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After a long absense, George O'Callaghan returned to play his first match in two months in a strong midfield three for Tranmere that also contained Charlie Barnett and Gareth Edds.
Tranmere lined up as follows:
Achterberg
Henry (c) Denson Waterfall Cresswell
Barnett O'Callaghan Edds
McAughley Gornell Wilson
Shaun Garnett's Tranmere started the brighter side, and it took them just seven minutes to take the lead through a thunderbold shot from Josh MacAughley.
Netting only his second goal of the season for the reserve side, MacAughley, who is the youth teams leading scorer with double figures for the season already, collected a loose Blackpool pass twenty-five yards from goal before firing the ball powerfully into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area, an unstopable shot that went in off the bar.
Rovers continued to dominate for much of the first half with George O'Callaghan pulling the strings in midfield.
Tranmere though couldn't create themselves many more chances with which to get that second goal. Aaron Cresswell came close with a blistering free-kick from a tight angle on the right side of the penalty area, forcing the 'keeper to scramble across his goal and palm the ball round the post for a corner, whilst Gareth Edds had a shot blocked and Paul Henry fired a poor effort over the bar.
As the game wore on though, Blackpool pulled themselves more and more into the game, firstly coming close with a miss-hit cross that John Achterberg had to claw away from goal with the ball set to drop under the cross-bar.
By half-time though, the Tangerines were level, Tranmere failing to deal with a ball into the box that was vollied home past Achterberg.
The second half was much more even with plenty more chances for either side, Dave Wilson the first to come close with an effort from a Paul Henry cross, but it was Blackpool who flew in to a 3-1 lead as firstly the Tranmere defence opened up like Moses parting the Red Sea whilst for the third Blackpool goal Achterberg, who looked rusty through-out the night, was slow off his line and the Blackpool attack comfortably slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
Rovers though had chances through-out the half, with Josh MacAughley firing a couple of efforts wide, including one shot after an excellent run from inside his own half that saw the striker bring the ball on to his left-foot 25-yards from goal, from where he fired narrowly over the bar and into the Kop.
Barnett also fired a long-range effort over for Tranmere, who were limited mainly to shots from outside the box, whilst inside the final ten minutes Gareth Edds saw his rasping 20-yard drive exellently saved by the Blackpool 'keeper diving low to his right.
Tranmere did pull one goal back as Paul Henry fired home a loose ball from a George O'Callaghan corner, but it wasn't enough for Tranmere who slipped to only their second defeat of the season.
3-2 though was perhaps an unfair reflection of the game, as Tranmere in parts were excellent, particularly their passing, with George O'Callaghan the focal point of many Tranmere moves.
The Irishman was picking out some excellent passes, with his superb first touch key to his game through-out the night. He took some good set pieces and pretty much controlled the midfield through-out the game. It was clear to see from the midfielders excellent vision that he is capable of playing at a higher level and he was the stand out player by some distance for Rovers.
Other players put in a good shift for Tranmere though, with Luke Waterfall winning everything that came his way in the air, whilst Charlie Barnett looked good in midfield, showing good pace to support Tranmere attacks and having a couple of efforts himself.
Unusually though, winger Dave Wilson and left-back Aaron Cresswell had quiet games, whilst Terry Gornell didn't have a single chance on goal in the match.