Tranmere Rovers
Match Preview: Grimsby Town v Tranmere Rovers
By Louise Formston
September 17 2015
As Tranmere prepare for their second away game in quick succession as they travel to Grimsby on Friday night for a game to be televised live to the nation on BT Sport, Louise Formston returns with her match preview ahead of the game.....
Rovers travel north to Lincolnshire this Friday night as they take on Grimsby Town in the Vanarama National League. The game will be Rovers’ third match in seven days as well as their second away trip inside four days – both having been to seaside resorts (Southport on Tuesday and now Grimsby in Cleethorpes). Originally scheduled for Saturday 19th, the match has been rearranged for Friday 18th as BT Sport want to screen another Tranmere game this month. The game will kick off at 7:45pm but coverage will start at 7:15pm and if you wish, you can watch the game at Prenton Park with both the Gold Lounge and the Bunny Bell showing the game.
Form Guide:
Both teams head into this game after disappointing draws on Tuesday. Tranmere fought back from 2-0 down by half time, to finish 2-2 against Southport but they will feel they should have done better once Southport went down to ten men. Grimsby, sitting one place above Tranmere in table in 7th but on equal points (16), grabbed a point away at Chester after a last minute equaliser from Padraig Amond cancelled out Chester’s earlier penalty.
Rovers’ point saw them stretch their unbeaten run to four games (three draws and a win), whilst Grimsby made it three games unbeaten (two wins and a draw). Grimsby have yet to play any team inside the top five so far this season so Tranmere’s visit on Friday could arguably be their toughest game of the season. Despite equalling Rovers’ on points Grimsby have scored far more goals, a league high of 22 (Forest Green have only scored 19), with defence appearing to be their issue.
Previous Meetings:
The two sides have met a number of times before, the most recent coming in 2009 at Prenton Park in the Carling Cup. A 4-0 win for Rovers with goals from McLaren, Thomas-Moore, Curran and Edds saw Rovers progress to the second round and gave manager John Barnes his first win in charge of Tranmere. Former Tranmere man, John-Louis Akpa-Akpro lined up against Rovers’ during that match as he started for Grimsby. The teams met continuously through the 90's in Division One. Their first meeting was back in 1921 and the teams ground out a 2-2 draw at Prenton Park. Sadly Grimsby have had the better fortunes with 28 wins to Rovers’ 18. Grimsby’s record largest home win came against Tranmere at Blundell Park as they won 8-0 in September 1925.
Injuries and Suspensions:
Liam Ridehalgh didn’t make the squad on Tuesday despite travelling with the team up to Haig Avenue. Given he’s been our most consistent performer this season, I would hope on injury is keeping him away from the starting eleven although this has yet to be confirmed. Andy Mangan was subbed off on the hour mark on Tuesday most likely to be a precaution due to Friday’s game. Jay Harris took a nasty knock on Tuesday but finished the game regardless and is likely to be fit on Saturday.
Norwood was starting to fade late on in the game against Southport but its evident his fitness is increasing all the time. Martin Riley has been absent from the side during the last few games and tweeted this week how he hopes to return to training (presumably from injury) later this week. Grimsby started Tuesday’s game with the same eleven that played and beat Aldershot on Saturday so its likely boss Paul Hurst will name a similar, if not the same line up on Friday as there no injuries or suspensions to worry Town ahead of the game.
Opposition Dugout:
Paul Hurst is the man in charge of Grimsby Town and has been at the helm since 2011. Hurst has overseen a number of play off finishes as well as a trip to Wembley in the FA Trophy in 2013. The 40 year old started his career in football as a player for Rotherham United, and went onto make over 400 appearances for The Millers. Hurst only played for one other team during his career, a loan to Burton Albion in 2008.
Following retirement from playing, Hurst teamed up with former team mate Rob Scott as they took on the job of manager at Ilkeston Town before moving to Boston United in 2009, and eventually moved to Grimsby in 2011. In 2013, Scott was suspended by the club for gross misconduct and Hurst continued on alone with a vastly improved win rate. This season however, Hurst has been clear that promotion is the aim.
One To Watch:
Omar Bogle (22) - Striker (English)
Omar Bogle joined Grimsby this summer on for an undisclosed fee from Solihull Moors. Prior to his time with Solihull, Bogle started his career at Birmingham, playing in their under-16 team before a brief spell with Celtic and their under-19s. Moving from Celtic to Hinckley, Bogle eventually settled at Solihull in 2012. The 6ft 2 striker scored twenty-nine goals for Solihull and attracted the attention of a number of league clubs including Port Vale but it was Grimsby who convinced Bogle to sign on the dotted line and join The Town, at the second time of asking.
So far this season Bogle has played in all ten games this season and has already scored seven goals, making him the second top goal scorer in the National League, his most recent being a brace against Aldershot last Saturday.
Omar isn’t alone in goal scoring company at Grimsby, which might explain the twenty-two goals they’ve scored so far. 27-year old Padraig Amond is the other half of Grimsby strikeforce. With six goals already this season, including that last minute equaliser against Chester on Tuesday night, Amond is proving to be a great investment for Grimsby after he signed in July from Morecambe. Andy Monkhouse, formerly of Hartlepool and Bristol Rovers, is another summer acquisition and has contributed three goals from midfield in ten games.
Amongst Grimsby’s ranks is former Tranmere trainee Jack Mackreth, whose made fifty-three appearances for Grimsby since he joined in June 2014 as well as American Jon-Paul Pitman who also joined June 2014 after stints with Wycombe and Oxford.
Around The League:
Grimsby vs Tranmere is the only National League game to be played on Friday night, the rest of the league will play on Saturday.
Macclesfield vs Forest Green: Forest Green’s unbeaten run came to an end on Tuesday night in the form of a 2-1 defeat to Woking, but they will be keen to prove it’s just a one off against 17th placed Macclesfield.
Altrincham vs Braintree Town: Braintree sit just below Rovers in the table on fifteen points and a draw against Dover will be hoping a win away at Altrincham will put them one step closer to a play off position. Altrincham however, will be keen to build on their draw against Eastleigh as they seek to put more space between themselves and the relegation zone.
Halifax vs Southport: This bottom of the table clash already has a lot at stake with the winner potentially jumping out of the relegation zone. Southport’s draw against Tranmere has given them a point advantage over Halifax who suffered an away defeat to Guiseley on Tuesday.
My Starting XI:
Davies
Iheikwie Sutton Hogan Hill
Dawson Harris Jennings Ridehalgh
Norwood Mangan
Whilst I believe in the ‘don’t change a winning (or drawing) formula’ philosophy, Mekki is no defender and left Hill completely exposed against Southport. Ridehalgh, although not a great defender, would at least offer some sort of protection for Hill as well as providing some great crosses into the box. Ihiekwe is no right back, and it’s an area we really need to address if we are to have a completely balanced team but whilst we have nothing else, he’ll have to do.
Harris was outstanding on Tuesday, he was absolutely everywhere and was driving the play forward. Jennings looked better the he has lately and the up front duo of Norwood and Mangan paid off against Chester so if they can both manage another game they should start. Special mention to Jackson, whose first touch on Tuesday night was to provide the assist for our second goal. If he can learn to turn with the ball at his feet and face goal he could be a great asset at this level.
Score Prediction? I’ll go for a 2-1 Rovers win. I don’t think we’ll stop Grimsby scoring but I’m hopeful if we play like we did second half against Southport, and the first half against Chester, for at least 70 minutes we can score enough to give us the win. Thankfully I won’t need to put my heart through the stress of the game (Tuesday was far too much!), as I will be in Manchester watching Florence and the Machine instead!
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17/09/2015 13:48
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Not able to get to Fish Town in time so will be enjoying the hospitality of the Gold Lounge which is showing both the Tranmere game and England's World Cup opener!
