Nevitt double breathes new life into Tranmere season

Elliott Nevitt came off the bench on Friday night and grabbed a brilliant brace as Tranmere Rovers edged out Mansfield Town 3-2 in a topsy-turvy encounter.

Nevitt replaced the injured Paul Glatzel in the 55th minute and a 35 minute appearance was enough for Nevitt to stamp his authority on the game and help his side to a huge three points in the battle for promotion.

Goals have been hard to come by for a Tranmere side that has relied heavily on its defensive record this season, particularly finding a reliable goalscorer up front.

Ahead of the clash with the Stags, Kieron Morris was leading the way in the Rovers’ scoring charts with a paltry five goals. Morris being a midfielder makes the stat all the more worrying. Nevitt, Glatzel and Charlie Jolley were the highest scoring forwards with just four goals apiece.

Kane Hemmings was brought in during the January transfer window with the hope of adding the firepower that would propel Micky Mellon’s side up to League One, but the former Burton Albion man has notched just three times thus far.

Hemmings was tasked with leading the line here with Glatzel operating just behind him and while the goals have yet to flow, Hemmings showed plenty of what he can offer Tranmere by working hard out of possession, winning aerial duels and offering good play with his back to goal.

Some of his link-up play with those around him was eye-catching, with some nice passes to set Josh McPake who was operating from the left but struggled to get into the game in the first half.

Glatzel was also doing his best to make an impression, but there was a feeling around the ground that it just was not going to be the on-loan Liverpool forward’s evening.

The German youth international was causing the Mansfield defence issues and almost broke away on a couple of occasions, only for the ball not quite falling right. Two chances in particular broke his way, with Glatzel unable to get the ball under control and the second evading the striker completely.

The 21-year-old’s night would take a turn for the worse early in the second half. The popular squad member showed brilliant composure in the box when played in, feigning to shoot twice before eventually seeing his effort blocked away for a corner.

This was only the tip of the iceberg though as Glatzel suffered a reoccurrence of a troubling hamstring injury and had to be helped off the pitch.

Mellon spoke on the injury after the game, confirming the worst fears.

“I think he’s done his hamstring again. He’s distraught, the lad. If it wasn’t for bad luck he wouldn’t have any would he?”

Glatzel is highly thought of in the Tranmere camp and they will be hoping to have him back quickly to help out during the run-in.

On would come Nevitt to bolster the attack and add something different up front. Hemmings was now dropping deeper to pick up the ball with Nevitt the furthest forward most often.

The former Warrington Rylands striker brought some extra energy and was giving the Mansfield defence a hard time, even before he had an even bigger impact on proceedings.

The 25-year-old found himself clean through on goal but there was still about 25-30 yards between himself and the Mansfield net. Nathan Bishop, the Stags goalkeeper, came racing out but Nevitt showed composure to keep his cool and slot the ball beyond Bishop.

The celebrations were loud and it appeared as if Tranmere would hold out for victory, only for Oli Hawkins to snatch an undeserved equaliser for Mansfield in stoppage time.

A point would do very little to enhance the promotion hopes of Rovers, and they would not settle.

Lewis Warrington found Nevitt in a little bit of space in the inside-left position but the striker still had an awful lot to do. Cutting in on his right foot, Nevitt once again showed wonderful composure to curl home a brilliant effort into the far corner.

To do this at any stage of the game, but to do in injury time with your team in desperate need of a win shows immense quality and character.

The crowd erupted and it had the feeling of a special night in Birkenhead.

Tranmere went back into the automatic promotion places, for 19 hours anyway, and gave their season a much needed shot in the arm. The other sides may have games in hand but Rovers have the points on the board and the pressure will now transfer onto the likes of Exeter City, Newport County and Sutton United.

With ten games to go, glory is very much there to play for.

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