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Things to take to the match on Friday… Pillow, Sleeping Bag, Hot Chocolate??  All three would not have been out of place during a dire first half as Tranmere made most of the running but were frustratingly sloppy in front of goal in a match that failed to spring to life until well into the second half when Paul Hall worked some magic on the left hand side and crossed perfectly for McAteer to head home with a textbook finish.

In the end, three points is always the most important thing but on such a bitterly cold April night, a bit more entertainment may not have been too much to ask as both sides struggled to get to grips with the game.

Tranmere kept an unchanged side from the one that beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at Hillsborough last Saturday with Paul Hall once again partnering Iain Hume upfront.  The good news before the game for Rovers fans was that fitness doubt Jason McAteer had made it into the team when it had looked unlikely earlier in the week.

This match was certainly no Grand National as the pace of the game was almost unbearably slow.  Many football matches start slowly, but this one started so slowly that it was barely moving at all and after ten minutes had passed only two shots had been rendered, both by the visitors and both were wide of the mark.  The better of the two was a volley by Briggs that flashed wide but had looked goal bound from the Main Stand seats.

Rovers soon began to create chances but were not clinical enough in front of goal.  On 12 minutes, Taylor and Hall exchanged passes before Taylor fired a weak shot straight at the goalkeeper and that was to become the story of a dismal first half.

Rovers had a series of attacks, some with slick one-touch passing but once they got around the penalty area shooting chances were turned into more passes around the area until the chance had gone and another one had to be started.

Ryan Taylor hit a free kick straight at the defensive wall after 18 minutes before the pace finally began to increase and Paul Hall’s had Rovers best first half chance with a curling shot from 20 yards that went just wide on the half hour.  Taylor, Whitmore, McAteer and Hume all had further chances as the half drew to a close but it wasn’t to be and the half ended goalless.

Tranmere began the second half well as in the first minute Hume squared a ball across the penalty area which Hall jumped over to leave for Whitmore but unfortunately Whitmore failed to connect.  The ball then fell to Gareth Roberts whose shot was cleared. 

Just a minute later the visitors should have taken the lead when Adam Le Fondre found space in Tranmere’s penalty area but shot straight at Achterberg from close range.  Tranmere created chances but as with the first half, the final pass was frustratingly sloppy or a shooting chance was passed up in favour of more possession.

Just when all hope of a goal looked lost, Paul Hall squirmed into space on the Rovers left and after two possible crossing chances were skipped, it was third time lucky has Hall finally centred the ball high into the area and Jason McAteer headed home beautifully for his fifth goal of the season to lift the mood around Prenton Park.

Following the goal Tranmere continued to attack to try and make the game a little bit safer with chances for Roberts, Whitmore and a free header from Hume that went over a gaping goal.  Despite Stockport’s triple substitution on 80 minutes that included former Rovers striker Stuart Barlow coming on, there was no way back into the game for the visitors and Tranmere held out for three more valuable points.

The win puts Rovers seven points behind second placed Hull City who play at Bradford on Saturday and will then have played a game more.  More importantly, Rovers are now eight points clear of nearest challengers Sheffield Wednesday in fourth place and look hot favourites to at least take third place and gain home advantage in the play-offs.

Next up for Rovers is a trip to Griffin Park to face play-off hopefuls Brentford this coming Tuesday night (April 12^th) with a 7.45pm Kick-Off.

Tranmere: Achterberg, Taylor, Jackson, Sharps, Goodison, Roberts, McAteer, Rankine, Whitmore, Hall, Hume.
Subs Not Used: Howarth, Linwood, Harrison, Jennings, Dagnall.

Stockport: Spencer, Goodwin, Raynes, Hardiker, Horwood (Barlow 80), Ashley Williams, Briggs, Hurst (Allen 80), Jackman, Robinson, Le Fondre (Dje 80).
Subs Not Used: Cutler, Tomlinson.

Bookings: Taylor (Tranmere)

Referee: Mr Tony Bates (Staffordshire)

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