Bournemouth manager Sean O'Driscoll saw his side's play-off hopes ended as Tranmere ran riot on the south coast.
O'Driscoll saw his side concede three goals inside seven second-half minutes to all but end their promotion hopes.
After a dire first half an hour Bournemouth almost opened the scoring on 39 minutes when defender Carl Fletcher saw his left foot shot come crashing back off the post.
But it was the visitors who rarely threatened early on but took the lead when Paul Hall crossed from the right and striker Gary Jones was on hand to head in his 10th goal of the season.
Then came the crazy seven minutes when Tranmere took complete control. On 50 minutes Hall was again involved as he set up Danny Harrison to drill home the second.
The influential Hall then got in on the act himself poking home from two yards from a Gareth Roberts cross to score his first goal as a Tranmere player.
The afternoon kept getting better for the visitors when Jones added a fourth just seconds later after good work by substitute David Beresford.
With the game effectively over Bournemouth replied with a consolation on 69 minutes when Wade Elliott's cross was headed into his won goal by Harrison.
Tranmere completed the rout on 81minutes when substitute Beresford dispossessed defender Stephen Purches to run half a length of the pitch and cooly slot home the fifth and final goal of the afternoon.
Tranmere manager Brian Little was delighted with the win but stunned by the scoreline.
He said: "We just felt throughout the game that we could always cause them problems and it was nice to come away with a good result even though it didn't feel like a 5-1 game.
"But football is crazy sometimes and we've had games like that this season when it hasn't gone for us." Bournemouth manager O'Driscoll remained up beat despite his side's embarrassing defeat.
"I think everything flattered them today but I don't want to be accused of sour grapes," the boss said.
"It was a rather bizarre scoreline considering that I felt we controlled most of the game."