Tranmere once again conceeded at in the second half when ahead to grab a draw from the jaws of Victory for the second time this season against Blackpool.
Tranmere made one forced change from the 2-1 defeat at Barnsley, bringing Carl Tremaco in for the injured Mike Jackson. Tremaco filled in at left-midfield, meaning Gareth Roberts slotted in at left-midfield and Ian Goodison partnered Ian Sharps, captain for the day, in central defence. Theo Whitmore made the bench along with Calvin Zola, Steve Davies, Sam Aiston and Phil Palethorpe.
It was a srappy affair, in which niether midfield could grab the game by the scurff of the neck and take control. Niether strike force were presented with many chances in the first half, as defence came on top nearly every time.
Rovers carved out the first chance of the game in the 5th minute, when the ball fell to Carl Tremaco just inside the area on the left. The youngster did everything right, hitting a low, powerful shot, which unfortunatly went just wide of the near post.
Tremaco was in the action again, 8 minutes later. His low cross from the left was met by Chris Greenacre, who unfortunatly managed to hit the building site rather than the goal.
Steven Francis, who scored against Swansea not so long ago had a powerful shot from the right saved by Lee Jones too as Rovers piled on the pressure.
However, bad news was to come for Rovers. Leading scorer Chris Greenacre collided with Danny Coid and each had to be substituted with injuries, Steven Davies replacing Greenacre.
Tranmere should have taken the lead in the 28th minute, with Delroy Facey the boy without his shooting boots. The ball fell to him on the right hand side of the penalty area, and his option to shoot from an acute angle was not the correct one. He blasted his shot right across Lee Jones' goal and out for a goal kick.
Rovers had the next chance three minutes later as they kept in charge of the game as far as attacking goes. Steve Davies got the ball 20-yards out and his shot was well saved by Lee Jones, diving to his right.
Tranmere then once again had a chance five minutes later. A flick on from Steve Davies went to Delroy Facey and his strike was turned round the post for a corner by Lee Jones who was in good form.
So Rovers went into half time at 0-0, but really, as they probably knew too well, they should have been perhaps two or three goals in the lead. And Rovers were going to have to pay for these misses late on.
Niether side could get a grip of the second half, with each side frustrated by poor passing, good defending and in general poor play. Each side had good oportunities, with the pick of them falling to John Murphy and Delroy Facey of Blackpool and Tranmere.
Steve Davies was causing a threat consistently to Blackpool, and it was he who forced the first real half of the second half. A sharp flick on from strike partner Facey reached Davies. With back to goal, the youngster hit his shot on the turn but unfortunatly it went straight to Lee Jones.
On 68-minutes, Stand in 'Keeper Steve Wilson was lucky not to be given his marching orders after handling outside the area. Wilson recieved only a Yellow Card and luckily for Rovers, the resulting free-kick was sent wide by Kiegen Parker.
Three minutes later and Rovers were on the break again as Steven Jennings shot into Jones' mid-drift and Davies forced a corner soon after.
As the game crept into the final ten minutes, you would have been forgiven for thinking this would be another game where Rovers failed to score where they went home with just the point, or maybe nothing. However, Delroy Facey netted his fifth in five games and his seventh of the season overall to put Rovers 1-0 up.
A brilliantly weighted through-ball from Simon Francis came to Facey, who beat he offside trap and sprinted clear of the chasing Blackpool defence. Facey ran into the area and hit a low shot under Lee Jones into the bottom corner.
The travelling Rovers fans were understandably delighted. They had been chanting for the past 81 minutes consistantly, one chant of "White Army, White Army" lasting atleast five minutes, if not more. The goal gave Rovers a deserved lead and the travelling Rovers fans, roughly 650 of them (although there did appear to be well over 900 of us) were extatic, but boring Stewards put a hault to their celebrations.
Some Tranmere fans tried to start a "Congo" but that was stopped by the Stewards, who had earlier in the match thrown somebody out of the ground for a crime he didn't commit. At half-time, the 100 or so Rovers fans making the noise tried to move down the ground to the end Tranmere were shooting, but after they had got there and chanted a chat or two, the Rovers fans were told to move or threatened with being chucked out by the Stewards who recieved less and less respect as the match went on.
Back to the game and Rovers replaced Steven Davies with Calvin Zola. Rovers fans had been chanting "Brian, make a sub, Brian, Brian make a sub" but this was a sub they would prefer not to have happened.
Davies could hold the ball up and attack the Blackpool goal, but Zola failed to hold the ball up or provide any threat on the Blackpool goal, often struggling to keep possession in midfield.
And as sod law tells us, it was always going to be Calvin who lost the ball, eventually allowing Blackpool to equalise in the 90+2 minute.
Zola lost the ball in midfield after being outnumbered by three blackpool defenders. The ball was lumped forward more in hope than expectation but mistakes from Ian Goodison and Steve Wilson allowed the Seasiders back into the game.
Goodison first failed to clear when trying to kick over his head, not for the first time in the game. The game then fell inside the area to Peter Clarke, the former Everton youngster, who ran past the challange of the desperate Ian Sharps and danced his way around Steve Wilson's pathetic attempt to get the ball before slotting into the empty net, much to the amazement of everybody in the ground.
It was an underserved equaliser, same old same old for Tranmere. Taking the lead but failing to close out the game, even though they only had nine (or eleven minutes if youwish to include injury time) left to hold on.
Jones' Man Of The Match: Three contenders this week. Mark Rankine was fantastic in the first half, running box to box, creating opening after opening for Rovers and then the next minute he could be found down the other end of the pitch helping out the Rovers back four.
Then there is Ian Sharps, who was equally as fantastic, stepping up to the role of Captain brilliantly and leading by example. Some good passing (for once) from the Rovers center back was often key, as was his brilliant passing and positioning.
Finally, there is Carl Tremarco, my actual Man Of The Match. The youngster filled in brilliantly at Left-Midfield. Always giving 110%, chasing down every ball, some fantastic crossing, tackling and a very good shot which went just wide. Man Of The Match, Carl Tremarco.
Tranmere made one forced change from the 2-1 defeat at Barnsley, bringing Carl Tremaco in for the injured Mike Jackson. Tremaco filled in at left-midfield, meaning Gareth Roberts slotted in at left-midfield and Ian Goodison partnered Ian Sharps, captain for the day, in central defence. Theo Whitmore made the bench along with Calvin Zola, Steve Davies, Sam Aiston and Phil Palethorpe.
It was a srappy affair, in which niether midfield could grab the game by the scurff of the neck and take control. Niether strike force were presented with many chances in the first half, as defence came on top nearly every time.
Rovers carved out the first chance of the game in the 5th minute, when the ball fell to Carl Tremaco just inside the area on the left. The youngster did everything right, hitting a low, powerful shot, which unfortunatly went just wide of the near post.
Tremaco was in the action again, 8 minutes later. His low cross from the left was met by Chris Greenacre, who unfortunatly managed to hit the building site rather than the goal.
Steven Francis, who scored against Swansea not so long ago had a powerful shot from the right saved by Lee Jones too as Rovers piled on the pressure.
However, bad news was to come for Rovers. Leading scorer Chris Greenacre collided with Danny Coid and each had to be substituted with injuries, Steven Davies replacing Greenacre.
Tranmere should have taken the lead in the 28th minute, with Delroy Facey the boy without his shooting boots. The ball fell to him on the right hand side of the penalty area, and his option to shoot from an acute angle was not the correct one. He blasted his shot right across Lee Jones' goal and out for a goal kick.
Rovers had the next chance three minutes later as they kept in charge of the game as far as attacking goes. Steve Davies got the ball 20-yards out and his shot was well saved by Lee Jones, diving to his right.
Tranmere then once again had a chance five minutes later. A flick on from Steve Davies went to Delroy Facey and his strike was turned round the post for a corner by Lee Jones who was in good form.
So Rovers went into half time at 0-0, but really, as they probably knew too well, they should have been perhaps two or three goals in the lead. And Rovers were going to have to pay for these misses late on.
Niether side could get a grip of the second half, with each side frustrated by poor passing, good defending and in general poor play. Each side had good oportunities, with the pick of them falling to John Murphy and Delroy Facey of Blackpool and Tranmere.
Steve Davies was causing a threat consistently to Blackpool, and it was he who forced the first real half of the second half. A sharp flick on from strike partner Facey reached Davies. With back to goal, the youngster hit his shot on the turn but unfortunatly it went straight to Lee Jones.
On 68-minutes, Stand in 'Keeper Steve Wilson was lucky not to be given his marching orders after handling outside the area. Wilson recieved only a Yellow Card and luckily for Rovers, the resulting free-kick was sent wide by Kiegen Parker.
Three minutes later and Rovers were on the break again as Steven Jennings shot into Jones' mid-drift and Davies forced a corner soon after.
As the game crept into the final ten minutes, you would have been forgiven for thinking this would be another game where Rovers failed to score where they went home with just the point, or maybe nothing. However, Delroy Facey netted his fifth in five games and his seventh of the season overall to put Rovers 1-0 up.
A brilliantly weighted through-ball from Simon Francis came to Facey, who beat he offside trap and sprinted clear of the chasing Blackpool defence. Facey ran into the area and hit a low shot under Lee Jones into the bottom corner.
The travelling Rovers fans were understandably delighted. They had been chanting for the past 81 minutes consistantly, one chant of "White Army, White Army" lasting atleast five minutes, if not more. The goal gave Rovers a deserved lead and the travelling Rovers fans, roughly 650 of them (although there did appear to be well over 900 of us) were extatic, but boring Stewards put a hault to their celebrations.
Some Tranmere fans tried to start a "Congo" but that was stopped by the Stewards, who had earlier in the match thrown somebody out of the ground for a crime he didn't commit. At half-time, the 100 or so Rovers fans making the noise tried to move down the ground to the end Tranmere were shooting, but after they had got there and chanted a chat or two, the Rovers fans were told to move or threatened with being chucked out by the Stewards who recieved less and less respect as the match went on.
Back to the game and Rovers replaced Steven Davies with Calvin Zola. Rovers fans had been chanting "Brian, make a sub, Brian, Brian make a sub" but this was a sub they would prefer not to have happened.
Davies could hold the ball up and attack the Blackpool goal, but Zola failed to hold the ball up or provide any threat on the Blackpool goal, often struggling to keep possession in midfield.
And as sod law tells us, it was always going to be Calvin who lost the ball, eventually allowing Blackpool to equalise in the 90+2 minute.
Zola lost the ball in midfield after being outnumbered by three blackpool defenders. The ball was lumped forward more in hope than expectation but mistakes from Ian Goodison and Steve Wilson allowed the Seasiders back into the game.
Goodison first failed to clear when trying to kick over his head, not for the first time in the game. The game then fell inside the area to Peter Clarke, the former Everton youngster, who ran past the challange of the desperate Ian Sharps and danced his way around Steve Wilson's pathetic attempt to get the ball before slotting into the empty net, much to the amazement of everybody in the ground.
It was an underserved equaliser, same old same old for Tranmere. Taking the lead but failing to close out the game, even though they only had nine (or eleven minutes if youwish to include injury time) left to hold on.
Jones' Man Of The Match: Three contenders this week. Mark Rankine was fantastic in the first half, running box to box, creating opening after opening for Rovers and then the next minute he could be found down the other end of the pitch helping out the Rovers back four.
Then there is Ian Sharps, who was equally as fantastic, stepping up to the role of Captain brilliantly and leading by example. Some good passing (for once) from the Rovers center back was often key, as was his brilliant passing and positioning.
Finally, there is Carl Tremarco, my actual Man Of The Match. The youngster filled in brilliantly at Left-Midfield. Always giving 110%, chasing down every ball, some fantastic crossing, tackling and a very good shot which went just wide. Man Of The Match, Carl Tremarco.