Tranmere Rovers knocked out of FA Cup after late goals by Lincoln City

Tranmere Rovers........0

TRANMERE were knocked out of the FA Cup after after a fourth qualifying round replay against Lincoln City at Sincil Bank.

A 16th minute sending-off of goalkeeper Scott Davies, who was adjudged to have handled outside the area, meant it was an uphll battle for Rovers.

After a couple of half chances for Tranmere through Liam Ridehalgh and James Norwood, Rovers were reduced to ten when Davies was given a straight red.

Iain Turner came on for his Tranmere debut, replacing Jonny Margetts.

Turner was brought into action when Steve McNulty handled the ball inside the penalty area on 23 minutes.

Matt Rhead struck the penalty and the Scotsman made a fantastic save low to his right.

Marlon Jackson on the ball for Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday night

However, their resistance was broken on 80 minutes when Liam Hearn opened the scoring with Conner Robinson sealing the 2-0 win six minutes later.

James Norwood pushes forward for Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday night

Manager Gary Brabin was left frustrated: "I'm proud of the lads, we started the game quite brightly. We were always up against it after the sending off, so we had to change things around a little bit.

"It was just disappointing but the lads showed good character and kept going right until the end but unfortunately it wasn't to be.

"I don't think they really hurt us, even when we were down to ten men. They had a lot of possession, which you would expect with the extra man but only had a couple of chances."

Brabin praised the performance of goalkeeper Iain Turner who came on for his debut.

Rovers' subkeeper Iain Turner forced to come on for Scott Davies after he was sent off on Tuesday night

He said: "Iain Turner has been brlliant since he arrived at the Club. He's a really experienced goalkeeper and he's worked as hard as anyone in his role as goalkeeper coach.

"He sacrifices a lot of time to help Scotty Davies and the young lads Luke Pilling and Sam Ramsbottom but he keeps himself right and he came on and looked really assured."

"We're disappointed, but we dust ourselves down and we can focus solely on our main aim which is to try and get promoted."

Tranmere host Dover in the National League at Prenton Park this Saturday.

Meet the Opponents: Dover Athletic

Nickname: The Whites

Colours: White shirts, black shorts, black socks

Ground: Crabble Athletic

Ground Distance from Prenton Park: 297 miles

Position last season: Eighth

After several close calls, finally reached the Conference Premier in 2014 after defeating Ebbsfleet United in the play-off final.