Tranmere Rovers.......2

Barrow........................0

A goal either side of half time from Andy Cook and James Norwood gave Tranmere a deserved victory over Barrow at Prenton Park.

Cook scored his first goal of the season, against his former club, with a bullet header five minutes before the break and a late Norwood penalty ensured Rovers made it two wins out of two in the opening games of the new season.

However the match started in bizarre fashion when Liam Ridehalgh suffered a concussion late in the warm up and while the hosts quickly stripped Lee Vaughan to deputise, the match commenced, meaning Rovers kicked off with only 10 men on the pitch.

The opening period was fairly gruesome. Tranmere wanted to play football, but Barrow had other ideas. In the 12th minute, Connor Jennings was left rolling on the turf in agony and received treatment for a late challenge.

Having chosen not to brandish a yellow card for the tackle, the referee then somehow failed to award a corner when a Barrow clearance passed the touchline, before ignoring a blatant back pass to goalkeeper Joel Dixon.

Norwood had a golden opportunity to grab his third goal of the season on 23 minutes when Jay Harris’ lofted ball foiled the Bluebirds’ offside trap, but he sliced an attempted volley horribly wide.

Five minutes before the break a cute ball from Maynard released Steve Jennings but the Rovers captain could not get his shot away.

A minute later however, Tranmere took the lead and it was former Barrow striker Cook who delivered, smashing home a towering header from Steve Jennings’ corner.

Norwood then nearly made it two as he once again evaded the Bluebirds’ defence but Danny Livesey recovered to block his shot.

In the 54th minute Connor Jennings went to ground after evading Nick Anderton in the box, but the referee wasn’t interested.

The visitors responded, forcing a succession of corners but could not penetrate a well-drilled Tranmere defence.

Rovers had the chance to wrap up the points six minutes from time when Cook worked in Connor Jennings but the ex-Wrexham man saw a weak effort saved by Dixon.

It would nearly prove costly as Ross Hannah – a summer signing from Chester – arrowed a low shot just wide of Davies’ goal moments later.

But Tranmere were awarded a spot kick when Dixon was beaten to a ball over the top by Norwood and took out the striker, picking up booking for his troubles.

Norwood made converted from the spot, securing the win and in ensuring that Rovers head into the encounter with promotion rivals Eastleigh on Saturday brimming with confidence.

Manager Gary Brabin said: “We started really well and we looked strong. We played on the front foot, created chances and I thought it was a real good performance.

“Full credit to Vaughany (Lee Vaughan). He’s been disappointed (not starting the season) but he was excellent when he came in today.

"He’s dusted off the disappointment. We’ve got a tight knit group of players here and Vaughany’s grabbed his chance with two hands.

“Teams are going to come here and try and frustrate us, but we need to keep our discipline and keep believing. We’re always going to create chances and some of the play was fantastic today at times.

“You can never quite relax at 1-0. It would have been an injustice if we hadn’t won the game. We thoroughly deserved another goal at the end.

“Andy Cook leads the line well and takes a lot of knocks. He occupies players well and that just allows Norwood that little bit of freedom.

“It’s always pleasing when you get a win, three points, a clean sheet and two of your strikers score goals.”

Match Stats:

Tranmere Rovers 2 Cook 40, Norwood 86 (pen)

Barrow AFC 0

Half time: 1-0

Star man: Jay Harris (Tranmere midfielder)

Attendance: 4,977

Entertainment: 2/5

Tranmere (4-3-3): Davies, Maynard, McNulty, Ihiekwe, Vaughan; Harris, Hughes, S Jennings; Norwood (Kirby 90), Cook, C Jennings.

Subs not used: Turner, Mekki, Stephenson.

Barrow (4-4-2): Dixon, Anderton, Liversey (Murray 50), Diarra, Beeley; Hughes, Ray-Harvey (Haworth 81), Turnbull, Williams; Hannah, Harrison (Bennett 76).

Subs not used: Parry, Meikle