TRANMERE secured themselves a final-day shoot-out with Scunthorpe United for the sixth and final place in the Coca Cola League One play-offs, but only after surviving an almighty scare against Yeovil Town on Saturday.

Rovers had looked down and out after Jon Obika had given Yeovil the lead midway through the second period, but it was that man again, captain Antony Kay, who came to the rescue with an absolutely vital equaliser from Ryan Shotton’s throw to earn Ronnie Moore’s side the point they so desperately needed.

Kay’s strike, a brilliantly controlled volley which flew into the top corner, was the solitary highlight from a day that saw Rovers burdened by the sheer magnitude of the occasion.

Second best throughout, Yeovil had plenty of opportunities to put the game to bed and would have been full value for all three points on a day when the home side simply didn’t turn up.

A whole host of factors almost came together to see Rovers’ play-off dreams go up in smoke. The impact of Ian Goodison’s absence from the back four has to be seen to be believed at times, and that uncertainty at the back spread throughout the side, while an injury to Bas Savage meant Rovers lacked a presence in attack and no target man to hit when the going got tough.

Also concerning was the manner in which tension and expectation dogged the home side throughout the afternoon. The nerves were there for all to see, not just in their elementary mistakes but also in their inability to establish any sort of rhythm throughout the 90 minutes.

To the relief of the majority of the 8,000-plus crowd inside Prenton Park, however, the performance was made completely academic by Kay’s equaliser.

Rovers will now take their chance at Glanford Park next Saturday, and there’s no doubt that Ronnie Moore and co deserve enormous credit for securing their opportunity.

For long periods of Saturday afternoon, it was far from certain that there would be anything resting on next week’s trip to Scunthorpe.

Those fairly basic errors which chequered the afternoon became an all too regular occurrence from the early minutes, and the hosts’ failure to settle could have been punished had Obika finished from a tight angle or Andros Townsend picked out his man after dancing past Ryan Shotton.

The goal that would have been the perfect antidote to the tension should have arrived on the quarter-hour. Craig Curran and Edi Sonko did well to carve Yeovil open down the right, and the Gambian picked out Ian Moore for a fairly tame finish that was kept out by Chris Weale.

That effort proved to be a rare bright spot, however, as the visitors went on to boss the remainder of the half. It took an acrobatic stop from Danny Coyne to again deny Townsend from 20 yards, while Paul Warne was booked after the referee adjudged that the former Oldham man took a dive when challenged by Chorley.

And with the Rovers defence continuing to look all at sea whenever Yeovil pushed forward, Obika really should have done better when running through on goal after being handed a gift by Shotton's tentative failure to clear his lines, and Coyne was scrambling across goal when Townsend's volley crept a few inches wide of the far post. The half-time whistle could not have come soon enough.

The second half continued in much the same vein. Obika forced Coyne to make a smart save with his legs after spinning Ben Chorley and crashing a volley towards the near post, and on the hour Danny Schofield was given the freedom to run unchallenged towards the penalty area before smashing a drive against the crossbar.

By this point, Ronnie Moore had clearly seen enough. Sonko was taken off to be replaced by young striker Terry Gornell, and Ian Moore dropped to the right of midfield. The substitution made little difference, however, and the goal that had been coming for most of the game duly arrived on 67 minutes when Obika finally capitalised on more shoddy defending to slot inside the far post beyond Coyne to stun Prenton Park.

Antony Kay's free-kick was comfortably saved and Chorley headed over as Rovers rallied briefly, and Yeovil almost killed the game when Chorley dithered and Obika raced clear, before the captain struck to take it to the final day.

Globe Man of the Match: Antony Kay – almost single-handedly kept Rovers’ play-off hopes alive.

Tranmere: Coyne, Edds, Taylor, Shotton, Chorley, Sonko (sub: Gornell, 62 mins), Barnett (sub: Burns, 76 mins), Kay, Jennings, Curran, Moore.