Rovers Lose Out to Boyeson Spot-Kick Decision

In a wind-hit encounter at Hartlepool's Victoria Park Stadium, Rovers lost out on at least a deserved point against a poor Hartlepool side thanks to a late penalty awarded by referee Carl Boyeson.

Suspension for Ian Goodison after his straight red card on Saturday, a possible season-ending injury for Bas Savage and the failure of a late fitness test for Ryan Shotton meant that Rovers Boss Ronnie Moore made three changes to the side that started the 1-0 home win over Swindon Town on Saturday.

Gareth Edds came in as a straight replacement at right-back for Shotton, whilst Antony Kay's move to centre-backvto cover Ian Goodison's absence saw Paul Henry get a rare start in central midfield.

In the absence of Bas Savage, many Rovers fans expected a start for Terry Gornell upfront but instead it was a return to the starting line-up for Edrissa Sonko in a 4-5-1 formation as follows.....

Achterberg

Almost as soon as the game kicked off, the problems the high winds were going to cause became evident as a high clearance by a home defender looped out for a Rovers corner which in the end came to nothing.

The problems hit Rovers keeper John Achterberg the worst though as he found all of his goal kicks either looping out for throw-ins or at times heading back towards him in mid-air - a problem that Pools keeper Adam Lee-Barrett would also face in the second half.

The home side therefore had the better of the first half as Rovers struggled against the wind, not helping their own cause by trying to play the ball forward in the air rather than keeping it on the floor.

It became apparent very quickly that both of Rovers' wingers were having a collective bad day with both Shuker and Sonko sloppy in posession and ineffective in the play which of course had a knock on effect on the lone striker Ian Moore.

It seemed that as half-time approached, the key for Rovers was to not concede a goal and hope that the home side struggled equally with the wind against them in the second half and indeed the game ended goalless at the break.

 Half Time:  Hartlepool United 0 - 0 Tranmere Rovers

Rovers were much the better side in the second half as the home side did, as expected, struggle against the wind themselves as first Eddy Sonko and then Ben Chorley fired long range chances over the crossbar at the end where the 116 hardy Rovers fans sat.

The best chance of the game then fell to Rovers as a long ball forward held up in the wind and Ian Moore, who had kept running on towards it, beat the keeper to the ball but as he tried to fire home from four yards across goal, a defender from the home side got a part of the body (which seemed to be his arm) onto it and the danger went.

Despite the miss Rovers were on top and it didn't look like they would necessarily be made to pay for that miss until the 69th minute when some poor defending allowed Pools captain Michael Nelson to fire in from 18 yards although the fact that Achterberg dived totally the wrong way suggests the ball may have taken a deflection on it's way to goal.

At 1-0 down but against the run of the play though, there was still hope for Rovers fans and they didn;t have long to wait as less than 60 seconds after the home side went ahead, Rovers were awarded a free-kick which Ben Chorley met with his head to loop it up in the wind over the keeper and it dropped into the net to level the scores at 1-1.

Suddenly it looked like Rovers themselves may go on to get a second goal including a succession of corners but with just seven minutes left, a foul which appeared to be outside the area, was given as a penalty the home side and the Pools Man of the Match Ben Clarke converted the kick as Achterberg went the right way and got quite close to it.

Terry Gornell was finally unleashed at the expense of Paul Henry just after Rovers went 2-1 down but the visitors couldn't get back into the game and somewhat harshly left empty handed from Monkey Hanger land yet again.

Full Time:  Hartlepool United 2 - 1 Tranmere Rovers

After Shotton failed a late fitness test, Gareth Edds stepped in at right-back and did an excellent job there once more.  Charlie Barnett also had a good game and Ian Moore had a great second half but Edds is the worthy winner of the accolade this time around.