Tranmere Rovers 1-1 Northampton Town

Last updated : 06 January 2007 By Matthew Jones
Shock of all shocks as Rovers earn a home penalty, which Mullin scores
It wasn't a great day for Ronnie Moore and his team, as they had to fight back from 1-0 down at Prenton Park to earn a 1-1 draw in Coca-Cola League One thanks to a goal from John Mullin.

Ronnie Moore named an unchanged 16 for Tranmere from the side which defeated Rotherham 2-1 at Prenton Park last week as Joe Hart continued in goal despite the presence both John Achterberg and Gavin Ward in the warm up.

Rovers had the best of the early exchanges, as John Mullin had a header blocked on it's way to goal before Roves had strong appeals for a penalty turned down by referee David Foster.

With Chris Shuker looking lively down the right, Northampton decided to kick the nippy winger off the ball, as Doig picked up a eventh minute booking for sending Shuker crashing into the sponser boards near the home duggout. Holt wasalso booked after 29 minutes for a tackle on Shuker.

Northampton's first attack of the game produced their only goal, as Scott McGleish scored his second goal in two games this season against Tranmere.

A cross into the box caused a bit of a goal mouth scramble, and after the ball had bounced of 'keeper Hart, the ball fell to McGleish who netted his ninth of the season.

Greenacre had a chance to equalise not long after the goal but shot wide from Gareth Taylor's knock down after good work by Shuker on the right, whilst Taylor himself brushed his header wide soon after from a Sherriff cross.

Captain Sherriff left the field for lengthy treatment on 20-minutes after a collision with a Northampton player. The Australian had a head injury and following a change of shirt and some treatment to his head from Les Parry, including a head bandage, he returned to the pitch.

Taylor had another header from a Shuker corner which lobbed over the bar whilst Paul McLaren fizzed a volley wide from 25-yards minutes later after another cross into the box was cleared.

In the final five minutes of the first half, Rovers had three more chances. Firstly, after great work by Steve Davies, Chris Greenacre headed over, whilst in injury time Shuker shot wide and then John Mullin's weak header was saved brilliantly by Northampton goalkeeper Mark Bunn.

After a half-time team talk from Ronnie Moore, Rovers came out looking to win the game and after just four minutes Shuker's low shot was saved by Bunn after a flick-on from Greenacre.

The next action didn't come until the 58th minute, where Greenacre was again involved for Rovers. Shuker crossed the ball into Rovers leading scorer, but his header was comfortably saved by Bunn.

Soon after, Rovers made a double substitution, as Calvin Zola and Kevin Ellison replaced Chris Greenacre and Steve Davies on 63 minutes, the only substitutions that Rovers made.

Zola was immediately threatening, just as he was at Sixfields earlier in the season (to Kevin Ellison as well as the Northampton defence!) and Rovers started to look a lot more likely to get an equaliser.

Taylor sent a 25-yard shot well wide with 20 minutes left from a Zola knock down as the two linked up well almost immediately, whilst the long range efforts continued with Ellison slicing a shot well wide and a McLaren volley flashing across goal.

On 86-minutes, Rovers won their firstly penalty at Prenton Park since 28th December 2005 and their second of the season, both against Northampton.

Shuker floated a cross in from the right, and after Zola had tried his accrobatics (an over head kick) the ball struck an arm of a Northampton defender, with the referee awarding a penalty.

John Mullin stepped up to take the penalty and after his original effort was saved by Bunn, Mullin followed the ball up and netted the equaliser.

After this, the game came to nothing as both sides seemed determined to hold on to the point they had, despite the fact that each team had chances to break.

Two sour points of the match for Rovers were the bookings to right-back Robbie Stockdale and central-midfielder John Mullin, who will now both be suspended for the away trip to Bristol City with five yellows.

Jones' Man Of The Match: Again, Paul McLaren stood out for Rovers. The defence had little to do all afternoon whilst the midfield and attack were mainly poor. McLaren, although not as effective as recent weeks, looked a touch of class with his passing range in the midfield and although his shooting was off colour he still stood out for Rovers.