Rovers Earn a Point in Disappointing Encounter

By Deadly Submarine January 31 2006
Another drab encounter at Prenton Park today saw Rovers end their run of four straight defeats in the league but they had to settle for just a single point after a 0-0 draw against Colchester United. Rovers were greeted with boos from the home support at the end in front of a disappointing crowd.

Tranmere Rovers 0 – 0 Colchester United

Attendance: 6,612

Another home game and another disappointing performance from Brian Little’s men as Colchester wasted a late chance to snatch the points in a pretty drab 0-0 draw at Prenton Park.

The positives from the game? A clean sheet for the first time since the 0-0 draw at Bournemouth on September 2^nd. The negatives? A failure to score in a league game for the fifth consecutive match.

The chorus of boos that greeted the home side at the end of the game was a reflection of the current mood around Prenton Park but Rovers had a couple of chances themselves to win the game through their second half substitutes.

Rover’s Manager Brian Little stuck with the same side that started the 2-1 win over Lincoln City in the LDV Vans Trophy in midweek with new loan signing Steven O’Leary taking a place on the bench at the expense of Theo Whitmore.

Playing in the new light blue third kit complete with supporters names in the fabric, Rovers started relatively brightly with Steven Jennings in particular having good possession and raining a few early crosses into the visitors penalty area.

After ten minutes, Facey won the ball in the Colchester penalty area and his knockdown found Chris Greenacre whose shot sadly lacked power. Facey and Greenacre looked lively upfront for Rovers but Colchester reminded Rovers of the dangers posed at the other end as they tried to hit the hosts on the break with Kem Izzett firing over after twenty minutes.

Just before the half hour mark, Sam Aiston fired a bullet of a shot at the Colchester goal but Aidan Davison in the U’s goal made a terrific save as Rovers had to settle for a corner. From that corner, three of Rovers defenders had efforts on goal with Mike Jackson heading over the crossbar after chances for Linwood and Sharps had been cleared off the line by the Colchester defenders.

Chris Greenacre couldn’t break the deadlock just before the break and a ripple of boos rang out from the home fans around the ground as the teams left the field at half-time. After the person sitting next to me in the Main Stand won £820.50 on the Equaliser draw at half-time we agreed that maybe things would get better in the second half but although Rovers started the half well, there was still no breakthrough.

Facey headed over the bar just five minutes into the half before Greenacre broke clear of the defence and looked like he was going to score before a terrific last ditch tackle by a defender and an eventual block by the keeper denied Rovers top scorer a goal.

On the hour came the controversial talking point of the game amongst Rovers fans as Brian Little made a double substitution. Sam Aiston and Chris Greenacre were replaced by Calvin Zola and Steve Davies which saw a loud chorus of boos around Prenton Park. The substitutions saw Rovers playing seemingly with three upfront with Facey on the right, Davies on the left and Zola in the centre.

Almost immediately after coming on, Facey got down the right but his cross was too hard for Zola. As the game went on, Iwelumo had two great chances for the U’s but the first was cleared off the line and the second sailed wide on the volley.

Rovers new loan signing Steven O’Leary replaced Mark Rankine on 73 minutes and Steve Davies continued to look lively for Rovers, heading over the bar and also having a stinging shot deflected for a corner.

As injury time approached, the visitors looked the most likely to score and should have won it when substitute Jamie Cureton’s close range shot looked certain to go in but was deflected over by a wonderful point blank save from Achterberg.

So 0-0 it finished to the sound of yet more booing and although a point at home is hardly acceptable, given recent form a point is better than a defeat in a game that was finely balanced but hard fought by both sides.

Rovers now travel to Doncaster Rovers next week in the hope of a further improvement in results.

Man of the Match Award

Paul Linwood – The midfield struggled through the game although Jennings did well but Linwood was confident and relatively solid at the back as well as contributing to the rare occasions that Rovers attacked.

What the Gaffer Said……

Tranmere Manager Brian Little (speaking to the Official Club Website):-

"It's not going to come right straight away," he said. "We've worked hard today and have tried to win the game. But they don't lose very many on their travels, they're very strong and play with a packed midfield. It was a hard fought and a point in the right direction. They had the

best chance of the game but towards the end when we tried to change things we had a couple of chances that we might have done better with. It would have been nice to win at the end of a good week, but it was important not to lose the game.”

"You could tell in the last two minutes that they're in a better position than us. They were more relaxed than we were. "We've had a couple of really important meetings this week to try and iron out one or two things and focus everybody's mind on what we're trying to do and the response to that has been first class. Everything we've done today we've done as a group of people with me at the helm, and people have responded to that."

"When it's 0-0 with 20 minutes to go and you have a variation on your strikeforce you've got to try something. We tried to play with three strikers at the end, and because of the make up of their team we wanted the three pacy players up front. We didn't get round the back of them enough so we tried a bit of pace. It didn't work and we understand that supporters get frustrated, but in this business you have to make decisions.”

"Taking Chris off was a gamble but I was trying to win a game of football. It's frustrating when you get the comments we got afterwards but we were trying a gameplan. Steve Davies was unlucky on a couple of occasions, but sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

"The introduction of Steven (O’Leary) was a plus for us. He's a neat player and he'll have learnt from watching us play today. I think he's a very good player and I said to him yesterday that it was impossible for me to throw him straight in as he doesn't know anybody but within ten minutes of watching him train the temptation was there. He's a good footballer and has come from a club that has been successful."

The Line-Ups

Tranmere Rovers: Achterberg, Linwood, Jackson, Sharps, Goodison, Roberts, Jennings, Rankine (O’Leary 73), Aiston (Zola 61), Facey, Greenacre (Davies 61).

Subs Not Used: Wilson, Tremarco.

Colchester Utd: Davison, Stockley, Brown, Chilvers, White, Halford, Danns (Cureton 80), Watson, Izzett, Yeates (Duguid 79), Iwelumo.

Substitutes not used: Williams, Baldwin, Cousins.

Bookings: Linwood (Tranmere), Stockley (Scunthorpe)

Referee: Scott Mathieson (Cheshire)

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