Rovers Earn Important Point at Boundary Park
By Mark Ridgway
January 21 2010
A dismal game between two poor sides got the scoreline it deserved at Boundary Park on Wednesday evening as Rovers and Oldham Athletic fought out a terrible 0-0 draw and whilst a point is decent enough for Rovers at the moment, the lack of goalscoring ability continues to be a concern......
Oldham A 0 - 0 Tranmere R
Attendance: 3,688 (695 Rovers Fans)
This re-arranged derby match produced a pretty even affair in which Rovers left with a well earned point and a clean sheet away from home, with the sides meeting again at Prenton Park in two weeks.
With Rovers having two weeks off the players were likely to be rusty, but Les Parry named the same side as the one that came close to beating Wolves, with Alan Mahon joining the bench for the first time for two months. So the team looked like this....
Daniels
Logan, Taylor, Goodison, Bakayogo
Edds, McLaren, Welsh
Thomas-Moore, Gornell, Curran
Rovers forced the first chance after three minutes when Terry Gornell charged down the Oldham keeper Brill, but couldn't convert from a tight angle.
Bakayogo then broke into the box and picked out Gornell, but the striker could only shoot straight at Brill before Craig Curran had a volley deflected into the side netting on 25 minutes and Ian Thomas-Moore shot wide from range.
Oldham woke up after half an hour when Pawel Abbot shot wide before volleying over soon after.
Paul McLaren's free kick was then well saved by Brill before Curran tested the keeper again soon after.
Just before half time, a goalmouth scramble on Rovers goal line nearly resulted in a goal, when Hazell attempted an over head kick, but Shay Logan cleared before contact was made.
Half Time: Oldham Athletic 0 - 0 Tranmere Rovers
The first 15 minutes of the second half were a scrappy section of the game with both teams being wasteful in possession.
An Oldham free kick on 56 minutes brought about some brave defending from Rovers, with bodies being put on the line before Craig Curran cleared to safety.
Terry Gornell Missed Rovers' Best Chance
An Ian Goodison long ball found Logan down the right and the winger pushed on before crossing for Gornell, but the striker couldn't connect properly and the chance was gone when it looked easier to score.
Daniels saved from Abbot on 70 minutes and John Welsh shot wide in injury time, with other half chances not bringing about much in the way of scoring chances and the game ended 0-0 leaving the Rovers fans with mixed views as a fair amount of ridiculous boos were heard from the travelling section.
Full Time: Oldham Athletic 0 - 0 Tranmere Rovers
Zoumana Bakayogo
Bakayogo once again had an excellent game and was a key to the successful clean sheet kept by the Rovers back line once again. The rest of the defence and in particular Shay Logan played well but Bakayogo was the stand-out player.
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