17 August 2021

Micky Mellon marvels at Joe Murphy as Tranmere claim point at Swindon

17 August 2021

Manager Micky Mellon hailed goalkeeper Joe Murphy as Tranmere maintained their record of not conceding a league goal this season with a 0-0 draw at Swindon

Murphy made two superb saves to claim his third clean sheet in as many matches.

Mellon said: “I think it’s every credit to both sets of players. They both went at it from the first whistle.

“A 0-0 draw does not reflect how the game went, there were plenty of chances at both ends with both teams showing a lot of quality.

“Joe Murphy has made some good saves but so has their keeper. He has made a point-blank header from Emmanuel Dieseruvwe.

“Our keeper has made some saves but I am always fair. It was a tough game.

“We have created opportunities in three away games on the trot.”

Murphy’s heroics came in the final quarter of the game as Swindon pushed for a late winner.

In the 69th minute, Harry McKirdy was played in one-on-one by Jack Payne before being denied brilliantly by Murphy.

Seven minutes later, Murphy kept out McKirdy again after a fantastic Ben Gladwin pass had set him up for a shot.

The visitors did have chances of their own, none better than Dieseruvwe’s header from point-blank range that was somehow clawed out by Robins keeper Jojo Wollacott in the 52nd minute.

Payne was the game’s brightest prospect, stinging the palms of Murphy with a powerful effort and also having a shot cleared off the line in the second half during a corner routine.

Callum McManaman came closest to scoring in the first half but he could only curl straight at Wollacott after collecting a poor pass out from the back.

Swindon head coach Ben Garner felt his side did enough to win.

He said: “It was a really pleasing performance.

“The only negative is that it’s only one point rather than three, we certainly think the performance warranted that.

“There was some really good play, some really good performances and it’s a really pleasing foundation to work from.

“The play at times was breath-taking, Tranmere are a strong team with an experienced manager in Micky Mellon. To see where we are in such a short space of time is really pleasing.

“We want to be dangerous in all areas of the game, we’ve got our way of playing and we want to turn what we’re doing into goals.”

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