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

Last year Tranmere reached the quarter-finals of the competition having knocked out Everton and Southampton before they finally went out to neighbours Liverpool.

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 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 reall attacking outlet came from Andy Legg on the left, but as Nicky Mellon and Koumas took control of midfield, Legg became more preoccupied with defensive work.

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.




click back button to return to news menu 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 win over Southampton, after Tranmere had been 3-0 down. The cross for Rideout's goal came from Koumas - another of Tranmere's heroes in last season's FA Cup adventure - and the midfielder had another impressive game both with his shooting and passing. Koumas curled a shot just wide of the post midway through the first half and soon afterwards he combined with Micky 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.