It was almost Arctic cold but it was more than worth the journey as Rovers earned their second successive win on their travels in the league by beating Scunthorpe United 2-1at Glanford Park.

 

After a first half stalemate, Rovers broke the deadlock through a Chris Greenacre penalty after Delroy Facey had been fouled.  Just ten minutes later, the home side has a penalty of their own to equalise before Delroy Facey netted what turned out to be the winner fifteen minutes from time.  Former Rovers player Richard Hinds was sent off for the home side in the dying seconds for a dangerous challenge on Steven Jennings.

 

Brian Little made one enforced change to the side that lost at home to Milton Keynes Dons with the injured Steve Davies replaced by Ian Goodison, resulting in a formation re-shuffle.  Little opted for a 4-4-2 formation with Gareth Roberts on the left of midfield and Ian Goodison returning to the side in his now familiar left-back role.  Steven Jennings took up the right midfield role with Danny Harrison and Steven O’Leary in the centre.

 

The first half saw very little in terms of chances as both sides struggled to create anything decent.  Chris Greenacre combined well with Delroy Facey early on but Facey shot wide from Greeacre’s header.

 

Billy Sharp had a chance for the hosts that went wide of Achterberg’s goal and Gareth Roberts’ cross took a deflection and went across the penalty area ut Musselwhite gathered.  Other than a chance for Linwood there was little else in terms of goalmouth action as the first half ended goalless.

 

Rovers began the second half at a frantic pace and suddenly seemed like the most likely team to open the scoring.  Just two minutes into the half the visitors should have been ahead when Chris Greenacre knocked the ball down for Danny Harrison around 18 yards out.  The midfielder rifled in a fierce shot that to the Rovers fans behind the goal looked a certain goal but from nowhere Paul Musselwhite pulled off a top-class save to leave Rovers with just a corner kick. 

 

Two chances followed for the home side with Achterberg saving well from Keogh and Sharp also wasted a free-kick.  The Iron were made to pay for wasting those chances as Rovers went ahead just a few minutes later. 

 

Delroy Facey ran into the area and was felled by Nathan Stanton and the referee immediately pointed to the spot to the delight of the Rovers fans behind the goal.  After some delay caused by an incident in the centre circle that the referee had to deal with, Chris Greenacre stepped up to score the penalty and send the Rovers fans wild with delight as Greenacre was buried under a sea of celebrating Rovers fans.

 

For the fourth successive game, Rovers had the lead and the key now was to not throw it away as they had done in the previous two matches.  Jackson blocked well form Sharp just after the hour mark but a couple of minutes later Ian Goodison was somewhat harshly adjudged to have committed a foul on Butler.  Billy Sharp stepped up to score his fifteenth goal of the season from the penalty spot, sending Achterberg the wrong way.

Was a third successive minute of madness to strike against Rovers?  Thankfully not this time as Rovers weathered some Scunthorpe pressure after their equaliser with Linwood blocking a Keogh shot and Facey having a shot deflected wide at the other end. After Paul Linwood picked up a booking that now sees him suspended for one game, Facey put Rovers back in front.

 

Chris Greenacre broke down the Rovers left and whipped in an excellent cross which was knocked down by Danny Harrison to the feet of Delroy Facey.  The striker composed himself well and fired through Musselwhite’s legs from six yards to give Rovers the lead again.

 

Paul Linwood picked up a knock and was replaced by new loan signing Simon Francis just after the goal and then as the game wore down both goalscorers were replaced with Calvin Zola replacing Facey and then Chris Dagnall replacing Greenacre.

 

Gareth Roberts could have added a third at the death for Rovers as he broke clear in the left but his shot was not one of his best and was defended easily.  The last action of the game saw former Rovers player Richard Hinds become the first player to be sent off in any Rovers game this season after a dangerous challenge on Steven Jennings.

 

Rovers held on relatively comfortably for a vital three points and will now go into successive home games against Rochdale (LDV Vans) and Swansea in good spirits as they lifted themselves clear of the relegation zone.

 

Tranmere Man of the Match

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Delroy Facey:  A good team performance all round from Tranmere with Ian Goodison and Steven O’Leary playing particularly well but for winning the penalty and scoring the winner as well as being a threat upfront throughout, Delroy Facey gets Man of the Match.

 

 

The Team Line-Ups

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Scunthorpe United: Musselwhite, Stanton, Hinds, Byrne (Crosby 83), Sparrow (Johnson 62), Baraclough, Taylor (Till 62), Butler, Keogh, Williams, Sharp.

 

Subs Not Used: Evans, Ryan.

 

Tranmere Rovers: Achterberg, Linwood (Francis 77), Sharps, Jackson, Goodison, Jennings, Harrison, O'Leary, Roberts, Facey (Zola 87), Greenacre (Dagnall 90).

 

Subs Not Used: Wilson, Aiston.

 

Booked: Taylor, Baraclough (Scunthorpe) Sharps, Roberts, Jackson, Linwood (Tranmere)

 

Sent Off: Hinds (Scunthorpe)

 

Referee – Jonathan Moss (Yorkshire)

 

The Gaffer’s Verdict…..

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Brian Little’s View of the Match (Speaking to the Official Website)…..

 

"The teamwork and spirit was good. I'm not sure how great a performance it was but we kept them very quiet for long periods. There were spells in the second half where they put some pressure on us but overall I didn't think we deserved to lose. The dividing line between winning and losing is thin and today we're the right side.  "We've had so many games where we've lost by the odd goal so we've got to be pleased with today.”

 

"I thought one [penalty] was the right decision and one was the wrong decision, it's as simple as that. I can't believe that theirs was a penalty, but he gave it and it was very disappointing to us. I looked at their dugout and I saw a smirk or two, but thankfully we got back into it and won the game. You sensed that when they scored there was a degree of confusion in our team. We tried to settle them down quickly."

            

"Our two strikers got a reward for their hard work," continued Little. "We were encouraging Del at half time to get into positions that might give him a chance. He won a lot of balls today and Chris reads his flick-ons ever so well.  "It was one of Del's better performances today. It was nice to see them play together as a partnership and I encouraged them to enjoy it. Thankfully they did."

     

Speaking of new signing Simon Francis, Brian said:

 

"If Simon had been here earlier in the week it would be difficult not to play him as he is a right back. Paul has done a good job for us and is very much in contention when we play three centre backs and that might be something we do.  It would be difficult to leave an out and out right back out of the team at this moment. Again we've gambled with Ian [Goodison] at left back but he did alright. We felt we should have a strong back four and it worked.  Paul would have stayed on for the full 90 minutes had he not got the knock."

 

 

 

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