Tranmere had goalkeeper Luke McGee and defender Tom Davies sent off as they went down to a 2-0 defeat at local rivals Crewe.
Jack Powell floated over a 40-yard free-kick and Mickey Demetriou drifted free to plant a header into the bottom corner in the 11th minute to give Crewe the lead.
Seven minutes into the second half, McGee left Tranmere in the mire when he was stranded several yards outside the penalty box as he handled Chris Long’s goalbound attempt to earn a straight red card.
Long deepened Rovers’ troubles when blasting the resulting free-kick into the bottom corner, with veteran keeper Joe Murphy’s first action off the bench being to pick the ball out of the net.
After a lengthy stoppage following an incident in the crowd, the visitors rallied and went close to reducing the arrears when Connor Jennings glanced the crossbar with a thundering drive.
Crewe’s goal led a charmed life in the closing minutes and 13 of added time when Harvey Saunders lifted over from close range and rattled the bar with a header while Courtney Baker-Richardson cleared a header from Jennings off the line.
Tranmere’s woes were complete when skipper Davies earned his side’s second dismissal of the game with a second yellow card for a late tackle deep into stoppage time.
