Tranmere visited Colchester United this afternoon in their latest fixture in the 2022/23 League Two season.
Ahead of the game, caretaker manager Ian Dawes said, “We need to try to lift the players, the fans and the Club and try to get the crucial information into them that we need and what we expect from them in and out of possession on Saturday, so we’ve tried to do that this week.
“We’re at that point in the season where we are in the league, so it’s just trying to go and win the next game, and don’t ever move past that, we’ve just got to look at Saturday moving forward.”
Match Report: Colchester United v Tranmere Rovers
Colchester United 1 | ![]() ![]() | 1 Tranmere Rovers |
Chilvers (65′ pen) | Goals | Saunders (13′) |
Assists | Hawkes (13′) | |
HT 0-1 |
League Two strugglers, Colchester managed to salvage a point against Tranmere with a penalty from Noah Chilvers in the second half, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
It will, however, be a game more remembered more the number of yellow cards issued with Carl Boyeson reaching for yellow a total of 13 times, eight of which were for Tranmere players.
Joel Mumbongo and Harvey Saunders teamed up to make a strong start for Rovers, with Saunders taking a low shot inside the box that was saved.
In the 13th minute, Tranmere secured the lead with a goal from Harvey Saunders. He capitalized on Josh Hawkes’ through ball, went past the goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara, and tapped the ball into an empty net.
Tranmere almost doubled their lead when Chris Merrie connected with Rhys Hughes’ corner at the front post, but Kieran O’Hara made a sharp save down to his right-hand side.
The start of the second half was sluggish for both teams and in the 51st minute, Colchester were left outraged as they felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Tovide was brought down by Murphy in the box, but instead, he was booked for simulation.
In the 55th minute, Joel Mumbongo had a notable chance. He fired a powerful strike from 25 yards that unfortunately whistled past the post.
Just after the hour, the home team was awarded a penalty after a long ball into the box caused a tussle between Josh Dacres-Cogley and Tom Hopper, resulting in both players going to ground.
The referee pointed to the spot, and Noah Chilvers stepped up to take the penalty. Despite Murphy getting a hand to it, Chilvers managed to score, equalizing the score.
In the seven additional minutes at the end of normal time, both teams had opportunities to secure a victory.
Regan Hendry carried the ball forward before sending a pass to Jake Burton, who unfortunately hit the side netting with his shot meaning Tranmere had to settle for a share of the points as the final whistle blew.
Tranmere host Harrogate Town for a 7:45pm kick off on Friday 31 March in their next game of the 2022/23 League Two season.
Match Highlights
Gallery
Credit: Tony Coombes






Fans’ Twitter Reaction
Post Match Interview
Line-ups
Colchester United – Formation 3-4-1-2
13 Kieran O’Hara GK
29 Connor Hall DF
15 Fiacre Kelleher DF
4 Luke Chambers (C) DF
22 Junior Tchamadeu MF
30 Al-Amin Kazeem MF
17 Ossama Ashley MF
14 Noah Chilvers MF
19 Alex Newby FW
34 Samson Tovide FW
25 Tom Hopper FW
Substitutes
12 Tom Smith SUB
2 William Greenidge SUB
42 Jayden Fevrier SUB
20 Matt Jay SUB
16 Arthur Read SUB
24 John Akinde SUB
11 Freddie Sears SUB
Manager
Ben Garner
Match Officials
Referee: Carl Boyeson
Assistants: Stephen Brown and Scott Williams
Fourth official: Damith Bandara
Tranmere Rovers – Formation 4-1-2-1-2
13 Joe Murphy GK
2 Josh Dacres-Cogley DF
3 Ethan Bristow DF
5 Tom Davies (C) DF
14 Jordan Turnbull DF
6 Chris Merrie MF
24 Regan Hendry MF
11 Josh Hawkes MF
17 Rhys Hughes MF
26 Harvey Saunders FW
25 Joel Mumbongo FW
Substitutes
23 Mateusz Hewelt SUB
4 Lee O’Connor SUB
34 Florent Hoti SUB
33 Jay Turner-Cook SUB
27 Jake Burton SUB
19 Logan Chalmers SUB
32 Samuel Taylor SUB
Manager
Ian Dawes
Attendance: 3420
League Table
League 2 season attendance
Date | Opponent | Home Attendance | Away Attendance |
---|---|---|---|
20/07/2022 | Stevenage | 6111 | |
06/08/2022 | Mansfield Town | 7128 | |
13/08/2022 | Gillingham | 5414 | |
16/08/2022 | Hartlepool Utd | 4072 | |
20/08/2022 | Newport County | 4070 | |
27/08/2022 | Colchester Utd | 5041 | |
03/09/2022 | Leyton Orient | 6578 | |
13/09/2022 | Bradford City | 5864 | |
17/09/2022 | Salford City | 3175 | |
24/09/2022 | Walsall | 5845 | |
01/10/2022 | Barrow | 6123 | |
08/10/2022 | Sutton Utd | 3007 | |
14/10/2022 | Crewe Alexandra | 8001 | |
22/10/2022 | Harrogate Town | 2316 | |
25/10/2022 | Rochdale | 5742 | |
29/10/2022 | Carlisle | 6576 | |
01/11/2022 | Stockport County | 6800 | |
12/11/2022 | Swindon Town | 9425 | |
19/11/2022 | AFC Wimbledon | 6010 | |
03/12/2022 | Northampton Town | 5,601 | |
10/12/2022 | Grimsby Town | 5134 | |
26/12/2022 | Doncaster | 7033 | |
29/12/2022 | Barrow | 3383 | |
01/01/2023 | Crewe Alexandra | 5349 | |
07/01/2023 | Sutton United | 5368 | |
14/01/2023 | Walsall | 6027 | |
28/01/2023 | Leyton Orient | 5946 | |
04/02/2023 | Stockport County | 10231 | |
07/02/2023 | Doncaster Rovers | 5775 | |
11/02/2023 | Salford City | 6516 | |
14/02/2023 | Bradford City | 15482 | |
18/02/2023 | Mansfield Town | 6282 | |
25/02/2023 | Stevenage | 3675 | |
28/02/2023 | Crawley Town | 5104 | |
04/03/2023 | Hartlepool United | 6320 | |
11/03/2023 | Gillingham | 5674 | |
18/03/2023 | Newport County | 5496 | |
25/03/2023 | Colchester United | 3420 |
2022/23 Total home attendance | 115774 |
2022/23 Total away attendance | 109340 |
2022/23 Total attendance (Home & Away) | 225114 |
2022/23 Average home attendance | 6093 |
2022/23 Average away attendance | 5755 |
2022/23 Total average attendance | 5924 |
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