Rovers 2-1 Yeovil Town
Wednesday 27th January, 2010
By Alex James

ALEX JAMES reports from Prenton Park as Rovers return to winning and goalscoring form in a 2-1 win over Yeovil Town on Tuesday night...

Rovers fans had almost forgotten what it was like to score a goal it had been that long since Tranmere had found the net.

But, 442 minutes since Gareth Edds found the net against Bristol Rovers, just like buses, two goals came along at once.  Ian Thomas-Moore put Rovers in front just after half-time before Ash Taylor finished off a well worked free kick to double the advantage just four minutes later.

Although Yeovil found the net thanks to Ryan Mason’s 92nd minute penalty, Tranmere had done enough to earn three vital points.

The result means Rovers are just three points from safety ahead of Saturday’s daunting trip to Charlton Athletic.
But Tranmere can head to The Valley with a spring in their step after an impressive second half showing.

Thomas-Moore looked a different player after his goal and the captain led by example on a night of top-drawer performances.  Chris Shuker – restored to the starting line-up as Les Parry switched from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 – was always a willing runner and looked more and more threatening as the game wore on.

With Craig Curran and Terry Gornell as industrious as ever, Rovers finally began to look like an attacking force.

Although that seemed a long way off at half time.

At that stage the game had 0-0 written all over it as two evenly-matched teams struggled to create any clear-cut chances.  Gornell wasted the best two for the home side.

First he fired over when he should have really hit the target from inside the area, before he engineered himself some space on the edge of the box with a sharp turn and brought a smart save out of Yeovil stopper Alex McCarthy.

That was as close as either side got to breaking the deadlock in an insipid 45 minutes. The visitors, who went with five across the midfield and looked to hit Rovers on the break, enjoyed their share of possession but lacked a cutting edge of their own.

Indeed, Luke Daniels in the home goal was barely troubled during the 90 minutes.

After the break Tranmere came charging out of the blocks and took the lead on 48 minutes.  Paul McLaren’s free kick was only half cleared by the visitors’ defence and when the ball was pumped back into the home area Ian Goodison did well to hold play up and feed Thomas-Moore who slotted home from 12 yards.

The breakthrough gave Rovers an immediate confidence boost and they doubled their advantage just four minutes later with a goal straight from the training ground.  Thomas-Moore was felled just outside the box and with everyone expecting another McLaren delivery, Shuker picked out Craig Curran’s darting run and the youngster crossed for Ash Taylor to finish smartly at the near post.

With the crowd behind them Rovers seemed more confident on the ball – none more so than Thomas-Moore who has been criticised for his recent performances. But the skipper showed plenty of effort and endeavour in the final third of this game and almost added to his tally with a long range drive on 64 minutes.

Yeovil threw three subs on in a bid to change the game but apart from an excellent tackle by Goodison on the lively Mason, rarely threatened the home goal.  They did find that late consolation from the spot after Shaleum Logan was adjudged to have fouled John Obika, but it was too little too late.

Rovers: Daniels, Logan, Bagayoko, Goodison, Taylor, McLaren, Welsh, Shuker, Curran, Gornell, Thomas-Moore. Subs not used: Collister, Broomes, McCready, Mahon, Barnett, Edds, Cresswell.