Attendance: 6,104

 

Referee - Mr Lee Mason (Lancashire)

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR FULL MATCH STATISTICS AND TEAM LINE-UPS

 

After defeat at Cheltenham on Tuesday night, most Rovers fans would probably have settled for a point from this fixture before the game kicked off.  Although the game was hardly an entertaining affair apart from the usual ruthless barracking of ex-Tranmere player Sean Thornton by the Super White Army, a point was exactly what both Rovers ended up with.

 

The goalless draw saw very few clear-cut chances for either side during the ninety minutes with Chris Greenacre and Chris Shuker going closest for Tranmere.  A solid defensive performance once again from Ian Goodison also contributed greatly to what was a decent point for Tranmere against one of the apparent League One promotion favourites.

 

Ronnie Moore made one change to the side that started the 1-0 defeat at Cheltenham on Tuesday with fit again Kevin Ellison returning to the side at the expense of Carl Tremarco whilst John Mullin recovered from a sickness bug that had seen him substituted at Cheltenham and was able to start for Rovers.

 

Tranmere found themselves up against a few familiar faces with Gareth Roberts and of course Sean Thornton in the Doncaster starting line-up and also Jason Price was on the bench for the home side.

 

The reception for Roberts was thankfully a good one but the same cannot be said for Sean Thornton who was mercilessly booed throughout the game.

 

Tranmere on the whole were probably slightly the better team in the first half of the match with Chris Shuker on the volley and Chris Greenacre having the best two chances for Rovers although in an attacking sense, as at Cheltenham and to an extent against Oldham, Rovers very rarely had the decent final ball into the area that was really required.

 

Possibly most disappointing again was Chris Shuker who admittedly had little support at times on the wing but failed to deliver a decent ball into the area for the strikers.  At one point towards the end of the first half, Ellison and Shuker swapped wings with some affect as a few moments later, Ellison’s cross saw Doncaster keeper Blayney in action once again.

 

Chances for Greenacre and Taylor, who still don’t seem to have gained an understanding between them as yet, came and went as Blayney was by far the busiest keeper in the opening 45 mins.

 

Gavin Ward in the Rovers goal was not without action himself as Coppinger, undoubtably Doncaster’s Man of the Match, caused Rovers problems down their right all afternoon and Ward had to be on his guard to keep Donny out with help of Tranmere’s star man Ian Goodison who was always in the right place at the right time and never seemed fazed.

 

The Tranmere faithful became increasingly frustrated in the first half with the performance of the referee Lee Mason who seemed to be giving everything to the home side and yet seemingly missing handballs and fouls committed by Doncaster players.  The frustration was summed up by the late first half bookings of Robbie Stockdale and Shane Sherriff within a minute of each other.

 

After the Rovers of Tranmere had been the better side in the first half, the second half was a different story as the visitors failed to carry on where they had left off.  Taylor and Greenacre hardly seemed involved in the second half as Doncaster gained a better footing in the game with Coppinger still causing all the problems.

 

However, there were very few clear-cut chances in the second half for either side with Ellison going closest for Tranmere with a volley after Greenacre set him up and Paul Heffernan having a couple of decent chances go begging for the home side.

 

The excellent Goodison was caught out on one occasion as Doncaster attacked but unsurprisingly he was the first player on the scene to clear the danger away.

 

John Mullin and Paul McLaren once again seemed unable to get a command on the midfield for Tranmere as the game went very flat from a Tranmere point of view.

 

The Tranmere fans calls for Calvin Zola to be introduced were answered in the 77^th minute but unexpectedly it was Chris Greenacre who made way for the Congo striker rather than Gareth Taylor.  Just a minute later, Kevin Ellison who was playing his first game after a minor injury, was replaced by Carl Tremarco.

 

Neither side ultimately found the breakthrough and a draw was a fair result for both sides and certainly a result that many Tranmere fans would have taken before kick-off.

 

Overall the defensive performance for Tranmere was very encouraging and in the three games played so far they have been outpaced once by Cheltenham’s pacy Odejayi but have otherwise looked comfortable under pressure with Ian Goodison in particular playing very well.

 

Attacking wise though, this game highlighted even further that Rovers have big problems with Greenacre and Taylor still yet to gel and the the final ball to the strikers from the wing still desperately lacking as Manager Ronnie Moore himself has highlighted.

 

The long ball game seems to bypass Mullin and McLaren too often and so far, Rovers have not played football the way it should be played often enough by getting ball through the wingers and the central midfield.

 

The players are no doubt still blending and getting used to each other and I still feel the potential for good season is there.  Four points from the first three games (including two difficult away games) is not a bad start to the season.

 

Next up is Yeovil Town at home next Saturday (August 19^th) with Kick-Off at 3.00pm at Prenton Park.

 

                                            Man of the Match

 

Ian Goodison – Outstanding from start to finish at the back for Rovers and seemed to almost single-handedly keep Rovers in the game at times.  Well Done Ian.

 

 

Gaffer’s Verdict

 

(Ronnie Moore Speaks to Tranmere’s Official Website)

"I thought we were the better side in the first half but we never really got going in the second. It was a bitty, horrible game.”

"We wanted to win but we've have taken the point at the start.  I'm pleased that we've kept a clean sheet.  We're just not firing on all cylinders around their box.  The final ball in hasn't been good enough and we've not created enough chances.”

"But I don't want to be too critical.  The effort was there, the commitment was there, it's just the belief now that we can come here and get a win that we need.  There's not too many sides going to come here and get points from Doncaster."

"Ian (Goodison) has been our best player.  It will be nice when I'm saying our centre forwards are our best players because it will mean we're creating a lot and getting at teams.  We're just lacking that cutting edge at the moment.

"We looked like we could defend today, so I'm pleased with that.  I want the icing on the cake now.  I'll never complain to a striker if they have a shot and miss.  But if they mess around in the box I will."

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