Carlos returned to action against Tranmere
Pictures: Keith Williams / Sportspixs

Goals -
0-1 Dagnall (20)
0-2 Hume (42)
0-3 Roberts (49)
1-3 Armstrong (67)
1-4 Whitmore (79)
1-5 Hall (81)

A day which started with much how, especially following the return to fitness of Carlos Edwards went horribly wrong as we committed footballing suicide and handed Tranmere the points on a plate.

A good team that didn't need a second invitation, the Merseysiders didn't need a second invitation and punished us with ease.

The first attack of the afternoon went to Wrexham, wit Matt Crowell swinging over a free kick from the right wing which Dennis Lawrence jumped to meet but couldn't steer his header on target and sailed over the Rovers crossbar.

A reckless lunge by Ian Goodison on Chris Armstrong earned the game's first caution and it could have been worse as he appeared to be with his feet off the floor!

On nine minutes the crowd saw what they wanted as Carlos Edwards robbed Gareth Roberts of the ball as he was trying to see it out of play, the winger cut inside, pulled his pass back for Armstrong. Unfortunately, Crowell and Armstrong went for the same ball, meaning the effort was scuffed across the face of the goal, but Chris Llewellyn chased after the loose ball, but his shot was not better from an angle and he blazed over the target.

Andy Holt bundled over Mark Rankine and picked up a yellow for his efforts, much to the disgust of his boss. The wingback as took a whack to the mouth for his troubles, needing minutes of attention on the sidelines.

With Andy away for stitches in the dressing room, Rovers managed to take the lead out of nothing.

Rankine chased a lost cause as Pejic tried to shield the ball out of play, took the ball away from him and laid it back for Chris Dagnall on the edge of the box. The striker avoided a tackle by Lawrence and tried to curl his shot round Xavi Valero, the big keeper getting a hand to the ball but not being able to push it away.

Rovers then lost captain Jason McAteer on the half hour, when the ex-Liverpool player pulled a muscle after trying a back heel.

Valero saw his defence part in front of him again on 22 minutes, as Theodore Whitmore brushed past a weak challenge and bore down on the Spaniard. The big man stood his ground and blocked the Jamaican's effort away for a corner.

Feelings were beginning to bubble over and Armstrong became the third Wrexham name in Mr. Evans' book for bundling over Goodison after 35 minutes.

A poor mistake by Pej on 40 minutes, when he failed to trap a flicker back from Carlos saw Dagnall away on his own and when he squared for Hume, the Rovers player pulling his effort back across the face of the goal!

Having just survived one mishap, we then shot ourselves in the foot when the backline failed to pick up a through pass from Ryan Taylor and Ian Hume raced away from the defence to slip the ball passed the stranded Valero, which came off the inside of his left hand post.

Despite taking Pejic off at the interval, the situation rapidly became worse minutes after the start of the second half, as from a clearance local Wrexham born defender Gareth Roberts volleyed the ball back over everyone's heads and into the net.

Try as they might to find a foothold back into the game, the harder they tried the worse it got!

Armstrong was unlucky to see a towering header from about 15-yards loop over keeper Russell Howarth, but come back off the crossbar, with no support close enough to take advantage.

Ugarte was taken off just before the hour, with Hector Sam taking his place, presumably to try something different up front.

Wrexham were actually enjoying the majority of the possession at this stage, but with a three-goal lead there was hardly much incentive for Rovers to take the initiative.

We did claw one back on 67 minutes, when Crowell's corner from the left was fumbled by Howarth under pressure from Lawrence at the near post, dropping in the six-yard box where Steve Roberts saw his close-range effort blocked, but Chris Armstrong was able to pick his spot from eight-yards to give us a consolation.

With the Reds stretched in a vain attempt to grab something, Rovers were hitting us on the break and a fourth duly arrived on 79 minutes when we got caught 2-onto-3 with Theodore Whitmore put through by Hall to crash his effort home from close in.

Two minutes later substitute Paul Hall hit a beauty of a fifth for Tranmere, crashing his effort home from distance and in off the inside of Valero's left hand post.

It took until the 89th minute before the Rivers keeper was extended and then he leapt well to tip over a rocket effort from Carlos - which if it had gone in - would have been wasted in this match.

The crowd was streaming for exits at this stage, with Tranmere supporters outnumbering their home counterparts as the last rites of this game were played out!

Wrexham: Xavi Valero, Steve Roberts, Shaun Pejic (Craig Morgan 46), Dennis Lawrence, Andy Holt, Jim Whitley, Carlos Edwards, Matt Crowell, Chris Llewellyn, Chris Armstrong, Juan Ugarte (Hector Sam 57).
Subs: Michael Jones, Simon Spender, Scott Green.

Tranmere: Russell Howarth, Michael Jackson, Ian Sharps, Ian Goodison (Paul Linwood 83), Ryan Taylor, Theodore Whitmore, Mark Rankine, Jason McAteer (Danny Harrison 29), Gareth Roberts, Chris Dagnall (Paul Hall 75), Iain Hume.
Subs: Gary Jones, Eugene Dadi.

Referee: E. Evans (Manchester)
Attendance: 6,221
Away: 1,982

Booking -
Wrexham: Andy Holt (foul 15), Crowell (foul 23), Armstrong (foul 35), Llewellyn (foul 63)
Tranmere: Ian Goodison (foul 5)