Wirral Going On A February Holiday…

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By Pete H

…no more working for a day or two. And well done to you – yes, you there! You’re the latest BoroGuide winner of a no-expenses paid trip to the wonder of the Wirral. Oh yeah, baby. It’s Tranmere! A place with its own entry in the Urban Dictionary. We’ve not checked what it says, but we’d assume it’s positive? You’d have to go back to nineteen-eighty-shit and take down 101 (or more) in six darts for a prize like this. How can you say no?

 

Tranmere Rovers v Stevenage: The Lowdown

So, back to Tranmere for the first time since November 2014. It’s four-and-a-half years’ worth of muddy water under the bridge of life, just there. It’s the first time out on the road for this sort-of-new-look Boro’ team. Set against the rustic charm of Prenton Park, it’s as good a place as any to see if last week’s win over Yeovil was a false dawn or a bright new sunrise. You’ll have to excuse us while we pile on analogies and similes like a, er…

 

The Opposition

PWDLF13 A15; last result: Stevenage 2-2 Tranmere Rovers, 04/08/2018

Last time we met was on the first day of term indoors, and we had ourselves a Desmond. In fact, that was our third Desmond on the spin against Rovers. We’re yet to win at Prenton Park, which is a bit of a worry. Our last two visits finished all square; an upgrade on the first two times we dropped in and let in three goals a pop. You could say a goalless draw in our* glorious relegation season of 2013-4 is the best we’ve done there. Maybe?

* That’s both us and them, comin’ down together like birds of a feather.

 

The Referee

PWDLFA4; last result: Carlisle United 1-0 Stevenage, 20/02/2016

It’s one of those names that sounds familiar, but for no real reason. After all, it’s just the sixth time that Eddie Ilderton is our man in the middle. And it’s pretty much three years since the last time. When we’ve won on his watch, we’ve won big (4-0 and 3-0). The second of those wins was in May 2012, however. It’s two losses on the last two times we’ve been paired with this ref. This is only his fifth Football League outing of the season too.

 

The Form

There’s us in ninth, and then there’s Tranmere in 10th. Side-by-side in the table with five points separating us, our hosts have a game in hand over us. Beat us and win that, and they go past us. If you thought our form was up and down, however, you wanna see how Rovers have fared. Undefeated in four between 26 December and 12 January, they’ve now lost three on the bounce – and had a trip to Port Vale put on ice. Literally.

So, what comes with your Friday night takeaway this week? Tranmere’s record indoors is virtually the same as ours. In attack and in defence, there’s nothing out of the ordinary either. Two-thirds of their points haul has come at Prenton Park, however. And most of the goals (78% if you’re counting) they’ve let in have been on the road. It’s going to be tricky, but at least they’ve let in two goals or more in each of their last three.

We’re on for another Desmond, aren’t we?

• MORE ABOUT ‘EM: Tranmere Rovers club profile