Tranmere Rovers
Weekly Review
By Matthew Jones
March 14 2010
Matthew Jones takes a look back at what's happened in the past seven days at the theatre of dreams that is Prenton Park
Two first team fixtures, a reserve team fixture and two sendings off, the last seven days have certainly been a busy one for Tranmere Rovers, with Rovers picking up some positives and some negatives along the way.
The week though didn't get off to the best of starts for Tranmere, as they slipped to a disappointing a confidence bashing 4-1 defeat against Leeds United at Prenton Park.
Leeds came to Prenton Park having not won an away league match in 2010, but a dominating display saw them ease their way to three points on the Wirral, though they were helped along their way with numerous defensive errors.
Indeed, the visiters were two up after 16 minutes, with first Robert Snodgrass drifting a free-kick over everybody and into the net from the touchline, before Jermaine Beckford converted from the penalty spot after Paul McLaren had fouled by McSheffrey inside the area.
Tranmere struck back on 19 minutes when Welsh fired home from inside the area, but that was the best it got for Rovers, who were off the pace against a strong Leeds side all evening.
Becchio made it 3-1 for Leeds ten minutes before the break with a diving header from Beckford's cross after good work from Snodgrass, before Beckford got his second of the match just after the hour mark to seal the game, as he ran on to a long ball and expertly finished past Daniels.
Wednesday saw Rovers second string line up against Liverpool in the semi-final of the Liverpool senior cup, but the result was no better for the Wirral side, who once again lost by a three goal margin.
Fielding a strong side that included Cresswell, Taylor, McCready and Barnett, Rovers were powerless to resist a young but strong Liverpool side, that included the likes of midfielder Jay Spearing.
Dalla Valle, Amoo and an own goal from McNamara secured Liverpool's progress, but that wasn't all of the bad news for Rovers, as left-back Aaron Cresswell was given a straight red card for a wreckless and dangerous tackle with half the game gone.
The left back would now serve a three game first team ban, which included Saturday's game against Bristol Rovers, but the implications of this would worsen later in the week after events at the Memorial Ground.
The final action of the week saw Tranmere travel to Bristol Rovers for a first team fixture on Saturday in Coca Cola League One.
Following Tuesday's defeat to Leeds, Les Parry made four changes to the starting line up and he continued his streak of never having lost back to back games since being made permanent manager at Prenton Park, as his side forced a 0-0 draw.
Rovers rarely threatened to score themselves, whilst Luke Daniels made a couple of fine saves in goal for Tranmere, but a point is a point, and it was a very valuable one for Tranmere, that left the 20th in the table, but four points above the relegation zone, after all of the bottom six drew!
However, left-back Zoumana Backayogo was sent off for Tranmere for picking up two yellow cards, and he will now miss two matches as this was his second sending off of the season.
With Cresswell also suspended following his sending off against Liverpool reserves, Tranmere now have no natural left-back available for the games against Hartlepool and Brighton.
One possible solution for Les Parry could be to play Shay Logan at left-back, whilst Chris McCready could also play there if necessary.
Finally, it was great to see striker Bas Savage start his first game in eleven months on Saturday at Bristol Rovers.
The striker, who recently made his first two appearances since twice injuring his achillies as a substitute, lasted the entire 90 minutes at the Memorial Ground on Saturday, a sight that many Rovers fans have been waiting for for a long time.
Coming up tomorrow on Total Tranmere, we reveal the results of our poll, where we asked you which Wembley hero you'd most like to see back at Prenton Park.
So don't forget to check in tomorrow, and keep logging into Total Tranmere every day, as we bring you the latest news as it breaks from Prenton Park.
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14/03/2010 21:24
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