Sorry Lions are tamed by promotion hopefuls

After putting up a strong show for the first hour at Prenton Park, they fell away in the final third of the game, conceding four goals without reply.

Guiseley boss Paul Cox reflected on the loss, saying: “The first-half was a performance I was pleased with but the game changed on 60 minutes.

“The goals we conceded were a bit sloppy, but having two games in three days meant changes were made to ensure we could look at the bigger picture for the game on Monday [against Chester].”

The Lions confirmed the signing of Jake Sheppard just before kick-off with the Reading loanee starting at right-back.

The hosts thought they had made an early breakthrough, with Andy Cook converting a tap-in – but it was correctly ruled out for offside, before Adam Buxton saw his cross deflected onto Guiseley’s crossbar, then cleared by the visitors.

Guiseley had chances of their own with Rowan Liburd having a header well-saved by Rovers keeper Scott Davies, then a ball over the top found James Roberts but Davies was just able to nick it past him and then clear before Liburd could convert the clearance.

A fantastic cross just before half-time by James Norwood fizzed past several Rovers attackers and went out of play.

Rovers striker Norwood would get an even better chance when he went through one-on-one with Jonny Maxted, his effort beat the keeper but went just wide.

But the frontman would not be denied again and fired an effort in from just outside the area to give Tranmere the lead.

Moments later it was 2-0 with Connor Jennings being fed through, staying onside showing a good first touch and firing an effort into the bottom left-hand corner of Maxted’s net.

They would make it three with Jennings getting in front of his man to grab his second, with the hosts now dominating.

The fourth was scored by Cook who was found in the area and fired home.

Guiseley now turn their attention to a crucial home game against Chester on New Year’s Day.

The third-bottom Lions are level on points with the visitors, but both sides are eight adrift of Barrow, with Chester having a slightly better goal difference than their rivals.

FC Halifax Town ended 2017 with a creditable 0-0 draw at high-flying Dover.

Danny Clarke was sent-off late on for Halifax, who faced their second arduous away trip in five days after playing league leaders Macclesfield on Boxing Day, and produced another disciplined, resolute display.

Both sides were quickly mired in lofting high balls forward that were too easily dealt with by the opposing defence in a dire first-half.

It took until 10 minutes before the interval for the first bit of goalmouth action, when Sam Johnson produced a fine double save to deny Mitch Brundle from long range and then keep out Ryan Bird’s follow-up.

Halifax looked far more of a threat when they kept it on the ground, with Josh Macdonald dangerous down the right. The winger was denied a penalty just before half-time when he was challenged by Femi Ilesanmi, much to Billy Heath’s frustration.

Tom Denton’s header from Macdonald’s cross finally brought keeper Mitch Walker into action after an hour as the contest gradually started to open up.

Bird drilled a shot wide on the edge of the box midway through the second-half, but Town still stood firm, putting in the hard yards and remaining resilient.

Halifax tired towards the end, sitting deeper and deeper to protect the point – even more so when Clarke was dismissed for a second booking – but it never came under serious threat from an out-of-sorts Dover side.

The mid-table Shaymen host leaders Macclesfield Town whose 1-0 win over Sutton United on Saturday took them six points clear of the chasing pack.

There were no games in National North on Saturday, but North Ferriby United boss Chris Bolder takes his side to York City today knowing the Villagers need a miracle to avoid relegation. Ferriby go into 2018 rooted to the bottom of the table. They are 18 points from safety with 19 games left.

Their latest defeat came in a 4-1 loss to York on Boxing Day.