EFL Trophy

[kippaxvilla2]

It’s 0-0 at half time.

[kippaxvilla2]

Salford 2 Villa 0 a penalty and Adam Rooney goal 80 and 82 minutes.

[wittonwarrior]

Great battling performance tonight.  Over 100 villa there in attendance on a wet Manchester evening.

Good goalkeeping from Searle in the first half kept us in the same with several saves.

Second half we were the better team until they scored late on.  Tait and Blair particularly good.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Incredible support on a wet Tuesday night if leafy,sub urban Manchester
I accompanied Witton Warrior to the game and met other guys from  Peterborough,Billinge,Prescott,Redditch,Macclesfield and Armagh. - all for an under 23 fixture

[DeKuip]

Very entertaining game last night, our boys were good to watch and unfortunate to lose. Penalty came at a time we looked more likely the team to win and looked a bit harsh from the far end. Second was down to the conditions but our keeper had been very impressive all night, particularly in front of the Villa fans first half.
Great experience for the youngsters, pity we’re only in a three team group now (especially for Bury!).
I don’t buy the argument that U21s shouldn’t play in this cup. Its fantastic for their development and as most of those that do will probably end up playing Div 3, 4 or lower it has to be of benefit to the lower league clubs too. It’s not only about the Wembley final and a Piss up for fans who possibly haven’t bothered going to a game all season.
Glad we made the effort to travel up, it was a pleasure to be two of the 125.

[Hookeysmith]

£10 for a tidy little stadium deep in the heart of a residential area.
Not much in the way of pubs close by so we parked at a pub and took a £3 Uber in and back  - mainly due to awful rain.
Tight little shack for reasonably priced refreshments and portacabins for toilets. Was surpised to see so many Villa there and assuming they were locals was impressed that some of them have drove up on the day and were planning the next away game - that is dedication.

Agree with others - 1st half the Keeper Searle was very good whilst we huffed and puffed and at times played some nice football we rarely troubled their goal.
2nd half we came out blazing and created some decent chances. Its clear that the first team philosophy is filtering down to the youths - good and bad

The short goal kicks and chancing it trying to keep possession around your own box is driving me mad - Thanks Pep - its ok to do it with world class keepers and defenders but when lesser players do it, it frightens us to death.

Stand outs for me

Keeper, both Centre Halves and the kid out side with dreadlocks - with the pouring rain and my piss poor eyesight I could not make out his name on the shirt.

One thing that was very clear - I know it was our under 23's but most of them looked younger than that and then the age and physicality of the Salford team when ours stood next to them was so obvious. Young Archer, who never really got a look in last night, was dwarfed on corners by both their CF and keeper.

Still playing at this level will make men out of them

[dcdavecollett]

Was 'the kid outside with dreadlocks, Tyreek Wright?

[wittonwarrior]

I don’t know cause couldn’t get programme or team sheet. But note for the diary 8th Oct tranmere away

[Hookeysmith]

I don’t know cause couldn’t get programme or team sheet. But note for the diary 8th Oct tranmere away

That was my issue - no program, no squad numbers on web site

And piss poor eye sight

[Hookeysmith]

Oh and one other thing from the game

An interesting tactic for defending corners - we leave 3 players up front on half way line. It seemed to work well as they had to leave players back to cover which left the 18 yard box uncluttered with 21 players in it as it usually is

I really hope this filters through to the first team in some games

[Mister E]

Oh and one other thing from the game

An interesting tactic for defending corners - we leave 3 players up front on half way line. It seemed to work well as they had to leave players back to cover which left the 18 yard box uncluttered with 21 players in it as it usually is

I really hope this filters through to the first team in some games

I've been suggesting this for years! Makes so much sense.

[villa `cross the mersey]

This really boils my piss with the first team
Leave three pacey players up top and the opposition need to leave the same number or more back
On top of that the ridiculous passing across the face of your own box has got to stop - it's placing too much pressure on  the keeper and back line

[wittonwarrior]

We go  again on Tuesday at Prenton  Park - only £5 in. 

[PeterWithesShin]

For anyone interested it appears this game can be found online as there's a stream on Facebook, I assume it's via Tranmere TV.

[Pete3206]

So, we're out then