The Tranmere reserve side, today managed by Peter Shirtliff, was a strong one, with eight professionals in the starting eleven. The starting line up for Tranmere was:
Achterberg
Holmes Richardson Waterfall Cresswell
Ahmed Henry (c) Barnett
Wilson Gornell MacAughley
For the first 45 minutes, Tranmere were quite comfortably the better side. Ahmed and Barnett in midfield were controlling the game for Rovers, who were passing their opposition to pieces and having by far the majority of the possession.
Indeed, the Tranmere defence had very little to do, and the only action goalkeeper John Achterberg saw early on was when he recieved a back-pass from one of his defenders.
Tranmere were creating several chances, and the best of them early on fell to Terry Gornell, who was thoroughly unlucky to hit the post with a header from eight yards out as he connected with Danny Holmes' perfect cross.
Not long after this though, Tranmere took the lead as Adnan Ahmed scored a delightful chip. Rovers quickly turned defence into attack, with Joel Richardson breaking from the back four and passing to Dave Wilson on the left-wing. Wilson carried the ball inside before sending a beautiful cross-field ball over to Adnan Ahmed who was unmarked. The Pakistani international brought the ball down before perfectly chipping the goalkeeper from just inside the penalty area, floating the ball into the top corner.
Ahmed could have had a second a couple of minutes later too, when a clearance from a Tranmere corner fell to him. He chested down the ball before shooting, only to send his shot well high and wide into the Cowshed.
Rovers though then did make it two, with Charlie Barnett getting his first of the season for the reserves. Josh MacAughley had made a terrific run down the left and brought the ball in field before being tackled on the edge of the penalty area. The ball was not cleared though and it fell to Barnett who from 18-yards cooly found the bottom corner as he shot across the goalkeeper.
Ahmed came closer with another chance that this time forced the 'keeper into a save, again from distance, whilst the closest Accrington came to scoring was with a break down the left, but the shot, from a narrow angle, was comfortably palmed round the post by John Achterberg.
Tranmere then went in at half-time leading by two goals to nil and looked as if they could get plenty more in the second half against an Accrington side who just could not match the quality of the Rovers midfield.
However, Rovers' second half performance was not as strong as their first and as a result, they were not as comfortable with their lead.
What didn't make things easy for Tranmere though was the dismissal of centre-back Joel Richardson, who was deservedly sent off for a horrible, high, two-footed lunge on an Accrington player with just a few minutes of the second half gone.
Tranmere then briefly lost captain Paul Henry, who was standing in at centre-back with Richardson now off the field, with a nose bleed before he returned to the action, but whilst he was down injured, Terry Gornell picked up a thigh injury although he was able to continue.
Achterberg was somewhat busier in the second half, making a few comfortable saves, but he really wasn't stretched through-out, mainly due to the form of Luke Waterfall who was in imperious at centre-back, winning absolutely anything that came his way.
Josh MacAughley sent a couple of efforts wide for Tranmere before being replaced by Ashton Taylor, who moved into midfield in a 4-3-2 formation, whilst Charlie Barnett also came close with a couple of long range efforts.
The best closest Tranmere came to a goal in the second half though was through winger Dave Wilson, who picked up the the ball in midfield and sent a thunderous half-volley goalwards, which was excellently saved by 'keeper Speare. From the resulting corner, Luke Waterfall headed wide.
Shortly after this, Tranmere made their second substitution of the game, with Ryan Fraughan joining the action, replacing Wilson who had been excellent once again.
Fraughan himself came close to scoring late on, as the Luke Waterfall's ball over the top went perfectly to Fraughan, who chested the ball down with his first touch, and in doing so went past his man, before hitting a shot narrowly wide with his second touch.
On the day, Tranmere were the better team and if striker Terry Gornell had had a bit more support, particularly in the last twenty minutes after Josh MacAughley had left the field, Rovers could have had several more goals against a weak Accrington side.
The three players who stood out most for Tranmere were midfielders Barnett and Ahmed, who controlled the game through-out, although more so in the first half than in the second, and defender Luke Waterfall, who was superb at the back.
Tranmere's first half performance was dominant, and one of the best from the second string in some time. Their intricate passing was just too good for Accrington, and as a result Tranmere opened up their opposition on a number of occasions. They thoroughly deserved their win and will be hoping to keep up their unbeaten start to the season next week when they take on Macclesfield Town at Prenton Park in their first League Cup group match of the season.