Portsmouth beat Tranmere by two-goals in Sky Bet League One encounter at Prenton Park.

  • Story of the game

 

Tranmere started the more promising side in the match, but their dominance was met with a Pompey goal on 13 minutes. Rovers conceded from yet another set-piece, this time it was Sean Raggett who put the visitors in front

Micky Mellon’s side were a goal-line stop from Alex Bass away from equalising five minutes later. Tricky-winger, Corey Blackett-Taylor managed to drill a shot-turned-pass towards the direction of new boy, Andy Cook who attempted a cheeky back-heal but his effort was saved on the line by the Pompey shot-stopper.

Portsmouth came out after the interval with bags full of energy and were soon two-up. Ellis Harrison timed his run to perfection on the counter and threaded a pinpoint ball into the path of Ryan Williams who drilled his shot from twenty-yard into Scotty Davies’ net.

 

  • Key takeaways from the match

 

Tranmere lacking quality to stay up:

Micky Mellon’s side have not won a league game since the 21st December and despite bringing in reinforcements during the January window, they still lack the quality needed to get over the line in this highly competitive league.

Embed from Getty Images

The new striking partnership of Cook and Vaughan has not started well, with neither getting on the scoresheet.

Pompey hitting form at the right time:

The visitors were excellent today and have been for some weeks, with today’s victory making it nine games undefeated in all competitions. If it were not for a shaky start to the season, Jacket’s side would be in cruise control of the division. They travel to fellow promotion chasers, Coventry in mid-week, a game which could have a big bearing on who goes up this season.

  • Man of the Match

 

Ryan Williams (Portsmouth)

Williams was as energetic a winger could be today, showing why he has been part of the Socceroos setup this season. He topped off a brilliant individual performance with a fine goal on the 51st, hitting an effort from 20-yards into the bottom right-hand-corner of Scotty Davies’ goal.

 

  • What's next for Tranmere?

 

Mellon’s side host 13th placed Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night in a must win game under the lights at Prenton Park.

The Pirates won the reverse fixture 2-0 in August courtesy of goals from Jonson Clarke-Harris & Tyler Smith.

Tranmere finished the match with nine men after Corey Blackett-Taylor and Ollie Banks saw red within ten minutes of each other in the second half.

Rovers have had a run of two home defeats in a row and Mellon’s side need to start picking up points if they have any hope of staying up this campaign.