Adams hails 'old man' Koumas

Micky Adams praised 'old man' Jason Koumas after his superb second-half equaliser in Tranmere's 2-2 draw with Oxford.

The visitors led at half time through Cole Stockton's flicked shot, only for Tyrone Barnett to power home two goals in five minutes midway through the second half to put Oxford in charge. But, just three minutes after he was sent on as a 73rd-minute substitute, 35-year-old Koumas curled in a brilliant shot from 25 yards which crept just inside U's keeper Ryan Clarke's right-hand post. Oxford had enough chances to have won the tie in the second half, but Rovers showed steel to hold out for a replay at Prenton Park. Adams said: "It was a gripping cup tie, really end-to-end, especially in the second half. "In the first half I was really pleased with the way we played, and we could easily have been two up, because Shamir (Fenelon) had a great chance when he went through on goal. "We expected a response from Oxford in the second half, that they would throw a few more bodies forward, and Danny Hylton got at us which caused us some problems. "And then we conceded from a set-piece which disappoints me greatly. "When Oxford scored a second it looked like 'game over', but we showed fantastic resilience again, that never-say-die spirit, and the old man's come on and scored to give us a replay. "He's a fantastic pro. I just thought, when I was making the substitutions at that stage, that this was the time for Jason Koumas to come on and put his stamp on the game, and he did just that. "Yes, we got an equaliser out of nothing, but I think we deserved something from the game. "Oxford really put us under the cosh in the second half and we rode our luck at times, but the commitment of our players was outstanding." Tranmere have now suffered just two defeats in nine games since Adams took charge. "We're growing as a team," he said. "But there's still a long way to go." Oxford head coach Michael Appleton was frustrated that the U's didn't convert more chances in the second half after they played at a much higher tempo than in the first 45 minutes, and carved out some great opportunities. But Oxford's unbeaten run now stands at five games, though they will wonder who they can put up front in the replay at Prenton Park because Tyrone Barnett's loan from Peterborough will have ended by then, and all the other strikers are injured or cup-tied. Appleton said: "I was a little bit disappointed in the first half that it was a little bit flat in the stadium, and it was hard for us to get going. "We tried to get at them more in the second half, and I don't know how many chances we created. We must have had 10 quality chances, it was just frustrating that we could score from only two of them. We got into some really, really good positions. "And it's frustrating when the opposition had only three shots, yet scored with two of them. "We've got Tyrone Barnett for just one more game before he goes back to Peterborough and he's showing everyone now what he can do. "I just hope some other club doesn't now reap the benefit of a fit and strong Tyrone Barnett because he's got there through being with us. "But at least we're in the hat for the third round, and I was very pleased with our second-half performance."