Tranmere’s poor form continues with defeat by Mansfield

Tranmere hosted Mansfield Town this afternoon in their latest fixture in the 2022/23 League Two season.

Ahead of the game, Micky Mellon said, “We’ve picked up a few injuries, but we don’t make excuses for that, and we can give players the opportunity who deserve to play, and perform, and show us what they’re made of, so they’ll have the opportunity to do that.

“None of the longer-term injuries are back yet, but we’ll put a team out who we think will represent us properly.”

Match Report: Tranmere Rovers v Mansfield Town

Tranmere Rovers 0 v 2 Mansfield Town
GoalsHarbottle (34′)
Keillor-Dunn (54′)
AssistsQuinn (34′)
HT 0-1

At Prenton Park this afternoon, Mansfield Town asserted their credentials as genuine promotion challengers in League Two by registering an impressive 2-0 victory over Tranmere Rovers.

At half-time, Rovers were trailing the promotion-chasing Stags after Riley Harbottle’s header 11 minutes before the interval.

Nigel Clough’s men extended their lead early in the second half, as Davis Keillor-Dunn found the back of the net, securing the win.

Micky Mellon opted for three changes from Tuesday’s game at Bradford City, with Joe Murphy replacing Mateusz Hewelt in goal, making him Rovers’ oldest player at the age of 41. In addition, Jay Turner-Cooke and Joel Mumbongo were brought in to replace Kieron Morris and Kane Hemmings.

Tranmere started the match brightly and within the opening five minutes, Rovers had two opportunities to score. Harvey Saunders seized on a misplaced pass by Elliott Hewitt on the left but dragged his low shot wide across the goal. Then, Lee O’Connor’s long-range attempt flew over the crossbar of goalkeeper Christy Pym.

The Nottinghamshire side took the lead in the 34th minute. Stephen Quinn played a tidy one-two with Jordan Bowery from a free-kick before crossing the ball into a packed penalty area from the right. Despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Joe Murphy to prevent it, Riley Harbottle met the cross and headed the ball over the line.

In search of an equalizer, Dacres-Cogley combined effectively with Turner-Cooke on the right. However, the forward on loan from Newcastle United missed the target with his left-footed strike from outside the box.

Two minutes into the second half, Hawkes had the ball in the net with a well-taken finish but his effort was disallowed for offside.

Mansfield doubled their lead 54 minutes into the game. Alfie Kilgour played a long searching ball that found James Clarke, who managed to get in between George Jameson and Ethan Bristow. Clarke’s chip was pushed onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Joe Murphy, but Davis Keillor-Dunn was in the right place to follow up and score with his right foot, putting Mansfield Town two goals ahead.

Tranmere visit Stevenage for a 3pm kick off on Saturday 25 February in their next game of the 2022/23 League Two season.

Match Highlights

Gallery

Images Credit: Tony Coombes

Fans’ Twitter Reaction



Post Match Interview

Line-ups

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

Manager
Micky Mellon

Match Officials
Referee:
Lee Swabey
Assistants: Chris Isherwood and Alex Gray
Fourth official: Tom Nield

Mansfield Town – Formation 3-5-2
1 Christy Pym GK
14 James Perch DF
24 Alfie Kilgour DF
6 Harbottle DF
4 Elliott Hewitt MF
9 Jordan Bowery MF
8 Ollie Clarke (C) MF
16 Stephen Quinn MF
17 Kieran Wallace MF
7 Lucas Akins FW
40 Davis Keillor-Dunn FW
Substitutes
13 Scott Flinders SUB
22 Taylor Anderson SUB
32 Darien Wauchope SUB
44 Hiram Boateng SUB
15 Jason Law SUB
10 George Maris SUB
11 Danny Johnson SUB

Manager
Nigel Clough

Attendance: 6282

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
2022/23 Total home attendance98854
2022/23 Total away attendance96571
2022/23 Total attendance (Home & Away)195425
2022/23 Average home attendance6178
2022/23 Average away attendance6036
2022/23 Total average attendance6107

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