Naming a strong line up, including both Terry Gornell and Craig Curran, Shaun Garnett was able to select a number of names who have been unavailable in recent weeks, whilst in goal Tranmere named a triallist, currently at the club from Leeds United, though it was still not enough for Tranmere to pull through.
Rovers lined up as follows:
Edwards
Richardson Waterfall Holmes (c) Corrigan
MacAuley Fraughan Denson Wilson
Gornell Curran
Subs: Collister, MacKreth, Rule, Baker, Pursehouse
Tranmere started the brighter of the two sides and had the majority of the pressure, with Rovers coming closest in the opening stages when MacAuley powered his way down the wing and crossed to Curran who could only shoot wide.
Rovers forced a string of corners as Morecambe defended comfortably, breaking down Tranmere attacks and clearing the ball, though the closest Rovers came from their set pieces was a Luke Waterfall header that went well wide of the mark.
Shaun Garnett's side simply couldn't get a grip on the game though, with sloppy passing their main downfall. Far too often, the ball would break loose in midfield due to inaccurate passing, whilst Morecambe offered little going forward when they got the ball.
However, it was the Shrimpers who took the lead on the stroke of half-time with a well worked corner routine.
The ball was swung into the near post, to where a Morecambe player had Morecambe player had made a darting run. He beat his marker, Louis Corrigan, and goalkeeper Edwards, who was left stranded in no mans land, to the ball and glanced it into the back of the net to give Morecambe the lead.
This was just about Morecambe's only effort of the half, though this was mainly down to strong defensive work from Tranmere, especially captain Danny Holmes.
After the break, Tranmere's shoulders had slumped and they continued to struggle to get a foothold on the game. The passing was still very poor and even when they managed to get the ball out to the wings, the crossing was abysmal.
However, for the final 25 minutes, something clicked for Tranmere, and suddenly they were on top, applying heavy pressure on their opposition's defence.
With MacAuley now switched to the left wing as opposed to the right, he was able to cut in onto this stronger right foot and create a chance for himself mid-way through the half, though his guided chip was well saved as it headed for goal, whilst minutes later, Terry Gornell collected the ball from a corner inside the area, and after keeping the ball under control and in the air, he hooked his left footed volley just wide of goal.
Luke Denson saw three poor long range efforts deflect away from goal as the ball broke from Tranmere's succession of corners, whilst Craig Curran came close as he guided a shot from 25-yards just round the post.
Rovers were comfortably on top and it looked as if a goal was not too far away. However, despite all their chances, Tranmere were rarely getting shots on target, and therefore not testing the 'keeper enough.
Such a thing was proved a few minutes after Curran's effort when Terry Gornell failed to hit the target from close range. The attacker did very well to keep a hoof forward in play as the defender tried to shield it out of play, but after taking the ball round his man, Gornell's cross/shot from inside the six yard box was easily deflected away from goal.
Craig Curran had strong claims for a penalty turned down in the final ten minutes when he appeared to be wrestled to the ground by the Morecambe centre-back, whilst Tranmere's final chance of the game also fell to the young striker when he attempted to lob the goalkeeper, who was off his line, from 30-yards, only for the ball to drop on to the roof of the net.
Tranmere huffed and puffed then, but they couldn't get the goal which would have forced the draw that they deserved.
Morecambe played well, but attacking wise they offered very little, with the only real threats they had snuffed out comfortably by Holmes and Waterfall.
Trialist Edwards, in goal, had very little to do and as such it was difficult to judge his ability from this game, though his kicking was strong whilst he was very vocal.
In midfield, Tranmere were disappointing. The passing was very sloppy at times, with passes going astray all over the place in the first half, whilst for the first twenty minutes of the second period it wasn't much better.
When Tranmere managed to get in good positions, the crossing was very disappointing, consistently failing to beat the first man, and as a result Tranmere's chances were limited, though they were not helped by playing one of their most consistent strikers, MacAuley, out on the wing.
Gornell worked hard up top and created a couple of chances for himself, though he failed to find the target, but his work rate couldn't be questioned, though Curran seemed to be off the pace and for the final 25 minutes he looked very tired and did little running.
Tranemre though deserved at least a point for their efforts as they out played Morecambe for the final 25 minutes, whilst Danny Holmes was the Rovers man of the match.