A draw was a fair result for Calderwood and Mellon

Posted Sunday, February 17, 2019 by PA

Both bosses agreed that a point was a fair result after Cambridge and Tranmere played out a goalless draw at the Abbey Stadium.

The visitors had goalkeeper Scott Davies to thank for keeping the U’s at bay.

He produced an early double save to keep out David Amoo’s shot and Jabo Ibehre’s rebound and later denied Ibehre again before a fine stop from Rushian Hepburn-Murphy’s close-range header.

Calderwood, reflecting on what was “probably a fair point”, said: “I don’t think we deserved to win, I thought we were short of a level but it was as much because the opposition made it really difficult. I think they’re a more than decent team.

“The two boys in the centre of the pitch for us were equally as good as their two, and on the defensive side both teams were pretty equal.”

Speaking of the saves Davies made, Calderwood added: “You could come out and paint the picture that they are the moments that make us the dominant team, but we weren’t.

“It was a good competition today, a good level of opposition, and I think we were probably that to them.

“You want more, you demand more and you know the lads have got a little bit more quality on occasions.

“As good as you want to be, it’s determined by the level of opposition and that was a tough level of opposition to play against.

“I’m annoyed at myself being slightly downbeat but I can’t fault their effort during the week and their effort during the game.”

Tranmere’s Micky Mellon agreed that the sides cancelled each other out, while praising his goalkeeper.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game and we certainly weren’t disappointed,” he said.

“Both teams were going at it from minute one and you’d have to say, being honest, that neither team deserved to lose the game.

“All credit to both sets of players, I thought they had a right good go. It was just going to be a mistake or a bit of magic that was going to open up defences.

“We want to win every game that we take part in and I’m not happy with a draw, but you’ve got to say sometimes that both (sets of) players gave everything they had and they couldn’t break each other down.”

On Davies, Mellon added “It was just good, honest challenges.

“If you see him in there he’s a bit like a crash test dummy! He’s still on at the end and he comes for that cross, which is really brave, and sees us over the line with a point.”