Tranmere Rovers were defeated by three goals to one at home to Crawley Town on Saturday.
One change to the starting eleven from Rovers’ win at Wrexham saw Kieron Morris return in place of Harvey Saunders.
Crawley took the lead just two minutes into the contest when Jeremy Kelly fired into the far corner from the right of goal.
The visitors doubled their advantage on 10 minutes, Jay Williams knocking the ball in at the far post from a corner.
Crawley thought they had a third six minutes later when Danilo Orsi put the ball in the back of the net, but the referee pulled play back for a foul in the build-up.
Rovers had a great chance on the counter at the other end when Luke Norris found himself in on Corey Addai, but the visiting goalkeeper saved down low.
Tranmere pulled one back on 21 minutes through that man Norris, beating his defender to a cross from the right to tap home.
Kieron Morris was lively on the left for Rovers, working a few crosses in towards Norris throughout the first half, but Crawley dealt with the danger.
Morris popped up on the right with five til the break following a corner, sending a ball in for Norris, but the striker’s effort was narrowly over the crossbar as the visitors went in one up.
Rovers came out of the blocks quickly in the second half, and almost levelled through Rob Apter who beat three defenders but dragged his shot wide.
Players appealed for a penalty shortly after as Connor Jennings’ shot was blocked, but the referee waved play on.
Substitute Reece McAlear then went close to replicating his free kick from Tuesday’s Liverpool Senior Cup game, but saw this one drift just wide.
Connor Jennings had a great chance on 65 minutes after a rapid breakaway from Apter, but his venomous shot cannoned off a defender.
Fourteen minutes later and after some more Tranmere pressure, Crawley scored a third through Danilo Orsi from the centre of goal.
Rovers committed numbers forward in the closing stages but the visitors stood firm and eventually saw out their 3-1 win.
Tranmere Rovers: Luke McGee, Lee O’Connor, Joe Yarney, Jordan Turnbull, Connor Wood (Chris Merrie, 41), Rob Apter, Brad Walker (Reece McAlear, 46), Regan Hendry, Kieron Morris (Kristian Dennis, 76), Connor Jennings (C), Luke Norris.
Unused subs: Joe Murphy, Josh Hawkes, Harvey Saunders, Sam Taylor.
Crawley Town: Corey Addai, Kellan Gordon (Ade Adeyemo, 56), Laurence Maguire, Klaidi Lolos, Danilo Orsi, Ronan Darcy, Harry Forster (Nick Tsaroulla, 87), Jeremy Kelly (Adam Campbell, 72), Joy Mukena, Jay Williams (C), Will Wright.
Unused subs: Ryan Sandford, Harry Ransom, Jack Roles, Raf Khaleel.
