Tranmere Rovers recorded their first league win of the season with a convincing 2-0 win against Scunthorpe United.
James Vaughan struck either side of half time for his fourth and fifth goals of the campaign to secure maximum points for Rovers.
The win also saw Tranmere record their third clean sheet in four matches since the return of league football, in a productive afternoon for the home side.
Kaiyne Woolery and Liam Feeney both missed out through injury for the hosts, as Stefan Payne came into the starting line-up. Danny Walker-Rice and Jake Burton were named on the bench.
Great one touch football from the hosts saw Otis Khan, Payne and Lee O’Connor create an opening in the first two minutes, but Scunthorpe cleared their lines.
The rain was coming down at Prenton Park as both teams tussled for control. With 27 minutes on the clock, manager Mike Jackson made his first change, Payne was replaced by Paul Lewis.
The alteration resulted in a switch of formation for the hosts, with 4-2-3-1, Lewis playing in behind James Vaughan.
In a game which was presenting very few chances, a piece of quality broke the deadline as Vaughan grabbed his first league goal of the season.
Banks passed the ball down the right to Lewis, who played in an excellent cross into Vaughan who expertly got in front of his marker to flick the ball into the bottom corner.
A free-kick from Myles Hippolyte ten minutes into the second half from the visitors was the first meaningful attack. The Iron’s number 15 hit the free-kick from the edge of the box over the bar, after Ryan Loft was fouled by Peter Clarke.
Two minutes later, Hippolyte had another strike on goal as it flew across the wet surface from a similar area to his free-kick, but skipper Scott Davies made a comfortable stop.
In the 65th minute, Vaughan added a second for Rovers and his fifth of the campaign with a cool finish into the bottom left hand corner after a failed clearance from Scunthorpe United.
A huge shout for a penalty in the 72nd minute for Rovers when a Scunthorpe player was alleged to handle the ball from a Vaughan shot in the penalty box. However, the referee gave a corner kick, and Manny Monthe headed over from two yards out, a big opportunity to make it 3-0 for Tranmere.
O’Connor was proving to be a real concern for the Iron defence and another fabulous cross from the right hand side was perfect for Lewis, but the former Cambridge man missed the ball.
Moments later, Lewis won the ball back inside the Iron penalty box, and hit a shot just wide, but his team mates were full of praise for the midfielder, after he won the ball back with great energy and work rate.
Jackson’s men comfortably held out for the win in a pleasing performance at Prenton Park.
Tranmere Rovers will be next on Saturday 10th October when we travel to Salford City, 3pm kick-off. The game will be available to watch on iFollow, with match passes just £10.
Tranmere: Davies, O’Connor, Clarke, Monthe, Ridehalgh, Morris, Banks, Spearing, Khan (MacDonald 81), Payne (Lewis 27), Vaughan. Unused subs: Murphy, Walker-Rice, Burton, Nelson, Ellis.
Scunthorpe: Watson, Vincent (Dunnwald-Turan 53), Hippolyte (Eisa 62), Cordner, Bedeau, Gilliead, Loft, O’Malley, Spence, Hornshaw (Green 79), Taylor. Unused subs: Beestin, Jarvis, Kelsey, Onariase.