After seven wins in a row, Tranmere Rovers tasted defeat for the first time since 5 February when they were beaten 2-0 against Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park.
Micky Mellon’s side had been in impressive form since that loss to Northampton Town in early February, accumulating eight wins and a draw in the process.
But they were unable to stretch the unbeaten series of results into double figures as a poor performance and clinical finishing from Oldham striker Callum Lang were their undoing in Greater Manchester.
The two Oldham goals came as a result of poor defensive errors by Rovers which must be the thing frustrating Micky Mellon when he looks back at the game.
The first saw Lang turn Mark Ellis with ease before waltzing his way into the penalty area and slamming the ball past Scott Davies with just seven minutes on the clock.
In the second half, a miskick by Manny Monthe allowed Lang through on goal and he showed great calmness to get the ball under control before firing an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner of the net.
It was a game in which Tranmere enjoyed the majority of possession, but they were unable to carve out any real clear cut chances on goal.
League Two’s leading goalscorer James Norwood cut a frustrated figure in Rovers’ attack, up against two, sometimes three, sometimes four Latics defenders at a time, unable to cause the problems we’ve been so used to seeing over the past few seasons.
All good things come to an end, but this is by no means the end. Rovers remain in a strong position in 5th position, firmly within the play-off zone and still within striking distance of the automatic promotion places with six games yet to play.
They are six extremely tough looking fixtures, but Micky Mellon’s side must take great belief and confidence from their excellent recent form, move on from the disappointment from last night and respond in a manner which we’ve become accustomed to with this team over the last few years.
The final word goes to the Super White Army. 2,342 packed into the away end at Boundary Park on a cold Tuesday night (every night, and day, is cold in Oldham) and never stopped singing throughout. The team certainly can’t ask any more from the supporters, brilliant. Six to go, keep it going, everyone!
