Altrincham..................2

Tranmere Rovers........1

Lois Maynard's late consolation goal for Rovers was not enough to prevent Tranmere recording back-to-back defeats as Altrincham came out on top in the first league encounter between the two sides.

George Bowerman pounced on James Lawrie's rebounded shot after just seven minutes for his fourth goal in three games.

Martin Riley, Jonathon Margetts and Adam Mekki were all denied equalisers before Michael Rankine made it 2-0 on 30 minutes.

Rovers halved the deficit on 86 minutes as Maynard netted his first for the club by firing home from 15 yards.

But it was not enough as more pressure on the Altrincham goal could not bring an equaliser.

Manager Gary Brabin was left disappointed with the defending that led to the home team's goals.

He said: "I thought it was very disjointed for the first half an hour, we gifted them two goals and from then we were chasing the game.

"We made a bold decision in terms that we changed the formation a bit.

"As a team, we're finding it hard to break teams down so we want to play with width, two strikers and have that extra man in midfield, so we changed the formation today but I thought we got caught by poor defending in the first half-hour.

"We are disappointed at losing two games but we're looking at this as one step backwards to try and take two forward.

"We know we need to be better, we've spoken about it at length. We need to be brave and play on the front foot but there's no legislation for poor defending.

"Adam Mekki gave us what we are looking for, getting in the final third and creating chances. We've got Lois Maynard who we want breaking from a central midfield role and he's done that and scored.

"But giving them a two-goal lead makes things harder and we were chasing the game."

Att: 2,460

The defeat saw Tranmere slip to eighth place in the National League.

Rovers host Kidderminster Harriers at Prenton Park on bank holiday Monday. 3pm kick-off.

Kidderminster Harriers

Nickname: Kiddy, Harriers
Colours: Red shirts, white shorts, red socks
Manager: Gary Whild
Ground: Aggborough Stadium
Distance from Prenton Park: 96.3 miles
Position last season: 16th

Cash-strapped Kiddy reached the Football League under the stewardship of former Liverpool star Jan Molby in 2000.