Tranmere Rovers faced Southend United away tonight in a 7pm kick-off. Having lost to Crawley at the weekend, Rovers will have been looking to respond positively. Before tonight’s kick-off, Tranmere sat at 5th position in League Two.
Southend United, managed by Mark Moseley, drew with Oldham Athletic in their last League 2 game. They currently sit at 23rd spot in the division with only one win in their last six games.
Match Report – League 2 – Southend United 0, Tranmere Rovers 2
Tranmere returned to form tonight, following Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Crawley. The Shrimpers hosted Tranmere at Roots Hall in a game that left Tranmere within just two points of the League 2 leaders, Cheltenham.
Paul Lewis and George Ray each scored before half an hour had ticked up on the clock. Today’s win not only sees Rovers just two points off the top of the table, but also just one point off the League Two automatic-promotion places.
Tranmere completely controlled the first 45 and a Kaiyne Woolery right-wing cross found Paul Lewis who pummelled home a 12-yard shot in off the underside of the crossbar at eight minutes.
Lewis was caught offside after he headed in what he thought was Tranmere’s second. But it wasn’t a long wait util Tranmere increased their lead. Following a Tranmere corner, George Ray headed home in the 24th minute from a cross on the left-wing by Liam Feeney.
Tranmere didn’t quite have the same dominance throughout the second half, but Southend never threatened going forward either.
Promotion chasing Tranmere take on Sunderland in the EFL Trophy final this Sunday and will no doubt be looking forward to the game following their victory over Southend.
Matt Hibbert’s thoughts…
A brilliant first-half display meant we didn’t need to get out of neutral, never mind 1st gear in the second half.
3 points, a clean sheet, and no injuries ahead of Sunday’s trip to Wembley.
Matt Hibbert – Presenter, This is Tranmere Podcast
Matt Hibbert, Paul Harper and Jake Keogh present the “This is Tranmere” podcast available on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts & Spotify with post-match reaction for every Tranmere game. #TRFC #SWA
These are the links to the Southend v Tranmere podcast:
Soundcloud
Apple podcasts
Spotify
These fans express their opinion on today’s game …
Southend United
46 James Montgomery
2 Elvis Bwomono
12 Tom Clifford
6 Tyler Cordner
48 John White (C)
8 Timothee Dieng
17 Reeco Hackett-Fairchild
24 Jason Demetriou
44 Nathan Ferguson
30 Ricky Holmes
18 Emile Acquah
Substitutes
4 Alan McCormack
13 Harry Seaden
42 Sam Hart
5 Shaun Hobson
20 Ashley Nathaniel-George
28 Kyle Taylor
10 Brandon Goodship
Manager
Keith Hill
Referee
Tim Robinson
Tranmere Rovers
1 Scott Davies (C)
2 Lee O’Connor
18 Calum MacDonald
26 Peter Clarke
21 George Ray
8 Jay Spearing
22 Paul Lewis
19 Liam Feeney
7 Kieron Morris
14 Kaiyne Woolery
35 Danny Lloyd
Substitutes
13 Joe Murphy
6 Emmanuel Monthe
3 Liam Ridehalgh
11 Corey Taylor
15 Alister Crawford
16 Nya Kirby
28 David Nugent
Manager
Mark Moseley