Tranmere Reserves went down to a 6-3 defeat against a strong Preston side at Deepdale this afternoon (Wednesday).

Michael Ricketts opened the scoring with a fine strike after only three minutes and Rovers found themselves 2-0 down on 27.

The Lilywhites, who also included Sean St Ledger, Danny Dichio and Neil Mellor, went 3-0 on 31 minutes and added a fourth on the stroke of half time.

With half an hour remaining Rovers were 6-0 down, but continued to battle until the end and got their rewards in the final ten minutes.

John Corrigan scored the first on 81 minutes, Mike Blundell added the second on 89 minutes and three minutes into injury time Dave Wilson made the final score 6-3.

Youth team coach Shaun Garnett said: "The lads had a good go in the last 30 minutes and in the end the scoreline wasn't too bad.

"They were up against a very experienced Preston side who had seven players with Championship experience, so it was a good work out for the lads."

Tranmere: Kennedy, Johnston, Holmes, P. Jones, Cresswell, Ferguson (Wilson 82), McAteer (Blundell 35), Henry, Beahon, Curran (Gornell 48), Corrigan. Substitute not used: Mitchell.