|
Why Does It Always Rainham On Me?Tranmere Rovers away to Gillingham FC In EFL 2 at the Priestfield |
|
Where are we and what’s going on?
The Rovers visit the Gills on a very wet February afternoon. We were worried it was going to be postponed as most of the lower league games have been. There was no early inspection as you might expect. They were either confident or reckless. The ref was worried when he arrived but it seems ok now that the rain has slowed up.
Is there any team news? Just a bit. Where to start? Out-going is Josh Davidson on loan to Cheltenham and Richie Smallwood to Bristol Rovers. Sad news is that Connor has joined the ACL club so will be out for at least 9 0r 10 months. He has a contract extension so hopefully we’ll see him playing again around Christmas. Get well soon Connor ❤. The 2 injured loanees have returned to their home clubs. Soz. We’re sad to see Will Tamen and Dylan Jones go as they both looked like great additions. There are replacements and some! New in at the heart of midfield is a face we’ve seen before when he was on loan from Everton. It’s Lewis Warrington who has signed for 2 and 1/2 years from Walsall. Also in is versatile player James Plant who has signed from Port Vale for 18 months. There are 3 new loanees to replace the 2 we broke. Midfielder Zech Odiero joins from Leytond Orient. Defender Stephen Negru joins from Oxford United. Both of those are in the starting 11. On the bench is Xax Dickov who joins from Mansfield. He is the son of Scotland Legend, Paul Dickov. There is even news on the goal keeper front as Marko Marosi joins for a 1 week emergency loan from Port Vale. He starts behind a back 3 (again, FFS) of Nathan Smith, Patrick Brough and Stephen Negru. Out wide are James Plant and Omari Patrick. In the middle are Lewis Warrington and Sam Finley. It looks like Zech Obiero is playing just behind a front 2 of Joe Ironside and Charlie Whitaker.
There is just one name we know in the Gill line up. It’s Cameron Antwi from Newport.
We’re in the covered seating looking out over the away end. The temporary stand has been there over 25 years and is allegedly the most photographed scaffold in football. We can believe that having sat in it in March 2001. We are just glad we don’t have to sit in it today. There rain has eased and there are 284 SWA here, getting behind the boys. The new keeper is right in front of us. We hope he has a quiet one. Let’s see. Come on you Whites 🙏.
Off We Go…
Tranmere face an onslaught straight from the whistle. Marko is called into action early in his debut. He makes good saves on 9 and 10. The Gills are struggling to stay on-side but the assistant on the far side is struggling to get them right. Looks like he is only able to get the marginal ones right. He misses a couple of clear off-sides calls right opposite the very vocal SWA. Hope he takes the feedback on-board. Sam Vokes is a threat but can’t find the target fortunately.
Rovers get a chance from a corner. Negru gets his head on it but it’s saved.
Down the other end and the Gills get a spate of corners. One is eventually put in the net but it’s clearly offside. 1-0. The assistant ref decides to ignore that fact and keeps his flag down. It’s given on 25. He clearly didn’t hear the earlier feedback so more is provided.
Tranmere start a good spell. They get a couple of corners. Zech blasts wide from outside the box. Finley comes close with his shot.
The SWA feedback seems have finally worked as the Gills are caught offside. Their keeper goes down in protest or he is injured. Not sure which. Or he is just stopping play for a team talk as Rovers were having a good spell.
Whatever his plan, it doesn’t work as the Rovers are still on top. Whitaker misses his chance. Ironside does the same. Need to be a lot more clinical than that. We are not sure what Xg is but Tranmere’s would probably be minus at the moment. There are 2 minutes of added time and we’re still a goal behind at the break.
The Whites are now attacking the goal in front of the SWA. Let’s hope we get to see plenty of action. We’re not disappointed. Zech forces a save on 48 from a good Whitaker assist. Another Rovers corner and is Negru misses again with assistance from Omari. Brough also misses with an assist from Whitaker. The chances are coming but not being taken.
There is a miss from the Gills before Tranmere are on the offensive again. Zwech and Smith both miss the target. We hold our breath as Omari lines up one of his special curling efforts from wide left. We all groan as it goes miles over. It’s just over an hour gone as Whitaker gets in a shot on target only to see it saved.
The Gills make 3 changes. There is a brief response to the changes and they get a couple of corners. The 2nd is crossed in and is headed in by Hale for his 2nd of the match. Rovers have been in total charge and have conceded against the run of play again.
Tranmere dominate again as the Gills keeper fancies another nap. This is getting worse than Arsenal Women!
Andy Crosby makes his first changes on 71 as Plant, Obiera and Ironside are replaced by Norman, Dickov and Dennis. Hope the fresh players remembered their shooting boots. There is an immediate impact as Dickov’s set piece provides for Whitaker who scores on 78 ⚽. 2-1. A fightback?
There is another Tranmere change on 81 as Negru makes way for Lowe. Into the last 5 minutes and the Whites are still getting the most chances. Finley sees his shot go wide. Norman forces a block. Tranmere get a corner and Norman forces a save this time. It won’t go in for Tranmere.
There are 6 minutes added on. Plenty of time for an equaliser. The chances come as Omari forces a block and then a save. We’re urging them on as they get corner after corner. It is not going to go in. It doesn’t go in and it’s a 2-1 loss on the road. There is mixed feedback from the SWA. A quick round of applause as Andy and the boys come over. It’s time to hit the road and get lost in Kent again.
We think it’s all over…
At least the rain stopped. It was a good watch with lots of attacking football. The Rovers had the best of the ball but struggled to find enough power or precision with the final shot. It was so much better than the game at Cambridge. The additions to the team bringing with them both energy and quality. We look forward to it getting better between here and the end of the season.
The SWA were quite quiet but not as quiet as the home crowd. 244 out singing over 5000. The Connor Jennings song was nice to hear. He may be out injured but Mr Tranmere is not forgotten.
It was nice to see things improve with the subs. That’s when it usually falls apart because the squad is so thin. And Gillingham got worse. Big name managers don’t always get it right. And get your haircut 💇.
There is lots of talk about goalkeeper timeouts and we had 2 today. Didn’t help the Gills though did it as the momentum didn’t change. Though they did win thanks to Tranmere’s appalling performance in front of goal.
The takeover could come at any time and everything will change then. But till then, things are potentially looking up a bit if these youngsters can stay fit.
The Other Bits:
POTM: It goes to newly arrived Lewis Warrington. He was always involved in the middle and looking to move it forward. But shout out to all the arrivals who have given us something to look forward to.
The ref did OK. We like the new head injury rule where the player has to go off the pitch if they feign a head injury to stop play. 👍 Even if the physio doesn’t come on. But the assistant on the far side might as well not have been there. Three big offsides missed early on including the first goal. 👎 Useless. 🤷
The Scran’O’meter loved the breakfast at Bill’s in Bluewater, Thanks Bill. There was regret later on due to the state of the dishwater coffee 3/10 at Priestfield. Bottle sold with bottle tops on was a good improvement.
If there was a programme, we didn’t see one or anyone reading one. It’s normally for sale in the away end as far as we can remember. Their loss.
See you somewhere soon.
Love Tranmerekat 🐾
 |
| In the Priestfield |
