Tranmere Rovers
10 Man Rovers Keep in the Chasing Pack
By Ste McKeownTRFC
October 30 2008
Tranmere earned a hard fought 0-0 at Stockport County to go five unbeaten on the road although they had to fight hard for the last ten minutes after a rush of blood from Andy Taylor saw him pick up two yellow cards in a matter of minutes. The Tranmere players have not tasted a goal against them for 360 minutes of football after four consecutive clean sheets.
Stockport C 0 - 0 Tranmere R
Attendance - 6,121
On a cold wet Tuesday night, the ever present Super White Army travelled the short distance up the M56/M60 towards Manchester to entertain what was a key encounter for either sides, with a place and a point only separating each team in the League.
Ronnie Moore ahead of kick off kept with the same side that had proved effective in a winning formula, relating to the 4-5-1 formation when defending and with Bas Savage being the lone forward but breaking into a 4-3-3 when on the attack, this included Chris Shuker and Ian Moore supporting.
The starting XI was as follows:
-----------Danny Coyne-----------
-----Ryan Shotton-----Ian Goodison-----Ben Chorley-----Andy Taylor
----Antony Kay----Steve Jennings----Gareth Edds-----
-----Chris Shuker ----Ian Moore
----------------Bas Savage--------------
(Referee – Nigel Miller)
The game started with very few chances, though Stockport came out of the blocks quicker. This showed when Ben Chorley who kept adding to his growing reputation blocked from an Anthony Pilkington cross when it looked as if his strike partner Peter Thompson would beat him to the ball and fire past Danny Coyne but he made a superb block to deny any early advantage for County.
After about five minutes the Rovers goal was under siege from a series of corners which led to Coyne punching clear twice, first from a direct header and the other from a scrambled penalty box. The Tranmere fans behind the goal came in good voice with over 900 fans filling up the open railway end, they regularly out sung their counterparts pumping the players up full of adrenaline.
When Tranmere got their foothold in the game they began to squeeze Stockport and push them back in to their own half, forcing mistakes out of the back four. Andy Taylor looked as though he was going to profit from this intercepting on the centre circle, he ran with a purpose but when the time came to let fly withcalls of ’shoot’ from Rovers fans he pondered on it for too long, consequently being robbed of the ball.
Stockport had the best chance of the half when from a pinpoint corner on the right hand side, Gary Dicker was left unmarked and put his header over the bar, and he should have done much better with his opportunity as Coyne was left to watch flatfooted.
Tranmere responded with a decent chance of their own with Gareth Edds hitting a 25 yard shot that stung the hands of the County goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
On eight minutes Steve Jennings tried his luck after a corner had been headed clear, though Fraser was a match for his left footed shot tipping it round the post.
As the game progressed neither side got clearly beyond the back four due to sustained possession in each other’s own half of the field. Tranmere’s tactics seemed to be working as when Stockport tried to play through them, the wide men tucked in and created a balance set of five midfielders meaning less space for them to penetrate the box.
Stockport didn’t know how to play this formation at times and it showed as persistence from the lone striker Bas Savage caused havoc, making them play stray passes straight to our midfield.
Rovers nearly took the lead on 32 minutes when Savage collected the ball wide and fed the vastly improving Chris Shuker who whipped in a delightful cross towards the back stick but unfortunately Gareth Edds could not connect with the ball after attempting a volley.
The battle in midfield between Jennings and Stephen Gleeson was between the best couple of emerging talents in the League. Just before half time, Jennings tackled County’s combative midfielder and hit a shot went straight at Forster.
Half-time came and Stockport just edged the first half but Rovers were always a threat and the fans wanted more of the same from the boys in the second.
HALF-TIME: STOCKPORT COUNTY 0 – 0 TRANMERE ROVERS
Tranmere came out in the second half looking a completely different side, more urgent and getting the ball out wide to Shuker so he could try and terrorise there full back.
Stockport seemed to give the ball away again far too cheaply and on the evidence of the final 45 minutes, Tranmere had the most clear cut chances and looked in good shape until the sending off of Andy Taylor.
The early few minutes saw Rovers win a few corners, the latter making Forster drop one at the feet of Bas Savage. The prominent striker turned on a-six pence and fired beneath the keeper but there were three Stockport players on the line to clear danger.
The next attack saw Stockport’s McSweeney hit the side netting on 51 minutes after a neat one two down the wing. The game was all of a sudden end to end, both keepers’s making saves when called upon but Gareth Edds had a magnificent chance to give Rovers the lead when Savage held the ball up well and fed Edds up who had made a barn storming run in to the box.
He made great connection with the ball, sending it high into the top left hand corner but Forster pulled off a stunning save to deny him his first goal for the club.
Three minutes later Edds had another chance to get the vital three points but he fired wide of the post when it looked as though it was going to creep in the bottom corner.
All this happened in a quick fire 20 minutes and Stockport fans were getting agitated at their player’s lack of concentration and attacking ambitions. The back four for Tranmere seemed comfortable pushing up as you could sense that the pressure would eventually tell on an inexperienced side.
Stockport came back though and Peter Thompson’s effort that clipped the bar after an excellent run and cross from sort after Tommy Rowe showed that they were still in the game and capable of snatching a crucial goal.
Chorley - Another outstanding performance at the back
As the time ticked away, Tranmere became increasingly frustrated as they couldn’t break down County’s big defence. Gareth Edds had his hat trick chance to convert his first goal on 68 minutes as he hit a shot towards Forster but was blocked by what looked like a handball, the referee thought otherwise and gave a corner which Tranmere failed to capitalise from.
On 76 minutes Tranmere’s first substitution of the evening took place and saw the highly rated Charlie Barnett replace Gareth Edds who has put in a great shift in midfield while in the other technical area County boss Jim Gannon decided to take off his most productive attacking option Tommy Rowe.
Barnett’s introduction late on in the game meant he could not make the impact he would of done starting from the off but he still showed glimpses of what’s to come spraying the ball around left and right all over the park.
Ronnie Moore then made another substitution on 81 minutes when Ian Moore who has been one the more consistent players this month was replaced by Edrissa Sonko.
Following that change a moment of madness followed for left back Andy Taylor as he was firstly booked for an innocuous challenge on Anthony Pilkington.
The referee who had been inconsistent all evening after calling back an advantage he let go, gave Taylor the yellow to the disgust of fans and coaching staff alike.
However he did not then need to dive in almost 50 seconds later which this time was a yellow and got his marching orders ten minutes from the end.
This for most was reminiscent of Shane Sherriff at Leyton Orient last year. With the red card suddenly changing the direction of the game, Ronnie decided to sure up the defence by putting on Godwin Antwi for Ian Goodison who had picked up a slight knock and is doubtful for Saturday’s trip to the MK Dons.
There was one last chance for Tranmere to take a smash and grab victory at the death but Savage hit his cross to wide of anyone in the centre and the referee duly brought the entertaining game to a close.
This point keeps us within the chasing pack at the summit of League One, after a poor September we are now only two wins of the top and compared to last season’s start only a point worse off. Lets continue to get behind the boys and hope for a great season ahead.
FULL-TIME: STOCKPORT COUNTY 0 – 0 TRANMERE ROVERS
Ben Chorley – The resilient defender put in another outstanding performance at the heart of the defence, commanding the line, making vital interceptions and wanting it more than anyone else.
After an unsure start to his Tranmere career, he is now a certain starter when fit and is a firm favourite of the fans. He most of all helped keep our fourth consecutive clean sheet and hopefully he will be even more pumped up for this Saturday against his former club.
A Bizarre & Ironic After Match Incident
While most of our fans were in their warm homes including most of the regular posters on this website, four Total Tranmere members were stranded in Stockport till the early hours of the morning due to a moment of madness by Total Tranmere contributor Matt Jones.
We all forgive him for his truly remarkable act, and I think I am speaking on half of the other three as well when I say that the people of Stockport were really considerate and welcoming. While we were waiting for the RAC call- out, a nice lady gave us coffee and biscuits to bear the cold weather.
I and Mike Barrowman were so bored we even decided to do press ups in the middle of the road! Obviously when there was no oncoming traffic.
Sorry if I may have embarrassed you Matt by writing this but I thought it should get a mention because I doubt it will ever be repeated again or matched in terms of comedy value. The only other plus point was the nice Pizza we had managed to get. Overall though a truly unforgettable evening!
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