Tranmere trounce Cardiff

Paul Rideout celebrates his equaliser for Tranmere

Tranmere 3-1 Cardiff
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The FA Cup once again brought out the very best of Tranmere as Dave Watson's side came from behind to beat Cardiff.

In the previous two years Tranmere have reached the quarter-finals of the competition, having claimed the scalps of the likes of Everton and Southampton.

We showed great reaction to come back from going a goal behind to a penalty

Tranmere manager Dave Watson

And Tranmere suggested they are capable of more upsets as they played some attractive football and dominated from start to finish, despite the difficult wet and windy conditions.

A Graham Kavanagh penalty had given Cardiff the lead, but goals from Paul Rideout, Sean Flynn and man-of-the-match Jason Koumas ensured Tranmere's presence in Sunday's Fifth Round draw.

Cardiff owner Sam Hammam did a half-time disappearing act from Prenton Park.

The Lebanese-born businessman apparently wanted to sit on the bench alongside the Cardiff coaches but was forced to spend the first half in the directors' box.

He failed to reappear for the second period and Tranmere chairwoman Lorraine Rogers said: "He left a couple of minutes before half-time and we didn't see him again.

  Match facts

21 mins: Graham Kavanagh gives Cardiff the lead through a penalty

23 mins: Paul Rideout equalises for Tranmere with header

53 mins: Sean Flynn puts Tranmere ahead for the first time in the game

79 mins: Jason Koumas caps a fine performance as he scores Tranmere's third goal

"We wouldn't have objected to him sitting on the bench, but I can't imagine what my manager's reaction would have been if I wanted to do that."

The reaction of Cardiff manager Alan Cork and assistant Ian Butterworth was allegedly to refuse Hammam's request.

This led to a rumour that the pair had been sacked, although Hammam refused to confirm or deny there was a bust-up.

Cardiff had beaten Leeds in the previous round but the Welsh side were unable to match the level of performance.

And a mistake from Des Hamilton eight minutes after the restart fatally handed the advantage to Tranmere.

Hamilton's sloppy back pass was latched on to by Flynn, who drilled his shot into the corner of the net.

Cardiff's only real attacking outlet was Andy Legg on the left, but as Micky Mellon and Koumas took control of midfield, Legg became more preoccupied with defensive work.

Kavanagh gives Cardiff the lead

It was from Legg's corner that Cardiff won the penalty that gave them the lead on 21 minutes.

As the ball bobbled in the box from a Legg set-piece, Clint Hill brought down Daniel Gabbidon.

Kavanagh, who scored with a wonderful free-kick against Leeds, made no mistake with his kick.

Within two minutes Tranmere had drawn level thanks to veteran striker Rideout.

The former Everton forward, who scored an FA Cup winning goal for the Merseyside club in 1995, intelligently guided his header past John Alexander.

Rideout also scored a famous hat-trick in that remarkable 4-3 FA Cup win over Southampton last season, after Tranmere had been 3-0 down.

The cross for Rideout's goal came from Koumas - another of Tranmere's heroes in that FA Cup adventure - and the midfielder had another impressive game both with his shooting and passing.

We contrived to throw the game away. The second goal was a debacle.

Cardiff manager Alan Cork

Koumas curled a shot just wide of the post midway through the first half and soon afterwards he combined with Mellon to set up a good chance for Jason Price who volleyed over.

Before his goal, Koumas had missed a couple of chances, but when Mellon's strike was deflected into his path, he found the net with a curling shot.

Before the match police had mounted a huge security operation to prevent the sort of violence that had marred Cardiff's win over Leeds.

Over 100 officers were posted outside Prenton Park and extra stewards also drafted in.

The first six rows of seats at the ground were removed to ensure fans were further away from the pitch.

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Tranmere: Achterberg, Yates, Sharps, Hill, Roberts, Flynn, Mellon, Henry, Koumas, Price, Rideout.

Subs Not Used: Parkinson, Barlow, Allison, Hinds, Murphy. Booked: Achterberg.

Goals: Rideout 23, Flynn 53, Koumas 79.

Cardiff: Alexander, Weston, Young, Gabbidon, Hamilton (Bowen 58), Boland (Low 69), Kavanagh, Bonner, Legg, Fortune-West, Brayson (Collins 61).

Subs Not Used: Maxwell, Giles.

Booked: Legg, Kavanagh.

Goals: Kavanagh 21 pen.

Att: 9,442.

Ref: A Kaye (Wakefield).