Scunthorpe United (H): Match report

Tranmere Rovers 2 v Scunthorpe United 0

Saturday 3rd October 2020

Prenton Park

English Football League Two 

First of all, I would like to send my condolences to those who knew and were close to Ryan Soderberg. Ryan passed away suddenly on 15th September 2020 and is certainly Tranmere’s shining star. 

This saturday afternoon on the Wirral was a wet one, Scunthorpe United were Tranmere’s visitors to Prenton Park. Tranmere’s attackers were hoping that the pitch could force the Scunthorpe back line into making errors that lead to goals in Mike Jackson’s fourth league game as manager. 

The past week has been a success, there have been clear improvements as the squad becomes stronger as they get closer to peak fitness. The past week has seen Tranmere draw away at Cambridge, where a goal from James Vaughan was cruelly disallowed for offside and the ‘superwhite’ strikers James Vaughan and Stefan Payne bagged three goals between them against a strong Liverpool reserve defence.

To the excitement of the Tranmere faithful, Mike Jackson sets his side out this afternoon in a 4-4-2 formation. There has been cries for two up front as the search for the first league goal of the season continues. The two strikers being played are those that scored three goals between them in midweek against Liverpool in the Leasing.Com trophy. On the bench sees youth striker Jake Burton, as Kaiyne Woolery and Liam Feeney are declared ‘injured’. Other than that, there were no real surprises. On the other hand, looking at Scunthorpe United’s social media the team that manager Neil Cox had set out was to the disappointment of the ‘Iron’ fans as they state the lineup is a ‘joke’ and ‘pathetic’. A football match sometimes shows a lot more about the team than supporters know, viewers are set to have a great spectacle played out in front of their eyes.

Match action –

Tranmere impressed from the off, with a showing of great one touch football by Rovers within the first five minutes. Khan got into the box and crossed to Payne who flicked on before O’Connors cross was eventually blocked. Shortly after, at the other end, Spence had a shot from the edge of the box for Scunthorpe but midfielder Ollie Banks was there to block the shot for a corner. Payne showed his great ability of holding the ball up before he played it down the line to Khan but the ball skidded off the surface and went out for a goal kick.A period of good pressure from Rovers soon followed. A deep cross falls to Vaughan who sees his shot blocked before Ridehalgh’s cross is cleared. Tranmere’s first substitution of the afternoon came within the first thirty minutes, Paul Lewis replaced Stefan Payne, as Mike Jackson looked for extra legs in midfield. It is also rumoured that Payne picked up a slight ‘niggle’ and no risks were taken by letting the confident forward continue. Centre-half veteran Peter Clarke got his head to a dangerous cross to clear away from goal before Liam Ridehalgh picked out midfielder Paul Lewis with a great pass. Lewis fires it into Vaughan who is shut out in the box. Tranmere’s first goal of the afternoon came when Banks was able to find midfielder Paul Lewis who picked out Vaughan in the box. The forward had plenty to do but flicks it into the far bottom corner on the half volley.

HALF TIME: 1-0 Goalkeeper Scott Davies hadn’t had much to do, the tranmere defence were amazing under pressure, the midfield has been great in their defensive duties and the attack had done well to get past Scunthorpe’s strong defence) 

A perfect tackle by full-back O’Connor denied a shot from close range as Otis Khan ran with the ball at the other end in an attempt to create chances. Both sides started the second half off strongly. Right winger Kieron Morris was soon booked for stopping a fast Scunthorpe counter attack with a foul. Soon after, Hippolyte cleared the crossbar with his free kick from 25 yards causing no problems for Tranmere goalkeeper Scott Davies who soon saved comfortably from Hippolyte’s shot from inside the box. The forward was having plenty of efforts, with no real result. Scunthorpe were having more of the ball at the start of the second half, but Rovers kept their shape well in defense. Defence was soon turned to attack, James Vaughan found the back of the net again … his second brace of the week with a beautiful volley which went powerfully past the Scunthorpe goalkeeper. Vaughan came so close to his hat trick, the ball dropped in the box for the forward but the defenders were able to block his effort on the line. O’Connor soon showed his great progressive ability with an unbelievable cross to midfielder Paul Lewis but he wasn’t able to connect to divert it towards goal. The midfielder soon pressed high to win the ball back but again he couldn’t hit the target from inside the box. At the other end, Scott Davies came out to claim a lofted cross into the box to relieve some pressure from his defenders after a short period of pressure from the Scunthorpe attackers. Rovers second substitution of the afternoon came when Otis Khan made way for full-back Calum Macdonald. Khan had played very well, the forward made many runs towards goal and was always passing the ball on to other forwards successfully, showing the type of progressive football style that we need to play in. However, it was time for the Tranmere manager to bring players on to defend his team’s lead late into the game. However, it wasn’t all defensive Banks’ cross to the back post was met by Clarke who headed onto the roof of the net. Following a quick counter attack, Davies again raised highest to claim from a deep cross. The game soon sizzled out, Tranmere victorious on a wet day on the Wirral in a very closely contested encounter with Scunthorpe United.

FULL TIME – Tranmere Rovers 2 Scunthorpe United 0, The goals that the Tranmere faithful were crying out for have been scored as James Vaughan scored his second brace of the week and another clean sheet was kept by a very strong defence. This is Tranmere’s third clean sheet in four league games, this is also Tranmere’s first league win of the season. An extremely successful afternoon at Prenton Park.