Nigel Adkins struggles to contain his delight after Tranmere stun Stockport

Posted Sunday, February 18, 2024 by PA

Tranmere manager Nigel Adkins could barely contain his delight after seeing his side beat top-of-the-table Stockport 4-0 at Prenton Park.

A brace from Jordan Turnbull and strikes from Tom Davies and Connor Jennings were the difference as Rovers inflicted back-to back defeats on Sky Bet League Two leaders County.

The home side opened the scoring on the half-hour mark when Davies found himself in the right spot to force the ball home after a free-kick from Brad Walker.

The Hatters were not without chances of their own and could have pulled level through Will Collar and Odin Bailey.

But Tranmere doubled their lead in the 55th minute when Turnbull fired the ball into the net after Stockport failed to clear the danger from a free-kick.

The points were wrapped up in the 63rd minute when Turnbull headed home his second and Rovers’ third from a perfectly-placed Walker cross, before Connor Jennings completed the rout with five minutes left.

Adkins said: “The fans were great and they’re leaving with smiles on their faces today, and let’s face it, they certainly had something to smile about.

“I told the players today about what it means to represent Tranmere Rovers, people want to come and see you work hard and we’ve certainly worked hard today.

“We started the game really well after the disappointment of losing on Tuesday night to Morecambe and the players have responded so well.

“We just beat the league leaders convincingly and we’re so exciting to watch and that makes me so happy.

“Great credit to the players and the staff for the way they’ve responded to two challenging results in games we should have won, the mentality to work for their teammates and the staff, themselves and the Tranmere family.

“We’ve got a team that is prepared to work and graft for each other and I’m excited by what I’ve seen today.”

Stockport boss Dave Challinor said: “We spoke after the defeat to Crewe on Tuesday about doing the basics and once again we’ve not done that.

“Let’s be clear, our relative success so far this season in terms of where we sit in the table has been based on stability, but we’ve not had a clean sheet in the last seven games and one in the last nine.

“Sometimes you have to protect the players in terms of what you say, but that’s an embarrassing performance defensively.

“If things don’t get better for Tuesday night away at Gillingham then it’s going to be a tough night for us. I could lie and paper over the cracks, but that’s not the way I am.

“We’ve got to be miles better than that and if we’re not then it’s going to be a tough night for us and that’s as simple as it is.”