Knock Tree Times

Newhaven FC v Roffey FC in the SCFL Premier League at Bartholomew Way

The Dockers are back at the theatre of 🌳🌳🌳 trees 🌳🌳🌳 in West Sussex to face the Boars 🐗. We were here 4 weeks ago but the match was postponed at short notice due to a waterlogged pitch. The pitch looks OK tonight so we are hoping for a good game tonight. There is a lit up bar 💡💡💡in the entrance. Very welcoming. The Dockers are in rubbish form and are 11th in the league. They lost on Saturday to Little Common for whom it was their first win of the season. Their opponents, the Boars, are in 7th after back to back wins. They are certainly going to be a tough test for the depleted Dockers. Bussy has retired so Josh James is in goal. Reedy and Bailey are the fullbacks. There are 2 new faces in the line up, Regan Clarke-Salter and Kwabena (Kwabs) Osei. The rest of the gang is here. Blunty, Tom, Vickers, Lee and cal Edwards. Also up front is Alfie Rogers who has returned from Steyning. What a sight for sore eyes he is, always puts in a great shift and is a massive presence in the up front. Welcome back. A few regular names are out for a while including Josh Tuck (illness), Billy Barker (broken foot) and Robbie Keith (unknown). Hope they are all doing OK and we see them back soon. This is our first time at Roffey but we have seen the Boars at Fort Road when we beat them 11-0. They were relegated that season and have just come back up and are doing better this season. Hopefully we get a goal or two in the right end but are certainly expecting to ship a few in the wrong end.

The Dockers are pressing from the start and Cal’s shot is saved on 3. Roffey are starting to build into the game. There are a few chances for both sides but it’s not great football. Lee gets through the defence. Alfie is offside and runs the other way leaving Lee to round the keeper and slot into the net on 35 ⚽. 1-0. Roffey nearly equalise straight away but Reedy is injured blocking the shot so has to go off on 41. He is replaced by Luca Page. The Dockers make it 2-0 as Bailie heads in a Cal Edwards corner on 45+5 ⚽. The half comes to an end at 45+15 due to a number of lenghty injuries to Roffey players. The Dockers are 2 goals up, largely against the run of play.

The Dockers get in the first shot. It’s from Tom Vickers. It’s not long before he is subbed off to be replaced by O’Halloran on 65. The ref has a funny turn on 66 and books Cal for kicking the ball away missing the fact that everyone has been doing it all game. The Boars are quite dominant now, pushing to get back into the game. They succeed with 10 minutes left on the clock scoring from close range. Lee gets a chance to restore the advantage but it’s saved. Alfie hits the resulting loose ball just over. Was that a foul on Lee? A few on the pitch and a few beside it think it should be a penalty. Ref not impressed. The Boars level the score with a good shot from outside the box on 85. Robbo is through to score the winner but he gets just too much on it and it goes just over. You can see how gutted ( and knackered ) he is. Some shift he’s putting in. We get one last chance from Cal on 90+4. It’s a bit hopeful but not beyond his skills. He doesn’t manage to keep the ball down and it goes well over. The end. 2-2..

It wasn’t the game of 2 halves that the scoreline suggests. The Dockers goals were very much against the run of play. But score they did. They were never going to keep a clean sheet though. A shame they couldn't get a late winner. There were some tired legs at the end after they had put in a great shift. Those include Lee, Alfie, Blunty and Cal. There was a scarey amount of injury time in the first half. We hope the player who was helped back to the dressing room at half time by his teammates is OK. The ‘Theatre of Tree’ is a lovely ground with an outdoor bar area. The surrounding trees were swallowing up the match balls with bags of balls being available behind the goals to keep the game flowing. Hope to see a few more familiar faces soon as the Dockers form is so poor at the moment. It's seems like a long time since that pre-season winning run. A cup game next week so let's keep everything crossed for a bit of a cup run.

POTM: Captain Lee (big) Robinson gets the award🏅. Never stopped trying to make chances right to the end.

The ref probably had worse games. Everyone moaning is always a good sign.

The Scran’O’meter registered a sugary 7/10 for the hot chocolate.

See you soon.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

Team Sheets

Treemendous here under the lights

Carnaval de Parris

Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United in the WSL at The AMEX Stadium

The Seagulls are at thier second home to host the Red Devils on a very changeable late autumn day. The monsoons have been replaced by sunshine and it is lovely and warm in the East Stand. It's the second outing in 7 days to watch the seagulls. We're hoping for another 3 points today but this will be a tougher test. The Reds have won 3 in 3 this season. The two sides played out an exciting 2-2 draw at Crawley almost a year ago with the Reds needing some Official assistance to save the point. Hope they don't get that sort of assistance today. Both teams have had a good start to the season and whoever wins will go top of the league overnight as it's the only Saturday game. There is just one change to the Seagulls starting line-up as Cankovic is replaced by the returning Poppy. It's the usual 3 at the back with Olislagers moving into central midfield with Vicky. Fran, Nikita, Pauline and Bruna make up the front 4. Maisie and Michelle are on the bench today and have both been selected for the England U23 squad for the upcoming international break. Fran has made the senior squad but Poppy and Nikita miss out this time. There are some familiar faces and some new names in the Man Utd team. Their new striker, the strangely familiar, Terri someone, seems to be settling in nicely, unfortunately. They have a new keeper to replace Mary Earps who left for PSG in the summer. Also gone is our favourite, Lucia Garcia, who is playing in Mexico now. Grace Clinton is back from loan and Celine Bizet has also joined from Spurs. Sussex By The Sea plays as the players come out, the words are displayed round the pitch side advertising for those of us that are still learning them. There are a few hundred of the Toone army in the corner to the left. Good to see alot less red shirts in the home stands. Just a few youngsters with their Brighton shirt wearing siblings. There are no wheelie bins of fire today🔥. We have noisy blue and white smoke bombs. Pyro done 🧨, time to party🎉.

The Reds are giving the Seagulls a hard time form the start. Baggers makes a great save from Miyazawa on 7. Bizet puts a cross in from a good way out and a Baggaley comes to collect it, Grace Clinton flies through to bundle the ball into the net on 10. Bugger. The Spurs connection working there.  Utd are dominating and camping out in the Seagulls end. Terri gets her first shot on goal but it's easy for Sophie to catch. Brighton are still playing out from the back but it's looking really risky against the high pressing Reds. Nail may be bitten.  Nikita is fouled running down the wing but skips over the sliding tackle and the ref waves to play advantage. When the ball comes back the other way, Dotti is booked for a bad foul but the ref ignores that fact that Nikita was nearly taken out at full speed. She must have forgotten her red 🖍️crayons today. Convenient 🙄. Half an hour has gone and Bridgton finally get to the other end of the pitch and win a corner. It never goes in the box, just backwards and forwards in front of it🤦🏼‍♂️. Pauline goes down injured and heads off down the tunnel after treatment on the pitch . Hope she is alright but she has looked a bit off the pace all game. She is replaced by Maddison Haley on 41. Fran turns over the possession in midfield giving it to Maddison who charges forward to get the Seagulls best chance so far. It's well saved and the resulting corner comes to nothing. 0-1 at the break. Big half coming up for Brighton 🤞🏼.

There are two changes for the Seagulls at the restart. Olislagers is replaced by Maisie and Bruna by Agyemang. A bit more physicality in the middle and on the left. Brighton suddenly look much better.  They can get and keep the ball at last. They level the score on 52 ⚽ when Maisie's low cross is put in by a diving header from Nikita. 1-1. Whoop. Brighton are getting good possession and get a couple of corners but can't find the finish they need.   Agyemang is making great runs down the wing, interchanging well with Poppy. Things you like to see part1: Tooney sitting on the floor waving her arms in the air after the ref waves away a foul 🤣. Things you like to see part2: The Reds keeper sitting down for a Zinsberger break, I mean treatment on 72.   At 75, it's time for some United changes. Aoife Mannion comes on for Miyazawa and Simi Awujo on for Lisa Naalsund. Not big guns then. Baggers makes another great save, this time it's from Grace Clinton. Baggers then makes catch fractionally ahead of Terri getting to the ball. She flattens Sophie then rolls around claiming penalty. No. Get up, Brighton reject. We've got Nikita now. Toone has been really quite , apart from moaning at the ref, but gets a shot in on 84 although it's tame and an easy catch for Sophie. Fran gets in a great shot on 87 but it's just about pushed wide. It looks like it's gone out for a corner but United just carry on playing. Terri forces Sophie in to a good save on 90. Five minutes added but the Seagulls are still hanging on. Tooney makes way for Rachael William (gulp) on 92. She always scores from the bench but hopefully it's too late today even for her. A couple of minutes more pressure then Maisie shields the ball out for a goal kick and we all breath again. There's no more action and it finishes level. A well fought point for the Seagulls in front of a record crowd of 8369. 👏🏼

A great game and a good result for the improving Seagulls. Very much a game of 2 halves though. United could have put it to be in the 1st half but they weren’t clinical enough to beat an on form Baggers. Dario had a Plan B for the 2nd half and it worked really well. The sun came out as we watched the Albion go toe the toe with the biggest club in the World (their claim - not mine).  There was a good atmosphere in the ground although it wasn't as noisy as Crawley.  At least the stands weren't full of red shirts screaming/screeching every time Toone got near the ball.  It was also good to see Nikiti get a goal and not Terri 😉. We got the better end of that deal. The shared points means the Red go top overnight as the reminded us loudly on the way back to the car. The Seagulls are 2nd and worse case scenario will be 4th tomorrow.  Settle for that. 10 points from 5 games when it took 11 games to reach that point last season. In other news, Tranmere won away at Bromley with goals (whatever they are) from Omari ⚽ and Saunders ⚽. Well done to the Whites and the travelling SWA.  Are we Wrexham is disguise. It's the international break now so we will be seeing the Lionesses and hopefully Fran on Friday at Wembley. Can't wait but might have to as it's the RUR Cup 2nd round on Tuesday.

POTM: Nikita comes close but Sophie Baggaley stepped up before 🧤and after 🧤 the break so she bags 🤦🏼‍♂️the award🏅. Well done Baggers.

We would like to thank the PGMufcOL for providing the officials for the match today. I think they earned their money.

Bottle top news: Oh, dear. AMEX Stadium, NIL POINTS. The Pepsi lid was confiscated outside the stadium by the steward who had to wrench it from it's tether. Grumpy. The spare Coca Cola lid smuggled in didn't fit the Pepsi bottle. Double grumpy. Damn you AMEX stadium and you too, Pepsi. Irony alert: they sell Coca Cola in the stadium. Doh 🤦‍♂️.

Scran'o'meter: Excellent chips 🍟 from the Fish & Chip van outside. 8/10

See you soon.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

Back at the AMEX

Trying the kit for size

Super Fran

Someone like Jo-nus

Arsenal Women host Vålerenga Fotball Damer in the UWCL Group Stage at The Emirates

It's been a while but we are back in N7 for an evening of Champions League Football. The Gunners didn't make it to the group stage last season, getting knocked out in the qualifiers by Paris FC. They have made it through this year but have been drawn in the group of death with both Bayern and Juventus. They got thumped 5-2 by Bayern in the first game so they need a big performance tonight. In other news,🤪, Jonus resigned on Tuesday having had a very poor start to the season. The Gunners sit in 6th having taken just 5 points from 4 games and drawing 0-0 with Everton in front of a big crowd at the Emirates. Acting up in his place is assistant Renee Slegers. There have been some other personnel changes. Two big bits of news are that Vivienne Miedema has been allowed to leave and go to Man City. Incoming is Spanish winger Mariona from Barca 😍. There is a new face but familiar name in goal, it's Dick Van Domselaar who signed from Villa in a swap deal with D'Angelo. Leah and Laia are at the back with Katie McCabe and Emily Fox who is on loan from Silent Witness. The middle 3 are Little, Walti and Mariona, known here as Caldentey. Up front are Russo, Foord and Mead'o'. There are no familiar names in the Valerenga squad who are mostly Norwegian. There is rain due, let's hope it isn't as bad as last week. A quick chorus of “North London” forever gets us underway.

Everyone is ready except the whole Valerenga who are still in a huddle. The ref’s best Paddington stare 👀 eventually works and the teams are ready for kickoff. If they were trying to put the Gunners off it didn’t work as Russo and Emily Fox combine to put the ball in the net in the first minute ⚽. Ha-ha. 1-0. There is an immediate response from the visitors but they hit it over from 6 yards. Arsenal are in control but look a bit exposed on the break. It is the Gunners being frustrated by the off-side flag though. Katie has a good shot blocked. on 28, then it’s Leah’s turn. And then Kim’s shot is saved. Lessi has 2 shots blocked then it’s Bath’s turn. Caitlin Foord finally puts an end to the goalmouth ping pong 🏓and puts it in the net on 29 ⚽. 2-0. Phew. What a minute that was. Codina gets caught playing out from the back and Van Domsellar is picking it out of the net on 35. There aren’t many away fans but those that made the trip are going bonkers🎉. Love them ♥. Hope it’s no more than a consolation. The Gunners get a host of corners towards the end of the half. The last action of the half is a shot from Russo that forces a great top corner save. 2-1 as most of the stadium heads to the concourse.

Loads of fans that left at half time, haven’t returned at the restart. Might be in for the usual 20 minutes up and down as they return with their stinky food. The first action comes on 53 as the visitors fire over on 53 and Beth’s shot is over on 54. The wanderers still haven’t returned and others have swapped seats. Shot’s in quick succession from Caitlin and Leah are both saved. The keeper is having a great game but being kept very busy. That doesn’t stop the crowd doing the “you’re shit ahh” routine for every goal kick. None of that polite “Dodgy keeper” stuff here. The visitors have a couple of chances blocked then it’s time for the changes. Catley replaces McCabe who has been very quiet (for her). And Frida replaces Beffy. The Valerenga keeper makes another great top corner save. This time it’s from Mariona. The Gunners decide to push on so on comes Stina to replace Caitlin with Russo playing a bit wider. More chances come as Fox blazes over and Frida’s shot is saved from close range. The changes take effect on the tired Vilerenges legs as Stina breaks clear and Mariona puts it into the roof of the net on 85 ⚽. Some quality in front of goal at last. Not stopping that! Stina has a couple more chances denied then it’s time for the visitors to apply some pressure into injury time. Valerenga make 4 changes and young Lioness Katie Reid replaces Laia Codina. There are huge cheers as Lina Hurtig replaces Lia Walti on 90+2. Lina has been out for a year with an ACL. The welcome she gets shows how popular she is. Allesia Russo finally gets the reward for all her efforts on 90+3 ⚽. 4-1 to the Gunners.

That was a good game with the persistence of the opponents showing Arsenal's inefficiencies in front of goal. The strength of the bench showed through in the end to get the deserved result. The wanderer’s never did return, perhaps they passed out from the smell of the food on the concourse. It depleted the already small crowd of under 6000. The Gunners are away at Juventus next. They will need to raise their game considerably if they want to qualify for the quarter finals. Renee Slegers has a lot of work to do in the league as well. The components are there, just need the right instructions.

POTM: In a break from tradition it goes to Tove Enblom, the Valerenga keeper 🧤, what a performance.

The ref did ok although the population of North London were not impressed, digging out “The referee’s a Tory”chant from it’s retirement.

The Scran’O’meter continued it’s boycott of N7.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

1

2

The Seagulls Have Landed

Brighton & Hove Albion Women face Crystal Place Women in the WSL at the VBS Community Stadium

The Seagulls face the Eagles at Gander Green Lane in the first Women's edition of the A23 derby, the derby that never was. It's a new ground for the Seagulls but it's familiar to us as the home of Sutton United. There is a new hybrid pitch ready for the arrival of the WSL in Sutton. It's our first outing to watch the Seagulls this season after the disappointing end to last season. There is a new manager, it's Aussie Dario Vidosic, g'day' . He was brought in some new faces and got the girls 6 points from 9 so far with the first outing being a four nil thumping of Everton in which Kiko scored a hat trick. It leaves them 3rd in the table going in to today 😁. There have been a few leavers including Ziggy to PSG, Sarri to Everton, Katie to Villa, Terri to Man United, Lee to Birmingham City, Emma to Juventus, and Pinto to Atletico Madrid. There are a host of replacements and there are some big names amongst them with no less than 2 lionesses. Nikita Parris joins from Man Utd and Fran Kirby from Chelsea. Really showing the Albion's intent on a better league position this season. There are a few more incomings to note. Michelle Agyemang from the young lionesses joins on loan from Arsenal. Cankovic joins from Chelsea and youngster Bruna Vilamela joins on loan from Barcelona. Not forgetting Japanese international and hattrick hero, Kiko Seike who joins from Urawa Red Diamonds, She's shining like a diamond already. We will get to know some of the others better as the season goes on. Poppy has had a great start to the season. She has been playing as a wingback to the new back 3 formation but is suspended after picking up 2 yellows against Villa last time out. The only name we know in the Eagles is England youngster, Lexi Potter. We know the ref, it's Kirsty ,who we have seen a few times, lastly being at the loss to Everton at the Amex back in April. Sutton were relegated at the end of last season so it's a pleasant surprise to be back at Gander Green Lane. It's a new ground for CPFCW who have moved from Hayes Lane, home of Bromley. The vacancy has been filled by London City Lionesses. We're in the Sutton United home end terrace. Excited? Let's get started.

The Seagulls start with their new dynamic style but the passing isn't up to scratch to carry it off. The Eagles are up for the challenge. There are a few half chances each way before Nikita heads over from Bruna's cross. Bruna is in the thick of it again on 35 as she taps in from close range ⚽. Cankovic goes down injured on 39 and is replaced by Maisie. The Seagulls get another good chance on 42 but Fran's shot is saved. Katie Stengal's blocked shot is the last action of the half. Eagles 0 Seagulls 1.

The Eagles get the first chance but it's wide. Vicky forces Jessica Yanez into another good save. Dario makes his first changes on 61. Pauline is replaced by Michelle Agyemang. Bruna by Kiko and Dotti by Rachael McLauchlan. Kiko is lively down the right wing but her team mates seem more interested in cutting in than overlapping. They are coming back into the game a bit now as Michelle's shot goes over and Kiko's is saved. The next Seagulls sub is Marit Auee replacing Nikita on 94. The last chance goes to Palace and the whistle eventually goes on 90+6. Another big 3 points.

Seeaaaguuuuuulllls. A tough game that saw them struggle to break down the Eagles, who, in turn were effective on the break. Two very different playing styles with the Seagulls playing out from the back although too ponderous and sloppy. The Eagles were happy to sit deep and were very effective on the break with crisp passing in front of runners. The Seagulls were constantly passing behind runners. Stopping the forward momentum. Fans were frustrated by that and constantly overplaying the ball. Too many ineffective shots from range after failing to break down the defence. It was great that the youngster Bruna got her first goal, hopefully a few more to come. Only some great defensive work and a few good saves kept the clean sheet and the 3 points though. But a win is a win and the Seagulls are 4th with 9 points already. It was a great atmosphere with a good noisy group singing. Even if the singing had to pause while the page on the songbook was turned. It was all positive, getting behind the girls with no sign of the supposed rivalry. There were some Palace fans singing "seaweeds" but they were completely ignored. Here for the positive👍🏼, not the negative👎🏼. Although we did laugh at their "1-0 to the referee", "how much did you pay the ref" and "You're not fit to ref the game". Don’t sit on the fence, tell us how you feel. We sneaked in, with tickets, through the home end and so got to enjoy the new fan park. They certainly had a lot more going on than Sutton. That's it from Surrey 😉.

POTM: The defence was amazing today so the award 🎖️ goes to Jorelyn Caraballi for her part in that.

The ref had a great first half but lost her consistency in the second as the frustrated Eagle started falling over at the slightest touch. Overall she did well though.

The Scran'o'meter hit a fantastic 8.5/10 for the veggie breakfast at Tim's Café on the high street. Cok iyi.

Bottle top news: No news. No fuss about bottle tops as is becoming more normal now.

See you at the Emirates in the week.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

Back at gander Green Lane

Attacking

Romance in Naranja

Chelsea WFC v Real Madrid Femenino in Group B of the UEFA Champions League at Stamford Bridge

The Blues are back in Champions League action with the first of their group games being Real Madrid at home. On paper it looks easy for the Blues as they have beaten Real Madrid at the group stage for the last 2 years. Also in the group are Celtic and FC Twente who are both on their first group stage adventure. Hope they have fun but are eventually unsuccessful. Chelsea have started the season well and have maximum points after a narrow win against Villa and then putting 7 past Palace at GGL. Their sold out WSL game against Man Utd was postponed at a weeks' notice on the grounds of player welfare. The biggest change is that Emma has gone to manage USA, oh yeh, and she won the Olympics with them this summer. Emma just being Emma. The Blues now have Sonia Bompastor who we last saw as Lyon manager in Bilbao. This is an easy banana skin for the Blues tonight. Las Blancas, seen here in a very Dutch  Orange , still have Linda Caicedo, Caroline Wier, who has escaped the ACL gang, and signed Melanie Leupolz from the Blues in the summer. There are a few new faces for the Blues.  French winger, Sandie Baltimore has signed from PSG. Sandie is at left back and on the right is familiar face, Lucy Bronze , fresh from winning the Champions League with Barcemoana. In the centre of defence are Millie and Natalie. Hannah is behind them in goal. Joining Nusken in the middle is new signing Wieke Kaptein who arrives at Chelsea after signing from Twente a year ago and spending the season there on loan. LJ is the 10 so will be drifting everywhere or no-where and taking the place of Fran who has gone to Brighton along with Cankovic👍🏼. Up front are JRK, Guru and Mayra. Las Blancas have lost Hayley Raso to Spurs so no ribbon to watch for tonight. Linda C is on the bench thankfully. Let's get on with it.   

The Liquidator starts up and the crowd are on their feet ready to go. Only the players don't come out and the music stops. A couple of minutes go by and were off again. This time the players come out and line up. It's Zecira in green and not Hannah who must have had an issue in the warm up.  After the false start, it finally underway. JRK is full of beans and wins a corner in the first minute. It's not cleared and JRK's cross ends up in the back of the net. There scorer is not announced so it must be an O.G ⚽.  Goal is a goal. Need some more beforetMadrid find their feet. The high energy press lasts for about 5 more minutes. Wieke Kaptein has a nasty clash with the pitch side advertising. She seems OK after a while. The visitors get a chance on 16 but Maria Mendes heads over from the corner. The rain starts to gets bit heavier. A orange shirt shot is easily caught by Zecira. The rain gets even heavier. Chelsea get a corner on 30. Nusken is fouled in the box and the ref gives a pen. Gura does her thing ⚽. 2-0. A double save from Zecira on 32 keeps the lead but the pressure on the hosts is building in the pouring rain. There is a scramble in the Blues box on 39 and Redeondo blasts home. I think the Blues are happy when the break comes. 2-1.

Chelsea are back up to speed and starting to apply pressure again. Weike's shot is deflected and saved as the Blues dominate. Some good wing play leads to LJ ghosting into the box and her cross finds the head of Mayra. It goes high and looks like it over the bar but it drops just under and into the net⚽. 3-1. The Whites respond by bringing on Lida Caicedo. She might be a handful, depending on where she plays. LJ is fouled by Teresa Abelleria. It's not a booking but she then reacts and gets booked for opening her mouth. Big cheers from the crowd. Guru and Mayra both have good chances from LJ crosses. Sonia makes some changes on 66 with Lawrence replacing Baltimore and Hermano replacing Kaptein. Into the last 15 and the important 5th goal could go either way. Feller comes on for Castillo and is an immediate threat. JRK is replaced by OJF for the Blues. It's been a great shift from the Swedish winger. It's the Spaniards applying the pressure now. A cross into the Blues box is not dealt with and Caicedo prods it home on 83. 3-2. Oops. A tough last ten minutes ahead. The Blues soak up the pressure though and see out the win. Aaannnd breath. Glad those Madrid subs came on so late. Phew.😰

A first Champions League win for Sonia but it was far from convincing. The early energy faded quickly but the side has been depleted by a sickness bug in the week so not all are at their peak. It turns out that Erin, who is just back from injury, got a knock in training. Cat Macario and Megan Fox were also unwell. With no keeper on the bench, it was apparently decided which outfield player would go in goal. We don't know who it was and probably never will . If we had to guess, and we can't resist, it would be Natalie Bjorn. She looks a bit like a keeper. The Blues performance was lacklustre on the whole but there were a few moments of brilliance. They sat back too much and it became difficult to get down the wings with any success. The penalty looked a bit soft but we'll take it, or rather Guru took it and she doesn't miss those. The weather was awful for parts of the game and there was some slipping and sliding. We were over on the far side so couldn't hear Sonia instructions. She's not Emma 📣.  Saying that, no-one could hear much over the Madrid keepers constant screaming. We like a shouty keeper but it was a bit too screechy. There was some good noise from the Stamford Bridge crowd, mostly at the back led by Basil but there were other small pockets of fans giving the girls support from the stands. It's a good start and 3 points on the board. FC Twente top the group after match day 1 as they beat Celtic 2-0. Their first time in the group stage but they could be tough opposition for the Blues when they head there next Wednesday. Sure Chelsea will get a warm Dutch welcome. And any tea drinkers need take their own milk as they drink it with lemon over there. Or just drink coffee like normal people. That's it for us in London this week.

POTM: Goes to JRK 🏅 for her ridiculous level of energy. Blew the Spaniards away from the first whistle.

Ref: All the officials had a good game especially considering the conditions. They intervened only where necessary and didn't fall for any of the Spaniard's theatrics.

Basil watch: Met him at the main entrance and heard him for most of the game.

Bottle top news: All bottle tops were left intact.

See you on Saturday

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

West stand rules

Two little ducks, Lucy Bronze

Stamford and Bridget

We're only here for the Basil

Enjoying the train to London

Anarchy in the MK

Tranmere Rovers FC v Milton Keynes Dons at Stadium MK in EFL League 2

The Rovers are away to MKDonalds on a surprisingly sunny October day in Buckinghamshire. It’s back to back Tranmere games for the first time in a good while. It wasn’t planned that way but Newhaven away at Roffey was rained off in the week so here we are at Stadium MK. Not that we are complaining but we are hoping for a better result and/or performance than at Gillingham. The Rovers have had mixed fortunes since we last saw them but got a draw at home to Swindle in the week with a good goal from Dennis and looking likely to take 3 points until Chris Merrie equalised with an own goal. A point today would be a good result as MK have just scored 5 goals away at Harrogate. The SWA are back in the lower tier so we get a much better view and can spread out in the sunshine 😎. We are joined today by special guest, Robbie of the Rovers. Not seen him since we were away at Forest Gumps. The team is changed a bit with Zak Bradshaw in at left back. It looks like a midfield 3 of Lee O’Connor, Chris Merrie and Saidou Khan. Khan has just been called up for the Gambia squad so will be away with the Scorpions playing Madagascar twice in Morocco in the AFCON qualifiers. Looks like he will be the only player away in the international break as LOC didn’t make the R.O.I. squad this time round. It looks like a front 3 of Patrick and Morris with Dennis in the middle. That’s both out league goal scorers in the front row. We haven’t been in great form but are starting to scrap a bit harder and got that draw against Swindle. No sign of Connor today. Hopefully just resting him. He always gives 110% on the pitch so he will be missed. There are no familiar faces in the hosts who are now barred from Betty’s Tea shop after the battering they gave Harrogate. The crowd looks bigger than last time we were here. Come out for the sunshine, probably not the sparkling football on display. We’ve had a pre-match cheeky Nandos 🌶🍗 so it’s time to settle in the sunshine in the comfy seat and watch the match.

The Rovers are straight on the attack and get a corner in the first minute. It comes to nothing and the energy only lasts a few more minutes. It turns into a typical mid-table game with little quality on display . We are getting some joy down the left with Zak and Omari. We get another corner on 12 and Kieron gets a shot off only to see it saved. Zak gets a shot in on 15 but it goes wide. Lots of turnovers and little fouls. The MK are very unsteady on their feet and seem to fall over very easily. MK get a corner that eventually ends in a goal from close range on 23. Not what we needed with our own difficulties in finding the net. It's LOC’s turn to have a shot but his effort is saved, There is some more scrappy football and some more falling over but the half finishes 1-0 to the hosts.

The Dons are the better side after the restart but there is no sign of the beautiful game here. Kristian Dennis is on the team sheet and apparently on the pitch but not sure why. Not in the game at all. He is thankfully replaced by Harvey Sauders. Things don’t improve as Omari is replaced by Josh Davison. Regan Hendry replaces Kieron Morris, Hopefully he will bring some skills to the energy provided by the other subs. Josh and Harvey are trying to play the same game and keep getting in each other's way. We’re not going to get back into it playing like that. Into 3 minutes of added time. It’s a goal for Tranmere. It’s utter chaos in the away end. Regan Hendry was the scorer,  from a Cameron Norman header on 90+1 ⚽. The limbs have barely subsided by the time the whistle goes on 90+3. 1-1 the result but you wouldn’t believe that we hadn’t just won it from the reaction of the crowd and players.

Not a pretty sight but a point on the road will do nicely after the performance. Great limbs at the end though. Celebrated like a win, Love a late equaliser. The Rovers are lacking somewhat in sharpness up-front although Dennis did score last week. There is more energy than quality in some of the options. Zak was getting good space down the left but there were never any options for him. Same for Omari getting frustrated trying to go forwards and having to go backwards. It got so bad, the fans were shouting “wrong way to help out in case they were confused about which way to go. It was almost like there was a force field round the box to stop them straying in there. Still, we got to sit in the comfy seats, listening to some decent tunes, in the sunshine with a belly full of Nando’s. Have had worse days out. That late goal definitely added a rose tint to the whole day. It will be a while before the MK sees limbs like that again. Up the comeback Whites.

POTM: Goes to Chris Merrie 🏅 for being the only player who seemed to want the ball today.

The Scran’O’meter doesn’t usually score external eateries but is always up for a Cheeky Nadno’s. This one scored a yummy 8.5. There was no full fat Coke on sale in the ground. Football catering starting to go WOKE. What next? Alcohol free beer?

The officials officiated without much drama. Needed to do a bit more about the MK players falling over constantly. Maybe a breathalyser. Rolling around at the slightest touch seems to be normal and accepted now. That and kicking the ball away rarely get punished. Omari must have drawn the short straw today.

Bottle tops were left on!

See you soon.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

Inside with Robbie

Outside the MK

Cheeky Nandos