Tranmere Rovers . . . . . 5, Wrexham . . . . 0

Attendance: 10,282

TRANMERE Rovers have got their very own King George after Friday knight Stuart Barlow secured his second hat-trick in a week to send Welsh Dragons Wrexham crashing to defeat.

Gathered in the Prenton Park fortress, a startled White Army watched in noisy wonder as Tranmere notched up their second league win in less than a week to banish a poor start to the season.

Rovers, who looked the sharper of the two teams, lost striker Wayne Allison, who limped off after 40 minutes for Paul Rideout to step back from injury.

A minute later, Jason Koumas curled a luxurious free-kick towards the Wrexham goal, but keeper Kristian Rogers palmed it out. No matter, Koumas got another chance and this time swerved a stinger past Rogers to put Rovers 1-0 ahead at half-time.

Tranmere stepped up a gear after the interval. Nick Henry lined up Barlow's first goal on 53 minutes, the striker hitting home a precision shot.

The second came 60 seconds later. Ian Sharp cleared from the Wrexham kick-off to Sean Flynn, who played the ball to Barlow on the right. Seeing the Wrexham keeper off his line, Barlow hit a cheeky sweet shot over the keeper's head - and into the corner of the net.

To Wrexham's credit they tried to find a way back with Blackwood hitting the woodwork before the rebound was skied, but this was Rovers' night.

Never far from the spotlight,captain Steve Yates appeared out of the blue to bang a bullet header into the busy Wrexham net from a corner.

Then, on 78 minutes, the hungry Barlow got his second hat-trick after a mix up in the Wrexham defence. Flynn cleared up and found Barlow poaching to fire in a low finish.

Tranmere: Murphy, Yates, Roberts, Allen, Koumas, Parkinson, Barlow (sub: N'Diaye, 81 mins), Allison (sub: Rideout, 40 mins), Flynn, Sharps, Henry (sub: Mellon, 81 mins). Subs: Achterberg, Challinor.

Wrexham: Rogers, Miller, Holmes, Chalk (sub: Edwards, 65 mins), Lawrence, Faulconbridge, Trundle, Ferguson, Roberts, Thomas, Blackwood. Subs (not used): Russell, Morrell, Evans, Morris.