|
Ronnie Moore was forced to make one change from the side that defeated Brighton 2-0 last weekend, as Craig Curran replaced the injured Gareth Taylor in a straight swap upfront. Carl Tremarco, Mike Jones, Anthony Kay, Adnan Ahmed and John Achterberg made up the substitutes bench.
Rovers started the better side, with Craig Curran heading wide early on from Shane Sherriff's cross in the fifth minute before Steve Davies' brilliant long range effort was tipped over superbly by Yeovil 'keeper Mildenhall as Rovers looked for a repeat of last season's 2-0 win at Yeovil.
Hearts were in mouths at the Tranmere end minutes later though, as Yeovil came the closest yet to taking the lead, with Paul Warne's excellent volley smashing against the cross bar with Coyne beaten. The ball bounced down and was just inches away from the line before it was cleared.
The Tranmere fans were confused minutes later though as they struggled to see the action at the other end which Tranmere were attacking. Steve Davies struck a left-footed shot from 20-yards again and it looked as though the Yeovil 'keeper had dived to early and missed the ball, but at the last moment he stuck up a hand and deflected the ball on to the bar and out for a corner.
A clash of heads between Owusu and Goodison meant a lengthy pause in play as both players recieved treatment, with the dangerous Owusu eventually being subsituted before Ben Chorley vollied wide from the edge of the area on 27-minutes as the Glovers failed to clear a corner.
After the frantic opening 30 minutes, the match calmed down as although both sides threatened, niether 'keeper was really tested whilst a referee determined not to let play flow meant the game became fragmented and both sides lost any momentum.
The final incident of the half saw Yeovil break in the box and Marcus Stewart take a tumble after he lost possession, despite not appearing to be touched by a Tranmere player. The referee played on and Stewart was left to recieved critisism from the travelling Tranmere fans for his simulation.
After the break, Yeovil came out and immediately took the game to Tranmere as the looked to get the opening goal of the game.
After Greenacre had put a weak shot straight at Mildenhall from Jennings' pass, Yeovil took the initiative as they took the lead through Marcus Stewart on 58-minutes.
Ian Goodison's defensive header went straight to the former Charlton and Bristol City man was allowed to run right across the front of the Tranmere area, with only Paul McLaren coming out meet him. Stewart beat McLaren for pace and hit a good shot straight into the bottom left-hand corner from the edge of the D, leaving Danny Coyne in the Tranmere goal with no hope.
Yeovil now had the upper hand and were much the better side for the next 15-20 minutes as they pretty much camped in the Tranmere half of the field.
Warne shot over for Yeovil from distance before Moore started to utilise his subs, replacing Paul McLaren with Adnan Ahmed, making his Tranmere debut, on 67-minutes.
Russell Slade's side then had more efforts, as Stewart was again in the thick of the action, smashing one shot well into the Yeovil fans behind the goal before a second effort a few minutes later looked to be heading well wide until some late swerve and dip left it dropping just wide of the goal.
However, in the last 20-minutes Tranmere started to put some pressure on the Yeovil defence, with Steve Davies first heading over from Ahmed's cross.
With 18-minutes left, Craig Curran was replaced by Carl Tremarco, as the substitute went on the left-wing whilst Steve Davies moved upfront.
Steve Jennings should have at least worked the goalkeeper with seven minutes left after a good move from Rovers. Stockdale, who looked good going forward, put a good cross to the back post where Steve Davies headed it back toward the centre of the goal where Jennings some how vollied over from inside the six-yard box.
Chorley and Sherriff then put free-headers over for Tranmere from corners before Rovers had a strong shout for a penalty after Steve Davies was pushed over near the penalty spot but the referee gave nothing for the clear foul.
Time was running out for Rovers when the referee gave a free-kick for a foul on Chris Greenacre in the sixth minute of injury time. Originally, only four minutes had been signalled but a Yeovil player went down with cramp and a couple of extra minutes were added for his treatment.
Steve Davies stepped up to take the free-kick, 20-yards from goal and to the right of the D as he looked at it. When the 19-year old was eventually allowed to take the set-piece, he stepped up and curled a magnificent free-kick into the corner of the net with almost the last kick of the game, bar the kick off.
The goal sent the travelling Tranmere fans, roughly 300 of them, extatic. From a personal point a view, I can say it is the most I've celebrated a goal in a long time and it's certainlly the best way to get a draw!
The kick was perfect and a 96th minute equaliser certainlly shows that Tranmere have the fight, grit and determination this season that they possibly lacked during the last campaign, as well as the belief to do well and a good squad behind them.
Despite missing strikers Zola and Taylor through injury, who would have almost certainlly made a difference had one of them player, Rovers still came through and got a very good point.
Jones' Man Of The Match: There were weak performances through-out the team, with Chorley, Shuker and Jennings having little effect on the game. The two men upfront, Curran and Greenacre, couldn't hold the ball and thats a partnership which is probably not the future. There were some good performances however, with Davies doing well whilst Goodison and Stockdale were both strong. My man of the match however was Shane Sherriff, who looked good at left-back, marking his man well and defending to great effect.