Tranmere Under-18s were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup in a dramatic sudden death penalty shoot out against Cardiff City at Ninian Park.

The Fourth Round tie was goalless after normal and extra time and Rovers had the chance to win the shoot out.

However, a spot kick hit the bar before home keeper Jordan Santiago was mobbed by his team mates for saving the last kick of the game.

Rovers had battled well throughout the two hours of football against the Premier League Academy side, creating a number of chances.

But they were unable to find the breakthrough to repeat their earlier wins in the competition over Darlington, Solihull Moors and Northampton Town.

After the match Youth Coach Shaun Garnett commented: "I could not have asked for any more from the lads. They played well, pushed forward and created good scoring opportunities which they did not take.

"It was one of those nights when nothing was going to go for us. I thought they deserved to win the game and I was very proud of them."

Garnett's side came closest when Luke Denson hit the bar in the final minute of normal time from a free kick, and Dave Wilson shot narrowly wide fve minutes into extra time.

Rovers continued to dominate the early stages of the first period of extra time, with Josh Macauley heading wide from a Jay Ashcroft cross.

Ross Rule then saw a header saved by the home keeper while Peter Kennedy held on to a shot from outside the area.

Midfielder Ash Taylor was shown a red card for his second bookable offence in the second period of extra time, but Rovers were never under too much pressure before the game went to penalties.

Penalty sequence:

Cardiff score 1-0
Tranmere (Ryan Fraughan) score 1-1
Cardiff score 2-1
Tranmere (Luke Denson) score 2-2
Cardiff miss (bar) 2-2
Tranmere (Joel Richardson) score 2-3
Cardiff score 3-3
Tranmere (Josh Macauley) miss 3-3
Cardiff miss (save) 3-3
Tranmere (Louis Corrigan) miss (bar) 3-3
Cardiff score 4-3
Tranmere (Gerwyn Jones) score 4-4
Cardiff score 5-4
Tranmere (Jay Ashcroft) miss (save) 5-4