Tranmere Rovers
Match Preview: Tranmere Rovers v Bromley
By Louise Formston
October 2 2015
As Tranmere prepare for their home game against Bromley on Saturday afternoon, Louise Formston returns with her match preview ahead of the game.....
This Saturday sees footballing action return to Prenton Park as Rovers play host to Bromley, who will make a 500 mile round trip up from London. Bromley were promoted to the division in the summer and have made a good start to the season. Tranmere have had decent form of late and Bromley have been equally as impressive (if not more so) so Saturday has all the makings of a great game that will probably end in a 0-0 draw!
Form Guide:
Tranmere went unbeaten for the entire month of September with a total of seven games now without a loss (including the August Bank Holiday draw against Kidderminster). Out of those games, Rovers have won three and have come from behind to secure at least a point three times in the last seven games – something we couldn’t manage last season. Not only are we now coming from behind to grab at least a point, last Saturday saw us snatch all three points as Andy Mangan scored an injury time winner at Cheltenham.
In the last six games we’ve scored nine goals whilst conceding only five demonstrating the improvement we’ve made from last year. Rovers now sit 6th in the table on 23 points – the same as Bromley who occupy 4th place due to a slightly better goal difference.
Bromley’s goal difference has been helped massively due to their recent up turn in form. Bromley have won their last six games including a ten goal thriller away at Torquay earlier in the month (the match finished 7-3 to Bromley). Bromley have managed clean sheets against Chester, Gateshead and Macclesfield but all three of those were at home. They haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home all season.
Injuries and Suspensions:
Minutes before Tranmere’s game against Cheltenham last weekend, it was reported that James Norwood had been suspended. It’s since been revealed that this is an FA Suspension following an investigation into an under-21s game Norwood played in whilst a Forest Green player. He’s been suspended for two games, with the second of these being the Bromley game.
Norwood isn’t alone in his suspension; Steve Jennings who has already managed to accumulate five yellow cards this season and will be serving a one game ban, will join him. Martin Riley has been injured for a while but this week returned to training however Saturday’s game will likely come too soon for him.
Bromley had no new injury concerns after their game against Chester last weekend and a quick look at their club statistics suggests they’ve no players due a suspension!
The Opposition Dugout:
Manager Mark Goldberg is the man who will be taking a seat in the opposition dugout when he visits Prenton Park with his Bromley side on Saturday. Goldberg doesn’t come from a footballing background having had a very successful career in I.T making himself a multimillionaire. In the late 90s he bought Crystal Palace, who were relegated from the Premier League shortly after (most likely due to Goldberg’s changing of the Manager as soon as he took over!).
Eventually Goldberg’s financial backers withdrew their support and he was forced to leave Palace on the brink of administration. Goldberg was declared bankrupt in 2000 after losing his entire fortune. Nowadays however, he’s in his third stint in charge of Bromley and last season oversaw their promotion from the Conference South.
Goldberg’s son, Bradley is a professional footballer who originally signed his first professional contract with Dagenham and Redbridge but is now back with his dad at Bromley. His daughter, Lauren-Rose has appeared on the X-Factor and ITV’s This Morning.
One To Watch:
Moses Emmanuel (26) - Striker:
Bromley striker Moses Emmanuel is currently the National League’s top scorer with twelve goals already this season. For comparison the next closest striker to him is Macclesfield’s Kristian Dennis, who is on loan from Stockport County and has nine goals this season. Emmanuel was born in Lewisham, London and signed his first professional deal with Brentford in 2008 for a transfer fee of £2,500.
Since then Emmanuel has played for Welling, Woking, Dover, Eastleigh and Canvey Island before signing for Bromley in 2014 and becoming a key figure in their promotion campaign. This season, he’s started in a similar form and has included a hat-trick amongst his goals already.
Other goal scorers within the Bromley side include Bradley Goldberg and Louis Dennis. Former Rovers’ defender Ben Chorley is currently amongst the squad at Bromley and has played in eight games for them so far this season.
Around the League:
Chester vs Wrexham: This game is a 2pm kick off but for some National League fans it’s the highlight of their season. With Wrexham sat on 23 points with Tranmere, a Chester win might work in our favour before we head over the border and play Wrexham on Tuesday night.
Grimsby vs Forest Green: The wheels have come off the Forest Green promotion push train of late but they are still top of the table, albeit only just. This weekend they head north to take on Grimsby, who sit just behind Rovers on 21 points and are looking to join the play-offs.
Woking vs Southport: Midtable Woking take on still in the relegation zone Southport this weekend. A win for Southport could see them jump out the relegation zone providing other results go their way. This one is of note to Rovers’ fans due to Cole Stockton currently being on loan at Southport.
My Starting XI:
Davies
Ihiekwie Sutton Hogan Hill
Dawson Harris Maynard Mekki
Margetts Mangan
Two forced changes with Maynard coming in for Steve Jennings (out through suspension). At Halifax, Maynard did play in this central role so hopefully he shows the same talent here as he did for Halifax. Margetts to start up front with Mangan in place of the also suspended Norwood. Whilst I’m disappointed I can’t start Norwood, who I think has formed a really decent partnership with Mangan, Margetts impressed enough preseason to warrant a contract so here’s hoping he can push on in the League now. The rest of the team should remain unchanged – why changing a winning formula right?
As for a scoreline, I really can’t predict this one. It’s either going to be end to end but finish 0-0 or one team is going to completely dominate – lets hope that’s us.
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02/10/2015 12:20
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