Nevitt’s late strikes help Rovers grab vital victory

OVERJOYED Tranmere boss

Micky Mellon saluted a ‘magnificent’ win against promotion-chasing rivals Mansfield.

Sub Elliott Nevitt notched two late goals to fire Rovers back into the automatic promotion frame.

“It’s a magnificent three points for us,” said Mellon.

“The game seemed to be losing its flow a bit in the second half, but the lads kept battling away.

“We knew we had to win tonight.

“We’d laid the cards out on the table and said a draw was no good, so it was a very important win for us.

“Some of the lads had let themselves down recently, they hadn’t really hit the levels required, but they did tonight and we just have to use this and keep fighting.”

Rovers went ahead inside five minutes when skipper Peter Clarke powered home a header from six yards after Calum MacDonald had nodded the ball back into the danger zone.

Mansfield’s Newcastle loanee Matty Longstaff saw a strike blocked, while at the other end Tom Davies was similarly denied.

The visitors produced a terrific one-touch move before Rhys Oates was denied from 12 yards by a smart save from Joe Murphy.

Oates was again thwarted by Murphy, before the visitors levelled seconds before the break when Longstaff slammed home Stephen McLaughlin’s cross from a tight angle.

Just before the hour mark Rovers’ Josh McPake fired an angled strike against a post.

Nevitt made it 2-1 to Rovers when he converted Lewis Warrington’s throughball, before Ollie Hawkins headed home Jamie Murphy’s corner in the 92nd minute to level the scores.

Nevitt then drove superbly into the top corner to win the game three minutes later.

“Of course I’m very disappointed, particularly with the fact that I thought both their goals in the second half were offside,” said Mansfield manager Nigel Clough.

“We played well in spells and when we got in at half-time at 1-1, we needed to use that and take that into the second half.

“We didn’t expect to see lots of pretty football here tonight, but you need to be more alive to the danger at times, and tonight we’ve been punished.”