Tranmere Rovers suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Newport County at Rodney Parade on Saturday afternoon.
A temporary Rovers comeback in the second half wasn’t enough to stave off leaving empty handed after a disappointing performance.
It was a cagey opening first half with plenty of high balls into both boxes. Dom Telford lofted a cross to the back post which was met by Cameron Norman who headed into the arms of Ross Doohan.
Tranmere’s first real chance came after Kieron Morris drove forward and won a free kick of the edge of the box. Calum MacDonald could only hit the wall with his effort though.
The home side had a good chance of their own not long after. Street picked up a loose ball in the Rovers half and forced Doohan into a save down to his left with a drilled shot from the edge of the box.
The second half started in disastrous circumstances for Rovers as Newport broke the deadlock. Lewis found space on the left side of the box and expertly curled beyond Doohan into the far corner.
Just eight minutes later and County had a penalty. Calum MacDonald mis-timed his tackle, which looked suspiciously like it was outside of the box. Dom Telford stepped up to convert from 12 yards.
On the 66th minute, Rovers halved the deficit. Josh Dacres-Cogley continued his forward run from the right and his left footed snapshot went pass Townsend and into the corner.
Tranmere had the momentum and drew level in the 85th minute. Kieron Morris found a pocket of space on the edge of the box and unleashed a shot which deflected into the far corner to bring the score to 2-2.
With Rovers looking to go for the win, it was the home side who took control once again. Finn Azaz was given too much time on the edge of the box and curled into the top right corner, out of the reach of Doohan.
Chasing an equaliser, Tranmere conceded a 4th deep into injury time. Alex Fisher broke the offside trap and forced a save out of Doohan but Telford was on hand to tap into en empty goal and round off the scoring at 4-2.
Tranmere team: Doohan, Dacres-Cogley, Davies, Clarke, MacDonald, Hawkes (Foley 65’), O’Connor, Warrington, Morris, Hemmings, Nevitt
Unused subs: Murphy, Knight-Percival, Merrie, McPake, Jolley