Huddersfield 1 - 0 Tranmere

Attendance: 8,315

Match Referee: Steve Bratt (West Midlands)

CLICK HERE FOR FULL MATCH STATS AND INFORMATION

Veteran striker Andy Booth netted his 175^th career goal and his 8^th of the season as Huddersfield snatched a 1-0 win over play-off hopeful's Rovers, in a fairly scrappy game.  The goal from Booth was enough to end Tranmere's distant play-off dreams.

There was only one change to the Tranmere team that was beaten at Nottingham Forrest last week at home with Ben Chorley coming into the heart of defence for Rovers, whilst Antony Kay was moved into a central midfield role replacing the suspended Paul McLaren, who last week collected his tenth yellow card of the season.  The surprise of the day was hearing that Youth striker Terry Gornell had been named on the bench replacing Steve Davies.

In the first half it was fair to say the game was scrappy, with neither 'keepers being tested in the first ten minutes. After nearly fifteen minutes without a shot and with Tranmere having had most of the possession, a shot was finally unleashed on the fifteen minute mark.  A Chris Shuker free kick found Australian Defender Shane Cansdell-Sheriff's head and he laid it on to centre-half Ben Chorley who unleashed a shot in front of goal with Huddersfield's Nathan Clarke getting in way of the shot, leaving the Super White Army appealing for a handball.

On 22 minutes another shot came from the head of Nathan Clarke, which Danny Coyne comfortable collected. Rovers then had the closest chance in the first half on 32 minutes when Chris Shuker rounded Robert page but was then denied by brilliant goalkeeping of Matthew Glennon.

The first half had come to an end when Steve Bratt blew his whistle, and overall it was a boring first half with no excitement to speak of in the game.

HALF-TIME - HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 0 - 0 TRANMERE ROVERS

Three minutes into the second half and Huddersfield attacked first with Welsh International Danny Coyne being forced into a save from Andy Booth.  On 55 minutes the Terriers piled on more pressure, however Tranmere's influential skipper Ian Goodison managed to get in the way off  Danny Schofield's effort from close range.

Danny Coyne - Rarely Tested on the Day

Then was the moment of heartbreak came, as Tranmere's play-off dreams were shattered, as they conceeded a goal from veteran striker Andy Booth who netted from close range for his eighth goal of the season on 61 minutes.  So Tranmere found themselves losing which it would be fair to say was harsh.

Tranmere would not give up though and still had most of the possession and kept threatening the Town defence by being awarded corners.  The visitors played some good football but failed to create a chance in front of goal as Welsh International Robert Page was dominating the Huddersfield defence, organizing, heading and tackling impressively.

Tranmere manager Ronnie Moore then decided on the 76^th minute mark to bring on Craig Curran to replace the pacey Ian Moore and to bring on experienced midfielder John Mullin for the out of positioned Shane Sheriff.  

This was not enough for Rovers, the day got worst as the Town scoreboard showed updated scores from League One with Leeds United on top against Millwall.

The 90 minutes were over and despite Tranmere's domination in the second half it wasn't enough to keep them in the play-offs race.  Now mathematically out of contention, Tranmere will now be playing for nothing but pride for the remaining two games of the season.

FULL-TIME - HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 1 - 0 TRANMERE ROVERS

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• Huddersfield 1 - 0 Tranmere Rovers Match Snippets
• Huddersfield Town 1 - 0 Tranmere Rovers Stats
• Tranmere Rovers v Huddersfield Town - Match Thread
• Ronnie Moore - "It's A Game We Can Win"
• Huddersfield Town v Tranmere Rovers Match Preview

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

Tranmere Rovers Poll