Yeovil Town vs.Tranmere Rovers match preview
By Matthew Jones
September 9 2010
Total Tranmere brings you all the stats, facts and team news you need to know ahead of Saturday's League One trip to Huish Park
Copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission.
The Wirral side will be full of confidence following their first league win of the season last weekend, a 1-0 success over promotion chasing Peterborough United, whilst Rovers' form on the road has also been strong.
Tranmere therefore will be hopeful of picking up another three points in this fixture against a Yeovil side who may well be competing against Rovers to beat the drop to League Two come the end of the season.
Yeovil Town Factfile:
Ground: Huish Park
Formed: 1895
Nickname: The Glovers
Manager: Terry Skiverton
League Finish 2009/10: 15th
Kit
Colours: Green and white striped shirt, white shorts and socks (home), white shirt with black trim on sleeves and across chest, black shorts and socks
(away)
Previous Meetings:
At Huish Park on the opening day of the season, John Barnes' side put in what many described as a "gutless" display as Rovers crumbled to a hugely disappointing although not totally unexpected 2-0 defeat.
The result was set in early for Tranmere, as new signing Dean Bowditch scored just 23 minutes into his Yeovil debut, netting from a corner after O'Callaghan had seen his header tipped wide by Luke Daniels.
Rovers pushed for an equaliser, with Thomas-Moore, Mahon and Logan all having efforts on goal, but it was Yeovil who got the second and final goal of the match, with Gavin Tomlin slotting a penalty into the net after the referee had given a foul against Aaron Cresswell.
It was a different story later in the season however, as Les Parry's battling Tranmere side defeated Yeovil 2-1 at Prenton Park.
The Prenton Park faithful were given a fright late on as Yeovil scored an injury time penalty through Mason after a foul by Logan on Obika, but there wasn't enough time for the Glovers to score a second as Tranmere held on for a 2-1 win.
Vital Stats:
Rovers have lost just twice in ten meetings against Yeovil, with both those defeats coming in the away fixture against the Glovers in the last two seasons
There have been just eleven goals scored in the five games played between the two sides at Huish Park
Rovers have only ever failed to score against Yeovil twice
These two sides have only met once previously in September, with the game at Huish Park in 2007 ending 1-1
On This Day:
2004: A dire game at Oakwell ends 0-0 between Barnsley and Tranmere Rovers
2001: Dave Watson's Tranmere hammer Preston North End 4-1 in the League Cup
1999: Rovers are defeated 2-0 by Blackburn Rovers, who's striker force is led by Mark Hughes, at Prenton Park
Tranmere
have played 15 previous games on this day, picking up six wins, three draws and six defeats. In these fifteen games, Rovers have scored eighteen goals and conceded fifteen.
The Form Book:
Yeovil Town first three home games games: LLW
Tranmere Rovers first three away games: DDW
The Huish Park side picked up that win against Leyton Orient thanks to goals from Bowditch and Freeman before slipping to a 1-0 League Cup defeat to Crystal Palace, also at Huish Park.
Yeovil since though have not won, and in fact have picked up just one point from an available fifteen, starting their poor run of form with a 2-1 defeat against Bristol Rovers.
Indeed, their goal against Bristol, scored by Adam Virgo, was their most recent, having not netted in their three games since and having scored just three times all season.
In their next match, Yeovil lost 2-0 to Hartlepool United before holding in form Oldham Athletic to a creditable 0-0 draw.
Yeovil have played once since the Oldham draw, travelling to Meadow Lane where they were handed a footballing lesson by Notts County, who defeated Terry Skiverton's side 4-0.
The Glovers have played three home games so far this season in all competition, picking up one win and two defeats.
Ahead of the weekend's fixture against Tranmere, Yeovil lie in 22nd place in NPower League One, having picked up just four of an available fifteen points from five games thanks to one win, one draw and three defeats.
Tranmere Rovers have had a strong start to the season away from Prenton Park, with Les Parry's side so far unbeaten in three outings on the road this campaign.
Rovers started the season with a home defeat against Oldham, losing 2-1 despite a late strike from Ian Thomas-Moore, before travelling to Walsall and picking up an excellent 1-0 win in the first round of the Carling Cup thanks to a striker from Ian Goodison.
Four days later, Tranmere picked up another excellent result on the road as they drew 0-0 with Huddersfield Town before losing disappointingly to Bournemouth at Prenton Park, suffering a 3-0 defeat.
Rovers were then knocked out of the Carling Cup at the second round stage, suffering an undeserved 3-1 defeat to Swansea City before maintaining their unbeaten record on the road, coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Dagenham and Redbridge thanks to late strikes from Enoch Showunmi and Aaron Cresswell.
All this means that Tranmere have picked up two of an available six points on the road so far this season, thanks to two successive draws in the league, whilst they remain unbeaten in away from home so far this campaign.
Rovers then come into this game in 15th place in League
One, having picked up five points from an available fifteen in their
opening five games, winning once, drawing twice and losing twice so far in the league this season.
Double Hit:
George
O'Callaghan is the only player to have played for both clubs, having
had a spell at Huish Park earliy last season.
The Irishman joined
Tranmere two years ago from Irish club Cork City , having had previoud spells in England with Port
Vale, Brighton and Ipswich.
However, personal problems led to
O'Callaghan making just eight appearances for Tranmere, and after a long spell away from the first team, Rovers boss Ronnie Moore eventually releaved O'Callaghan of his services midway through the season.
Upon his release, O'Callaghan returned to Ireland, joining Dundalk, where he made eleven appearances before returning to English football in the summer.
The English club he joined was Yeovil Town, signing after a successful trial, but again struggled at the club and was subsequently released,
having made just fifteen appearances for the Glovers.
Since his release, the 30-year old midfielder has been on trial at Brighton and Hove Albion, but has once again been released, and he is now back in Irish football playing for Cork, having had a brief spell with Waterford.
One To Watch: Dean Bowditch
Before joining Yeovil, Bowditch enjoyed spells on loan at Burnley, Wycombe, Brighton (x2), Northampton and Brentford, but failed to score more than two goals in a spell at any of these clubs.
After failing to secure a regular place in the Ipswich first team, having made over eighty appearances for the club, the pacey frontman was released in the 2009, aged 23.
He joined Yeovil Town and has been a big hit for the club ever since. In 35 games for the club, the striker has scored 11 goals, a record of nearly one goal every three games, whilst he has netted once in five appearances this summer.
With plenty of pace and a good poachers instinct, Bowditch as a valuable striker inside the penalty area and does lots of running for his side. He wears the number 14 shirt for the Glovers.
Around League One:
After the international football last weekend, there is a full round of fixtures this Saturday, with all 24 teams kicking off at 3PM.
Bournemouth vs. Dagenham and Redbridge
Brighton vs. MK Dons
Bristol Rovers vs. Brentford
Charlton vs. Notts County
Colchester vs. Plymouth
Hartlepool vs. Exeter
Leyton Orient vs. Huddersfield
Peterborough vs. Oldham
Rochdale vs. Walsall
Sheffield Wednesday vs. Carlisle
Swindon vs. Southampton
Yeovil vs. Tranmere
Team News:
Elsewhere, Tranmere will continue to be without Gunnar Nielsen, Simon Miotto, Marlon Broomes, Ashton Taylor, Alan Mahon, John Welsh, Nick Wood and Paul McLaren.
Andy Coughlin is set to take Simon Miotto's place on the bench, whilst Arnaud Mendy, Jermaine Grandison and Ryan Fraughan should all start for the second game running too.
Jones' Prediction: Yeovil Town 1-2 Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers have shown strong resolve on the road so far this season, and if they continue that form then I think they can pick up a good result at Huish Park this weekend, especially as they will be full of confidence following their 1-0 win over Peterborough last weekend.
The big test for Tranmere though is going to be continuing that form. They have proved inconsistent so far this year, and to date have only won back to back games once under Les Parry, since the former Physio took charge in October 2009.
With so many players out injured too, it will be tough for Rovers to continue to gel as they are expected to miss yet more players, with Adam McGurk and Ian Goodison struggling following last Saturday's match.
Yeovil though haven't been the strongest side in League One so far this season, and if Tranmere can put in a strong, battling display, like they did against Peterborough, then they should prove to have enough to beat Yeovil and pick up their second league win of the season.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
.Though I admit he is probably slight enough, that if he owns a cat or two, he could use the flap to get indoors
