North Wales. The event is a 3-2 win by Hull City over Wrexham. Until last night, that was the Tigers’ most recent League Cup victory.

Much has changed. City were in the Fourth Division, managed by Brian Little and the goalscorers that evening were Whitmore, Greaves and Alexander. Given the revolution that has taken place in those five years, it is no surprise that not a single member of the squad that evening remains at the club. We followed up what was then a surprise victory over Third Division Wrexham with a 3-0 defeat at Premiership Derby. And so ended our last League Cup run.

Phil Parkinson had spoken of the need for success yesterday night, much like his predecessor did, however the new manager backed his words with actions and selected just about his strongest side. Burgess and Elliott replaced Parkin and Duffy, as the Tigers carded: Myhill; Ricketts, Collins, Turner, Dawson; France, Livermore, Marney, Elliott; Burgess, Fagan. The visitors had a trio of ex-Tigers – Ian Goodison, Robbie Stockdale and Kevin Ellison.

It was not, to put it mildly, a vigorous opening to the match. Easily the most entertaining moment of the first fifteen minutes was the apparent removal of a porcine Tranmere supporter for reasons that were not terribly clear, a decision that removed at a stroke 1% of the away support.

Chris Shuker, formerly of Barnsley semi-fame (“we’re much better than Hull and Luton, you know”) was prancing around to moderate effect, the superstar in his own personal drama, and he had a chance on the quarter-hour with a free-kick that bent narrowly wide.

City responded, kind of. A France cross fell kindly for Marney, but his wild swipe at the ball sent it bobbling harmlessly into Achterberg’s arms.

Then nothing happened for about ten minutes. This is not slovenly match reporting, skipping out bits for the sake of brevity, but nothing was happening. Burgess was failing to make an impact up front, Elliott looked horribly off-form (worrying, given that his marker was Robbie Stockdale, who is no Cafu) whereas the midfielder was failing to raise the tempo of a rotten game.

However, the balance of a torpid affair was slowly sliding towards the visitors. As snores replaces sighs among the lowest ever gate for a City game at the Circle, Tranmere deservedly got their noses in front. Greenacre forced a smart save by Myhill, and from the following corner Ellison’s high ball was badly missed by Myhill and headed goalwards by Sheriff. The ball was hooked clear but had clearly crossed the line, and although it appeared the linesman had somehow missed it, the goal was eventually given.

A lousy goal by a lousy side in a lousy game, which meandered in a consistently incident-free fashion towards the break, at which the unpleasant but not necessarily unjustified sound of boos rang out from the City fans.

Things didn’t immediately improve in the second half. City had emerged from what one imagines was a forceful team talk with a greater willing to increase the pace of the game, but these good intentions were repeatedly foiled by wayward passing and some frankly lazy hoofing.

And so, with Tranmere weathering the squall and Parkinson preparing a couple of chances, naturally we scored. Ten minutes into the half, France delivered another inviting cross from the right to where Burgess had stolen a yard on his marker and his powerful downward header bounced past the surprisingly un-injured Achterberg. Buoyed by this rather unexpected improvement in fortunes, City took possession of the ball and kept it for the next 65 minutes.

A header by Elliott brought a fine save by the visiting gloveman, while Burgess nodded the resultant corner goalwards only to see it scrappily repelled. The pace of the game had now improved considerably, aided by Livermore’s thoughtful distribution, France’s energetic wing-play and Burgess’ post-goal surge.

Indeed, he was providing our primary threat. He had a chance to give City the lead, another thudding header being squirmed away by Achterberg with the apparent assistance of the right hand post. And now City’s domination was total, the gulf in class finally visible.

However, despite our midfield domination the side was still struggling to create clear chances and Parkinson opted to withdraw the sadly ineffective Elliott for the beleaguered Darryl Duffy, France swapping wings and Fagan moving to the right. With a minute remaining and the spectre of extra-time and thirty more minutes haunting us all, Welsh replaced the Marney – the latter being visibly unhappy at being withdrawn. The match drifted on, Tranmere observers rather than users of the ball, and it finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.

The first action of extra time was a comedy slice by Taylor was presented with a good chance after hesitation by Ricketts, but the pattern remained of City having the majority of possession and territorial advantage without possessing the cutting edge to score.

Burgess trotted off to a warm hand after a solid display to be replaced by the Beast, and Fagan had a half-chance from a difficult angle, but little of note was happening in either penalty area. Scouse panto villain McAteer had a chance with a free-kick distance but shot well over, and the referee instructed the sides to change ends – yet another penalties defeat looming.

But no! Your humble reporters strive for fairness despite possessing a vast array of prejudices about, well, just about everything, so we must report upon a moment of sparkling skill by Darryl Duffy that settled the fixture. Now, young Duffy has not had a wonderful time of things since leaving Scotland for civilisation, and we cannot avoid the conclusion that most of his troubles are down to him playing badly. Often. However, to the tantalising glimpses of genuine goal-scoring ability – Stoke, Luton, Sheffield Utd – can now be added a thunderous match-winning strike.

The Beast nodded down a high ball perfectly for his partner and his instant 25 yard drive flew past the exposed keeper at a fearful pace. And that was that. Tranmere conceded the match in a style that even the Pakistan cricket side might consider a trifle craven, and City held on comfortably.

So, a narrow win over a lower league side at home when fielding our strongest side. If this is the platform from which glorious conquests will be launched, it is not immediately apparent. However, the effect on a side low on confidence can only be positive. Duffy looked thrilled with his goal, and deservedly so – one hopes he follows it up with some more vigorous displays in forthcoming league matches. Livermore controlled the pace of the midfield with an assured style that caught the eye, while France, Dawson, Burgess and Parkin can reflect upon their evenings with quiet satisfaction.

And so to Coventry at the Circle on Saturday. A winnable fixture and one we will approach in better heart for having won our previous game. (AD)