Bore draw turns heat on Athletic
Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 21 January 2010
Athletic 0, Tranmere 0
SCINTILLATING, enthralling, mesmerising . . . all words that will not feature in this match report.
To say this was a poor game would be a severe understatement. It was an abominable football match.
Two struggling sides huffed and puffed their way to a point each in a contest almost completely bereft of interest – save for a couple of efforts in the second half which could have given Athletic all three points.
First, a Dale Stephens free-kick from the left was sliced back across goal by substitute Alex Marrow at the back post and a spell of penalty area ping-pong ended with Deane Smalley’s shot being blocked on the line.
Marrow then almost inserted a rare note of joy in the symphony of tedium with 10 minutes left, stepping round Rovers goalkeeper Luke Daniels only to have his left-footed shot into an empty goal stopped on the line by the diving Zoumana Bakayogo.
In all seriousness, the announcing of the Tranmere left-back’s exotic name over the tannoy was one of the top five most interesting events of the evening.
If this game were a dog, its owners would have taken it to the vet this morning to have it put to sleep.
Athletic were marginally the better of the two sides, but will have to start looking far more threatening if they are to climb out of a worrying position, fourth from bottom of Coca-Cola League One.
For their part, Tranmere seemed happy to settle for a point, while stifled Athletic couldn’t create enough opportunities against a massed defence to take all three.
That was despite the best efforts of returning top scorer Pawel Abbott, who was forced to feed on scraps.
The seven-goal striker got a scent of a chance after 31 minutes, a right-footed snap shot bouncing a yard wide of Daniels’ left post for the home side’s first effort on goal.
Up to that point, Rovers – employing a 4-3-3 system which provided them with attacking options at the start of the game – were in control.
An error from on-loan centre-back Krisztian Timar almost let in Terry Gornell after only three minutes, the Hungarian’s skewed header falling too far in front of the Rovers man for him to control a weak shot as goalkeeper Dean Brill rushed out well at his feet.
Gareth Edds then dragged a volley narrowly wide after Paul McLaren’s cross fell favourably to him eight yards out, before Gornell cut inside and fired straight at Brill after a surge down the middle from the impressive Bakayogo.
Timar then hobbled off the field after making an aborted attempt to play on following treatment. He was replaced by Marrow.
Penney opted to reshuffle his side, Jim Goodwin moving to right-back with Reuben Hazell switching to central defence and Marrow going into the middle of midfield.
Craig Curran’s well-struck shot after 25 minutes was deflected into the side-netting as the visitors continued to push forward, using long diagonal balls to keep Penney’s men on the back foot.
Thankfully, Abbott’s first effort signalled a slight shift in the balance of the game and Athletic started to enjoy more possession.
Abbott and Stephens fired speculative attempts well wide of goal, Tranmere’s Paul McLaren had a long-range free-kick well held low to his left by Brill and Smalley may have done better with his two quarter-chances, heading over from the centre of the area from an accurate deep cross from Joe Jacobson and firing a snap-shot wide from eight yards out.
All in all it was a desperate opening half, though things improved marginally after the interval.
The first meaningful action saw Marrow flicking Stephens’ back-post free-kick from the left. A mad scramble ended with Smalley’s goalbound shot stopped by a defender.
Then came Athletic’s second substitution, Keigan Parker entering the fray for Danny Whitaker to provide an injection of pace up front.
A Jacobson error almost helped the visitors create a chance on goal, on-loan Manchester City right-back Shaleum Logan nipping in and crossing well for Gornell after 68 minutes, only for Goodwin to make a timely block at the far post.
Abbott then spun on the edge of the area and fired a left-foot which was pushed round the near post by Daniels, before Jacobson was forced to make an excellent saving block after Gornell had sent Curran clear down the middle.
The same two players were at it again in the 77th minute, Jacobson again stepping infield to cover well when Curran looked set to shoot.
Then came the game’s best chance. A clever angled pass by Abbott and a good run by Marrow ended with the midfielder getting round Daniels only to be denied on the line by Bakayogo.
That was just about that. Referee Craig Pawson played three minutes of injury time before the misery was finally ended for the poor crowd of 3,688.
