Northampton 2 - 1 Tranmere

Attendance: 5,088

Match Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey)

CLICK HERE FOR FULL MATCH STATS AND INFORMATION

Another exciting but ultimately disappointing season came to an end at the Sixfields Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Rovers lost to Northampton Town who in the end, finished above them in the table.

It's a shame that Rovers couldn't end the season on a high and give the loyal fans something to shout about but it ended 2-1 to Northampton and yet again on the road Tranmere ended a game with ten men.  Chris Greenacre did score a quality goal to draw the teams level for a while but in the end the home side got the better of Rovers to take the three points.

The Rovers Line-Up

Coyne

Stockdale  Chorley Goodison Taylor

Shuker Kay McLaren Sherriff

Greenacre Moore

Recent Form

Southend: Won

Huddersfield : Lost

Forest : Lost

Walsall : Lost

Swindon : Won

Coincidently the first and last games of the season had the same outcome, 2-1 defeats with a Chris Greenacre goal.  Ian Goodison was harshly sent off in a close game, but in the end Rovers finished in 11^th place two places and two points less than last year.

It was good weather at Sixfields as Rovers in gold aimed to beat last years away wins total but within three minutes it was 1-0 to Northampton.  Adebayo Akinfenwa who many of us would have liked to see at Tranmere, scored from close range after Rovers failed to clear their lines.  

Robbie Stockdale then had two chances to level the scores, firstly having a shot deflected over and then slicing over from the resulting corner.

It was very close to 1-1 on ten minutes when Shane Sherriff crossed for Antony Kay who did well to volley goalwards but his effort went just over.

The action was end to end as Larkin curled an effort wide for the Cobblers and Andy Taylor forced Dunn into a decent save at the other end.  

Moments before half time and the scores were level.  A corner wasn't properly cleared and Chris Shuker helped the ball back into the area with his head which allowed Chris Greenacre to score from an overhead kick from six yards.

HALF-TIME: NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1 - 1 TRANMERE ROVERS

Around the hour mark, Steve Jennings replaced the injured Robbie Stockdale and that could yet prove to be Robbie's last game for the club.  When Stockdale went off, Antony Kay moved to right back.

Daniel Jones then shot wide from a free kick and Kay shot wide from 25 yards as the game continued to be evenly matched.  Chris Shuker was then replaced by Davies and the midfield shuffled round slightly.

After Ben Chorley was penalised, Jones whipped in a free kick for the home side which was met by Poul Hubertz to head in what turned out to be the winner off the post and into the net.

Rovers' final change saw Craig Curran replace Sherriff but Rovers were soon down to ten men, as for the second time this season Ian Goodison saw red for his part in a scuffle.  Having already been booked, he picked up his second yellow, but it seemed harsh and both players seemed happy to continue with a hand shake.

Sadly, referee Gavin Ward had other ideas and Rovers failed to muster an equaliser and the game was lost.

FULL-TIME: NORTHAMPTON TOWN 2 - 1 TRANMERE ROVERS

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