Andy Crosby was delighted with the commitment and intensity shown by his Tranmere Rovers side after their six-game losing streak was ended with a 2-0 win at home to Crawley Town.
Two first half goals from Zech Obiero and Joe Ironside’s penalty proved the difference at Prenton Park, as Crawley failed to take several key chances.
The Rovers boss said it had been a while since a win, going back to New Year’s Day, but encouraged his players to enjoy the feeling of the victory amidst a difficult period for the club.
Crosby told the club’s website: “We found a way to win today. It was a really pleasing and well-timed victory.
“When you’ve had a year like January, that’s how long it seemed to be, you get questioned and doubted, but we stuck together and responded”.
Crosby praises new signings Obiero and Marosi
Crosby was quick to single out Obiero, who scored the opening goal on his home debut after signing on loan from Leyton Orient for the remainder of the season.
Obiero capitalised on an error from Crawley defender Klaidi Lolos, dribbled into the box and fired a shot to the roof of the net past keeper Jacob Chapman.
Crosby said: “Zech has impressed everyone. The supporters will have seen a player of real good energy and quality, and he’s a really good young man too.”
He also praised the contributions of other loan players, including Stephan Negru and goalkeeper Marko Marosi, who joined on an emergency loan from Port Vale last week.
Marosi made two vital saves in both halves, the first being a one-on-one save against Crawley’s Ronan Darcy when the game was only 1-0.
With number one keeper Joe Murphy currently ruled out, Crosby was impressed that Marosi was able to do so well on such short notice, especially with injury problems an evergreen issue for the Rovers.
“We’ve been in such a difficult position since September with constantly losing players, so we can’t afford to take any risks (with injury knocks).”
The game shifted in the second half as Crawley maintained a lot of possession with Rovers’ looking to see out the game and Crosby was very pleased with the way his side defended.
“We maintained the intensity high up the pitch and defended our box really well and defended the wide areas too to stop crosses coming in.
“Crawley had a lot of the ball in the second half, but we stayed strong”.
Shifting the narrative at home
This is only Tranmere’s fourth home victory of the campaign and their first since Boxing Day, with Crosby saying this result can help change the narrative and help put things right for the home supporters.
“No one’s happy with our home form,” he said.
“To win 2-0 against a difficult opponent, it has started to shift the narrative. The more consistent we are, the better chance we’ve got of collecting more points”.
Attention now turns to Tuesday night, where Rovers host 13th place Accrington Stanley as they chase back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
“We’ll enjoy this feeling. But I’m already thinking about Tuesday,” Crosby said.
“It’s about recovery now and then responding again in front of our supporters against Accrington.”
(Featured image free to use under Alarmy license)
