Tranmere Rovers 3 Harrogate Town 0: Sulphurites suffer back-to-back losses

Beaten 1-0 at home by Forest Green at the weekend, the Sulphurites drew another blank during what was a night to forget by the Wirral.

Very much in the game at the midway point of the first half, Simon Weaver’s men conceded two soft goals in quick succession and were left facing a mountain to climb.

And although they had a real go at getting themselves back into the contest after the break, their efforts went unrewarded as Rovers struck again late on to put a gloss on the score-line.

It took until the 20th minute for either side to really threaten, and with Tranmere enjoying the majority of possession it was home forward Luke Norris who saw a strike from just outside the box pushed away by the diving Mark Oxley.

There was little to choose between the teams as the clock ticked past the 24-minute-mark, but two uncharacteristically flaky bits of defending by Town’s centre-halves in quick succession led to the hosts seizing control of the contest.

First, a long throw-in was launched into the Harrogate penalty area from the left, and although the initial danger was dealt with, Norris was able to get the better of Joe Mattock and direct a routine header from Connor Jennings’ flick-on into the net via the underside of the cross-bar.

Barely 60 seconds later, Sam Taylor chased a hopeful punt over the top into the left-hand channel and outmuscled Anthony O’Connor before running clear and beating Oxley one-on-one.

Town’s response to going two down was a positive one, but although they managed to engineer a couple of promising attacking opportunities, at no point before the interval did they ever look like getting themselves back into the contest.

The second half began with Norris forcing Oxley into another save with a low effort, but the minutes which followed saw the Sulphurites spark into life.

Sam Folarin was at the heart of much of their good work, and it was he who broke from a Tranmere corner and raced deep into Rovers territory before testing Luke McGee with a shot from around 25 yards out.

The lively Harrogate winger then drifted infield from the right and bent a left-footed strike narrowly off target.

A golden opportunity to half the deficit came and went on 64 minutes, Luke Armstrong somehow diverting the ball over a gaping goal from just five yards out after Matty Foulds had headed Toby Sims’ inviting right-wing cross into his path.

And it became very clear that it was not going to be Town’s night in the 70th minute when Folarin’s searing pace won them a free-kick just outside the box and Matty Foulds’ delivery from the right was inadvertently diverted against his own bar by Regan Hendry.

The Wirral outfit were then fortunate to get the break of the ball during two penalty-box scrambles, but they were able to wrap up the three points after 89 minutes.

Norris was involved again, releasing Kieron Morris, who drove into the away area and picked out the bottom corner with a confident low finish.

Tuesday’s loss drops Weaver’s men to 21st place in the League Two standings ahead of Saturday’s trip to Accrington Stanley.