Tranmere Rovers claim impressive victory over Stevenage with late penalty

Tranmere visited Stevenage this afternoon in their latest fixture in the 2022/23 League Two season.

Ahead of the game, Micky Mellon said, “We understand what Stevenage’s strengths are and quite simply we’ve got to stamp our individual or collective personality to go and be the best version of us. We’ll have to be relentless and keep believing that we can go out there and go and score goals and keep clean sheets, and that’s something we will look to do again. 

“We have executed some fantastic performances before but we have to make sure the consistency levels are where you aren’t losing too many games. The teams that will be at the top are the ones who will be less inconsistent, and that’s what we’ve tried to get to, we’ve got to find the levels of consistency to be successful.

“We’re trying to get the best out of this young group, and I’m very level-headed on that, and keep that drive and focus as the manager.

Match Report: Stevenage v Tranmere Rovers

Stevenage 0 v 1 Tranmere Rovers
GoalsHawkes (73′ pen)
Assists
HT 0-0

Tranmere Rovers secured an impressive 1-0 victory against promotion contenders Stevenage, thanks to a penalty from Josh Hawkes in the 74th minute.

This result means that Stevenage have now gone five games without a win, causing them to slip down to third place in the league standings.

Securing a hard-fought victory in Hertfordshire, Tranmere Rovers delivered a much-needed three points at The Lamex Stadium, with Josh Hawkes’ goal proving to be the decisive factor.

Midway through the first period, Tranmere Rovers launched their first attack with Josh Dacres-Cogley charging down the right wing. However, his cross was cleared at the back post by Smith, despite the presence of Lewis and Jay Turner-Cooke who were ready to strike.

Following some encouraging build-up play by Jay Turner-Cooke and Regan Hendry, Lewis threaded a through ball to Harvey Saunders. However, the Tranmere Rovers forward missed the mark with his left-footed shot, hitting the side-netting by Savin’s goal.

Tranmere Rovers began the second half on a positive note, creating two chances within the first five minutes.

The first opportunity came when Regan Hendry carried the ball forward and unleashed a well-struck shot from 25 yards out. Despite a bobble off the turf, Savin was able to gather the ball at the second attempt and keep it out.

Harvey Saunders then attempted a header from Josh Dacres-Cogley’s cross, but it unfortunately deflected off Sweeney before landing in the gloves of Savin.

When Tranmere Rovers were awarded a penalty on 74 minutes, Merrie played a crucial role in the build-up. He set up Liam O’Connor, who was subsequently fouled in the box by Daryl Hogan, prompting referee Martin Woods to award the penalty.

Josh Hawkes confidently stepped up to take the spot-kick from 12 yards out and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, despite Savin guessing the right direction.

Tranmere saw out the remaining play and bring the three points home with them on the team bus.

Tranmere host Crawley Town for a 7:45pm kick off on Tuesday 28 February in their next game of the 2022/23 League Two season.

Match Highlights

Gallery

Credit: Tony Coombes

Fans’ Twitter Reaction

https://twitter.com/PaulBurrowsy/status/1629521292780027904


Post Match Interview

Line-ups

Stevenage – Formation 5-3-2
26 Toby Savin GK
14 Kane Smith DF
3 Max Clark DF
5 Carl Piergianni (C) DF
18 Michael Bostwick DF
6 Dan Sweeney DF
17 Alex Gilbey MF
11 Jordan Roberts MF
4 Jake Reeves MF
32 Danny Rose FW
9 Luke Norris FW
Substitutes
25 Adam Przybek SUB
10 Dean Campbell SUB
23 Jake Forster-Caskey SUB
16 Daryl Horgan SUB
8 Jake Taylor SUB
28 Josh March SUB
19 Jamie Reid SUB

Manager
Steve Evans

Match Officials
Referee:
Martin Woods
Assistants: Daniel Bonneywell and Stuart Butler
Fourth official: Gareth Viccars

Tranmere Rovers – Formation 3-5-2
13 Joe Murphy GK
2 Josh Dacres-Cogley 77‎’‎ DF
3 Ethan Bristow DF
5 Tom Davies (C) DF
14 Jordan Turnbull DF
4 Lee O’Connor MF
33 Jay Turner-Cook MF
24 Regan Hendry MF
11 Josh Hawkes MF
22 Paul Lewis FW
26 Harvey Saunders FW
Substitutes
23 Mateusz Hewelt SUB
18 Kyle Jameson SUB
29 Max Fisher SUB
6 Chris Merrie SUB
27 Jake Burton SUB
19 Logan Chalmers SUB
25 Joel Mumbongo SUB

Manager
Micky Mellon

Attendance: 3675

League Table

League 2 season attendance

DateOpponentHome
Attendance
Away
Attendance
20/07/2022Stevenage6111
06/08/2022Mansfield Town7128
13/08/2022Gillingham5414
16/08/2022Hartlepool Utd4072
20/08/2022Newport County4070
27/08/2022Colchester Utd5041
03/09/2022Leyton Orient6578
13/09/2022Bradford City5864
17/09/2022Salford City3175
24/09/2022Walsall5845
01/10/2022Barrow6123
08/10/2022Sutton Utd3007
14/10/2022Crewe Alexandra8001
22/10/2022Harrogate Town2316
25/10/2022Rochdale5742
29/10/2022Carlisle6576
01/11/2022Stockport County6800
12/11/2022Swindon Town9425
19/11/2022AFC Wimbledon6010
03/12/2022Northampton Town5,601
10/12/2022Grimsby Town5134
26/12/2022Doncaster7033
29/12/2022Barrow3383
01/01/2023Crewe Alexandra5349
07/01/2023Sutton United5368
14/01/2023Walsall6027
28/01/2023Leyton Orient5946
04/02/2023Stockport County10231
07/02/2023Doncaster Rovers5775
11/02/2023Salford City6516
14/02/2023Bradford City15482
18/02/2023Mansfield Town6282
25/02/2023Stevenage3675
2022/23 Total home attendance98854
2022/23 Total away attendance100246
2022/23 Total attendance (Home & Away)199100
2022/23 Average home attendance6178
2022/23 Average away attendance5897
2022/23 Total average attendance6038

Why not follow birkenhead.news on Facebook and Twitter? You can also send story ideas to news@birkenhead.news

Facebook comments

Sign up for the FREE birkenhead.news newsletter using this form:

Latest news