Tranmere made a number of changes from the defeat mid-week to Huddersfield, bringing Carl Tremaco in at left-back and Steven Jennings in at central midfield to partner skipper Jason McAteer as Sam Aiston dropped to the bench and Mark Rankine was left out all together.
Both sides started brightly, but flashing off-side flags at either end denied both sides chances on goal. Ian Goodison in particular had a very good first half, winning most at the back and maybe playing his best half in a Rovers shirt.
The best chance of the half fell to Gareth Robers from a brilliant Jason McAteer lay-off. Roberts was through one on one with Russell Hoult, but his shot was hit straight at the former West Brom 'keeper.
At half time, Rovers brought off Right Winger Nicky Summerbee and replaced him with Sam Aiston, who was later substituted again in another strange move from Brian Little.
Both sides again started the second half well, but again both sides, in particular Rovers were denied chances by the off-side flag. Delroy Facey was subject to a number of off-side decisions, but on one occasion atleast, Facey was without doubt on-side when the ball was played.
On 65 minutes, Gareth Taylor was booed on to the pitch as a substitute. But by five minute later, the fickle Forest fans were chanting Taylor's name after he put Forest 1-0 up.
An excellent cross field ball by Forest midfielder Kris Commons was met by Taylor's head. The ball went straight at Achterberg who could only kick the ball into his Rovers net.
The travelling 897 Rovers fans immediatly tried to spur the team on, but once again, Rovers couldn't find an away goal, and have scored just one in their last four away games now.
Rovers won a number of corners in the final minutes and introduced Chris Dagnall to the game, strangly at right-midfield when he is a center forward. However, the final ball was always missing, in particular from Bruce, who picked up his fifth booking of the season, McAteer and Calr Tremaco.
The closest Rovers came to a goal was a Mike Jackson header from a Gareth Roberts corner. Jacksons header went inches wide of Russell Hoult's post, but unfortunatly, it was the last Rovers could offer.
Another defeat for Rovers made it a win-less September, and one to forget. However, the performance was much better, and should Danny Harrison be fit for Scunthorpe following his broken Nose, then I should hope he would start instead of Jason McAteer, who although he was poor today, he looked much better along side Steven Jennings.
Jones' Man Of The Match: I had two people in line for tonights award, being Carl Tremaco and Ian Goodison. Tremaco, had another fantastic game at left-back. However, he was always missing that final ball after a good surging run or good tackle to win possession.
Therefore, I give the award to an almost faultless Ian Goodison. He did of course have his moments, one in particular when he slipped over and the ball hit his ankle and stopped. However, sensible defending from the Jamaican and some good tackling and passing earned him a man of the match award from www.tranmererovers-mad.co.uk.
