In comparison to recent home performances this was a better one but the 1-0 scoreline does not reflect the true story.  Its fair to say that Rovers could have won by at least a couple more against a fairly poor but also depleted Vale side.

The game began at little more than walking pace at times as Tranmere were comfortable yet appeared to be in no hurry to speed up the game, in fact at times it seemed almost like a training session.  Tranmere’s home debutant youngster Carl Tremarco was in excellent form down the left in both attack and defence before a Paul Hall goal just before half-time that eventually proved to be the winner.

After securing a play-off place last weekend, Tranmere manager Brian Little made four changes to his side as he decided to rest his two veteran midfielders Mark Rankine and Jason McAteer in preparation for the play-offs.  Rankine and McAteer were replaced by youngsters Danny Harrison and Steven Jennings in the heart of midfield. 

At the back, Paul Linwood replaced Jamaican Ian Goodison whilst Carl Tremarco played at left wingback instead of the still injured Gareth Roberts.  Tremarco came in in place of Eugene Dadi as Little re-shuffled his pack.  Rovers began with a 3-5-2 wingback formation with Hall and Hume upfront in front of a three-man midfield of Harrison, Jennings and Whitmore.  Port Vale made five changes to the side that lost 2-0 at home to Wrexham on Tuesday night.

In the first five minutes it was Jennings and Harrison who both tested Goodlad in the Vale goal but both efforts – Harrison’s from 25 yards – were held by Goodlad.  Carl Tremarco showed both his attacking and defensive strong points within the opening ten minutes as he first slid in to deny Lee Matthews and put the ball out for a throw-in and then cut into the Vale penalty area and shaped to cross but it was cut out for a Tranmere corner.

Tranmere had a great chance in the 10^th minute when a wonderful through ball by Jennings split the Vale defence and found Hume who couldn’t properly get his shot off.  In the 15^th minute, Billy Paynter who scored at Vale Park in Vale’s 3-1 win in December, broke clear down the right and just when captain Mike Jackson’s chase seemed a fraction to slow to halt the run, the defender got a foot to the ball and put enough on it get the ball back his keeper Achterberg.

The teams exchanged further chances as Hume’s flick was saved by Goodlad and went out for a corner then shortly after that, Vale’s Levi Reid volleyed acrobatically wide when the goal looked to be gaping. 

Tranmere’s pressure finally told in the 40^th minute when a long kick forward by Achterberg was headed on by Hume, allowing Paul Hall to flick the ball past the out coming goalkeeper Marc Goodlad.  The ball rolled agonisingly slowly towards the line but the covering defender was also running slowly and failed to get there before the ball crossed the line to give Rovers a deserved lead at last.

A 1-0 half-time scoreline was good enough for the Rovers fans but many felt it already could have been more and were confident of more goals in the second half.  Tranmere indeed looked capable of scoring more goals and their passing at times was calm and accurate for minutes at a time.  David Beresford replaced the ineffective Theo Whitmore on 58 mintues as Little moved to a 5-4-1 formation with Hall and Beresford supporting Hume upfront.

Rovers produced many patient attacks as the second half wore on and Ian Sharps had their best second half chance in the 65^th minute when his shot from inside the penalty area hit the bar and bounced down before coming back to Sharps who fired over the crossbar.

Rovers keeper John Achterberg had to make a fine save from Levi Reid just a minute after the Sharps effort at the other end and despite Hume firing wide with a 25-yard effort and then diving to within millimetres of reaching a Paul Hall cross from the right, Tranmere failed to score again but secured three points and a definite third place league finish.

The players and backroom staff completed their lap of honour after the game with Ryan Taylor limping around the pitch after going off seven minutes from the end with what Brain Little later described as a badly bruised ankle.  If he is rested next week at Milton Keynes Dons, he should be easily fit to play in the play-offs.

Brian Little expressed his delight at the performance of the four youngsters who came into the side and was particularly pleased with the performance of Carl Tremarco.

Next up for Rovers is a trip to The National Hockey Stadium to face Milton Keynes Don in the final game of the league season prior to a play-off showdown against as yet undecided opponents.

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