Micky Mellon ‘bitterly disappointed’ but promises Tranmere will bounce back

Posted Sunday, May 08, 2022 by PA

Tranmere manager Micky Mellon refused to be too downbeat after his side’s attempt to snatch a Sky Bet League Two play-off place fell short.

Despite a 1-0 victory for his own side, secured by a Kane Hemmings goal, results elsewhere ensured Rovers will be playing fourth-tier football next season.

“It was unfortunate that we couldn’t make the play-offs because with the talent we have, there is no doubt we would have been a force in the play-offs,” said Mellon.

Rovers claimed all three points when Hemmings nodded home a cross from Josh Dacres-Cogley in the first half.

Referee Seb Stockbridge incurred the wrath of the home side when he awarded them a penalty for handball but, after Rovers protests, he consulted his linesman and changed his decision by awarding the visitors a free-kick instead.

“I have to congratulate the lads first because it was a tough game but sadly we have come up short and I am bitterly disappointed about that,” Mellon added.

“But I have said in the dressing room, we must regroup and we will get better.

“It was a cracking goal we scored and I was delighted with the way it was executed.

“We came here and did what we needed to do and we work on that type of situation in training so it was good to see us score in that fashion but it was no more than a moral victory in the end.

“We are a very young group and the nucleus of the squad will be here again next season so the structure behind the scenes is better than it’s ever been.

“We just need to keep growing now and take this young group forward who will learn from this experience.

“We have so much to be pleased about moving forward.”

Leyton Orient head coach Richie Wellens refused to talk about the controversial decision that denied his team a penalty.

“I won’t waste my time and energy on the last game of the season talking about the referee as the fans let him know what they thought about his performance,” he said.

“What we need to get better at is when the game changes and we need to do something different. We brought Harry Smith on but we never played balls into him and we have to learn how to change the rhythm of the game.

“There will be times when we turn up and play really good football but there will also be times when we need to mix the game up so that’s something we’ve not worked on yet.

“We have a really good 14 or 15 players but we just need to find that icing on the cake and bring three or four real quality players in and we can compete with clubs like Tranmere who I suspect will be up there again this time next year.”