Tranmere Rovers - Who needs a lemon when you've got a Mellon!

Jeff Hughes scored a second-half hat-trick as Tranmere avenged their boxing day loss to Macclesfield with a 5-2 win at Moss Rose.




Macclesfield: Flatt, Halls, Paul (McCombe 64), Barkworth, Hancox, Norburn, Hanna, James (Lewis 51), Harper, Rowe, Mullin (Holroyd 45).
Subs Not Used: Ross, Sampson.

Booked: Norburn.

Tranmere: Turner, Fitzwater, Coker, McNulty, Shaw, Tollitt, Maynard, Hughes, Collins, Norwood, Mangan.
Subs Not Used: Davies, Ihiekwe, Tombides, Cook, Harris.



Referee: T Bramall.
Stadium: Moss Rose.
Attendance: 1,979 (873 away).
Possession: Macclesfield 41% - 59% Tranmere
Shots: Macclesfield 8 - 18 Tranmere
On Target: Macclesfield 4 - 6 Tranmere
Fouls: Macclesfield 15 - 10 Tranmere

Tranmere have completed the signing of former captain James Wallace, after the midfielder was released from his contract with Sheffield United.

Tranmere manager Micky Mellon, who worked with the midfielder last season at Shrewsbury Town, says he will improve the squad.

He told Tranmere PlayerHD: "James will be someone who is well known to the Tranmere fans, someone I've worked with previously at Shrewsbury and he is a talented lad so he brings that quality into an already talented group and makes us stronger."

"He is in a good place at the minute. He has worked very hard away from Sheffield United with some really good fitness people and he has come through that whole programme now which lasted about a month. And he's also had two weeks training and is ready to play so I expect him to have a good spell here."

"He's a powerhouse, technically fantastic, brings leadership qualities and knows what the demands are to play for Tranmere so all of those qualities he brings to the squad now. When we get him going and he gets a run of games under his belt, what a fantastic talent he is and I'm delighted to have him here."

Defender Steve McNulty scored a rare Tranmere goal as the home side beat Sutton Utd by 2 goals to 1 at Prenton Park.




Tranmere: Turner, Fitzwater McNulty, Coker, Shaw (Ridehalgh 68), Jennings, Hughes, Collins, Tollitt (Tombides 51), Norwood (Lisbie 56), Cook.
Subs Not Used: Davies, Buxton.

Sutton Utd: Pears, Eckersley, James, Cowgill (J Collins 71), McLennan, Bailey, Eastmond, Sutton (Biamou 80), Lubala (Gomis 80), Deacon, Smith.
Subs Not Used: Worner, Nasha.



Referee: I Smedley.
Stadium: Prenton Park
Attendance: 5,224 (89 away).
Possession: Tranmere 60% - 40% Sutton Utd
Shots: Tranmere 17 - 9 Sutton Utd
On Target: Tranmere 5 - 4 Sutton Utd
Fouls: Tranmere 15 - 21 Sutton Utd

Tranmere head physio David Spendiff brings the latest from the treatment room, including an update on winger Adam Mekki.

So the treatment room has been a busy place of late with no less than 5 first team players all having injuries. Andy Mangan has a pulled hamstring and will be out until atleast February and Lee Vaughan is close to a return following his recent thigh strain.

Ben Tollitt picked up a back strain in the win against Sutton and will be out for about a month. James Norwood has a sprained wrist after falling in training and will definitely miss the Guiseley game. He could be back for the game away at Woking though.

Adam Mekki is still probably another month away from a return to first team action but he has responded extremely well to the treatment and rehab he's been getting. With a damaged achilles tendon, it's important that we don't rush him back in too quickly as there's a chance he could re-injure himself.

Tranmere winger Louis Almond has left the club and joined AFC Flyde on a free transfer.

Striker/winger Almond joined Tranmere for an undisclosed fee in the summer but has been out of favour since the arrival of new boss Micky Mellon. Under Mellon, Almond has played only 6 games with only 1 being a start. During that time, Almond has scored just 1 goal, against Guiseley back in August.

According to a statement on the Tranmere website, the 25-year-old asked to be released from his contract at Prenton Park in order to go and find a place where he could play first team football on a regular basis. A mutual termination was agreed and AFC Flyde announced the capture of Almond just hours later.

Veteran striker Kevin Lisbie scored twice, as Tranmere eased into the FA Trophy third round, with a 3-1 win over Guiseley.

Match Highlights


Final Score: Guiseley 1-3 Tranmere.

Starting Lineups

Guiseley: D Atkinson, East, Lawlor (Palmer 61), R Atkinson, Williams, Vidal, Hedley, Walton (White 38), Hatfield, Preston (Lowe 61), Mellors.
Subs Not Used: Hutchinson, Rankine.

Booked: Williams, Hedley, Vidal.

Off: Williams

Goals: Preston (50).

Tranmere: Turner, Fitzwater, Coker, McNulty, Shaw, Collins (Maynard 80), Jennings, Tombides, Hughes, Cook (Stockton 61), Lisbie (Ridehalgh 90).
Subs Not Used: Davies, Ihiekwe.

Booked: Jennings, McNulty, Coker, Collins.

Goals: Lisbie (5, 41), Hughes (6).

Match Statistics

Referee: T Green
Shots: Guiseley 7 - 12 Tranmere
On Target: Guiseley 3 - 7 Tranmere
Possession: Guiseley 51% - 49% Tranmere
Corners: Guiseley 1 - 5 Tranmere
Fouls: Guiseley 14 - 12 Tranmere
Attendance: 1,190 (658 away).

Tranmere will travel to fellow National League South side Eastbourne Borough in the FA Trophy third round.

The match at Eastbourne's Priory Lane ground will mark the first-ever meeting between the two clubs. Eastbourne currently sit 7th in the National League South table, just four points off the playoff places. Tranmere currently occupy top spot in the National League.

The full draw

Boreham Wood vs FC Halifax
Whitehawk vs Solihull Moors
Ebbsfleet vs Kidderminster
Eastbourne Borough vs Tranmere
Welling vs Barrow
Torquay vs Truro
Lincoln vs Curzon Ashton
Southport vs Wrexham

Tranmere have signed Portsmouth winger Ben Tollitt for an undisclosed fee on a contract to run until 2019.

Tollitt joined Rovers on loan before the start of the season, and has made 23 National League appearances for the club, scoring five goals and making nine assists during that time.

The 22-year-old former Everton trainee signed for Pompey from non-league side Skelmersdale in March 2015, and played in 18 games for the League Two club.

"This is a great signing to be able to add a young, local emerging talent," Rovers manager Micky Mellon said.

"Ben is a lad of great promise and if he continues to work hard, he will be able to fulfil that potential. He's a superb player at this level and I think that he will continue to excel here at Prenton Park. If he can continue with the way he's been playing, he'll be back playing League Two football. I'm sure the supporters will be pleased that we've added another exciting player to the squad. There are not that many players around of that style, so he brings us something different and I'm delighted that we've completed the signing."

Tranmere lost for the second time in the National League this season, a Gozie Ugwu hat-trick giving Woking a 3-1 win at the Kingfield Stadium.




Woking: Sanchez, Vincent-Young, Baba, Yakubu, Tilney, Lewis, Sutherland, Jones (Gerard 45), Ralph, Ugwu, Ansah.
Subs Not Used: Poke, Saah, Sam-Yorke, Penny.

Tranmere: Turner, Fitzwater, Coker, McNulty, Shaw, Collins, S Jennings, Tombides, Hughes (Kirby 73), Cook, Stockton (C Jennings 73).
Subs Not Used: Davies, Buxton, Maynard.

Booked: Collins.



Referee: S Tomlinson.
Stadium: Kingfield Stadium.
Attendance: 1,972 (453 away).
Possession: Woking 42% - 58% Tranmere
Shots: Woking 8 - 24 Tranmere
On Target: Woking 5 - 3 Tranmere
Fouls: Woking 15 - 17 Tranmere

Tranmere boss Micky Mellon has criticised his sides finishing after Rovers lost 3-1 away at Woking at the Kingfield Stadium.

Gozie Igwu scored a hat trick for Woking as the home side inflicted Tranmere's second National League loss of the season. Tranmere grabbed a consolation goal though Andy Cook but missed a bucket load of chances which could have potentially won them the game, regardless of Ugwu's hat trick.

"I was really disappointed with our finishing today," said Mellon in an interview after the game.

"Our chief data analyst tells me we had 24 attempts on goal with only 3 of them being on target. That is absolutely criminal at any level let alone this one. Up until now our finishing has been one of our strongest suits so I really don't understand what happened today. We should have won the game and it's our own fault we didn't."

James Norwood scored in the first minute as Tranmere cruised to a 3-0 win over Dagenham and Redbridge at Prenton Park.




Tranmere: Turner, Fitzwater, McNulty, Coker, Shaw, Collins, Jennings (Kirby 88), Tombides, Hughes (Maynard 88), Norwood (Cook 21), Lisbie.
Subs Not Used: Davies, Ridehalgh.

Dag & Red: Cousins, Young, Doe, Cadman, Raymond, Robinson (Howell 77), Boucaud (Donnellan 62), Thomas-Asante, Whitely, Maguire-Drew, Assombalonga (Widdowson 51).
Subs Not Used: Justham, Flisher.



Referee: M Bristow.
Stadium: Prenton Park
Attendance: 5,382 (118 away).
Possession: Tranmere 53% - 47% Dag & Red
Shots: Tranmere 16 - 7 Dag & Red
On Target: Tranmere 7 - 2 Dag & Red
Fouls: Tranmere 16 - 14 Dag & Red

Tranmere striker Andy Cook scored two against his former club, as Tranmere drew 2-2 away at Barrow in the National League.




Barrow: Nizic, Anderton, Livesey, Smith, Murray (Hannah 51), Pinau, Turnbull (Parry 51), L Hughes, Williams (Haworth 56), Panayitou, Harrison.
Subs Not Used: Watkins, Meikle.

Booked: Turnbull.

Tranmere: Turner, Fitzwater, Coker, McNulty, Buxton (Ridehalgh 33), Shaw, Collins, Jennings (Tombides 71), Hughes, Mangan, Cook (Stockton 74).
Subs Not Used: Davies, Maynard.

Booked: Jennings.



Referee: A Young
Stadium: Holker Street
Attendance: 1,613 (534 away)
Possession: Barrow 39% - 61% Tranmere
Shots: Barrow 7 - 14 Tranmere
On Target: Barrow 4 - 7 Tranmere
Fouls: Barrow 19 - 10 Tranmere

Great stuff man, theres no stopping you

2016-11-21 18:46#238937 Atoobie : Great stuff man, theres no stopping you

We're too good for this league. League Two is where the challenge begins