Forest Green continued their bright start to the 2021/22 League Two campaign with a well fought draw against Tranmere at The Fully Charged New Lawn.

Despite Tranmere finishing the afternoon with ten men, and Rovers having 24 shots throughout the game, the visitors were hard to break down and defended Rob Edwards’ men well.

Edwards named an unchanged Rovers starting eleven for the visit of Tranmere to Nailsworth, after what was an emphatic 4-0 victory away at Stevenage last time out.

It was an energetic start to the afternoon at the Fully Charged New Lawn,  with an end-to-end nature to the game and both teams having sights on goal in the early stages.

Jamille Matt sent a header goalwards on the 16th minute mark but the Rovers captain struggled to create enough power to truly trouble Ross Doohan in the Tranmere net.

Nicky Cadden and Kane Wilson looked particularly bright, with the wingback duo having plenty of luck attacking from wide areas.

Edwards’  would often win possession back in the middle of the pitch and appeared to switch the play onto the flanks quickly, before delivering crosses into the box looking for Matt and Stevens.

With just under ten minutes until half-time, Matty Stevens had the best chance of the first half, with his header falling just inches away from goal, following on from a Matt flick on.

Luke McGee was called upon around the 40th minute mark, with the shot stopper making a good save down to his left from Calum MacDonald’s effort.

The tempo of the clash started to slow down from then onwards for the final five minutes of the first half, after what was an intense and fiery start to proceedings at the Fully Charged New Lawn, with 20 shots combined from both sides despite no goals.

Rovers started the second half strongly, with Kane Wilson’s effort blocked leading to a corner and Nicky Cadden coming very close with his powerful low strike surging narrowly wide of the post with 48 minutes on the clock.

Tranmere started to grow into the game more after this, with Kieron Morris weaving through the hosts’ defence and Davies going close with a header.

Matty Stevens was inches away from opening the scoring for Rovers after 59 minutes, with the in-form striker opening his body up and unleashing a lovely curling effort which looked destined for the top right corner, only for the ball to rattle the crossbar and bounce back into play.

Ebou Adams replaced Jack Aitchison with 62 minutes played, with the Scotsman impressing in the number 10 role, providing a link between the midfield and attack and often driving forwards looking to instigate an attack.

Shortly after coming onto the pitch in a substitution for Stevens, Jake Young had his long-range effort calmly dealt with by Doohan.

Then, with 87 minutes played, MacDonald was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow, just seven minutes after receiving his first, leaving the visitors with ten men for the final section of the game.

As Rovers looked for a winner with time starting to dwindle away, Edwards turned to Josh March, with Ben Stevenson making way for the striker.

Adams slotted into midfield, with Young now behind the duo of March and Matt up top for the hosts who dominated the tail end of the game, but couldn’t break through a determined Tranmere defence.

Despite 24 attempts on goal for the hosts and 16 for visiting Tranmere, the result finishes a goalless draw, with Rovers securing their fourth clean sheet in a row and Rob Edwards’ men remaining top of the division.