TRANMERE had little luck and few friends at Gigg Lane last night as they went out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Rovers contrived to lose a second round tie they dominated for the best part of the first hour.

Better finishing would have put the visitors comfortably in control before Bury were able to mount a serious threat going forward in the second half.

But all the visitors had to show for some composed passing football and enterprising attacking play was a fourth-minute strike from live wire striker Craig Curran.

Once Bury found some confidence goals by David Worrall (55) and Michael Jones (81) were enough to tip the balance of the contest.

Tranmere took more than 400 followers to Greater Manchester but many of them spent the evening chanting for manger John Barnes and assistant Jason McAteer to be dismissed.

There were some encouraging features to the evening for Barnes, however. He saw his side produce a performance that was a significant improvement on the 5-0 thrashing at Millwall last Saturday. The sodden conditions played a part in giving Tranmere the ideal start with a goal on four minutes.

Bury’s defenders were punished for allowing Curran to run into the box from the right. When the striker drove in a waist high shot from a narrow angle veteran goalkeeper Wayne Brown allowed the ball to slither through his grasp like a bar of wet soap and into the net.

Curran’s inclusion was one of five changes from the Rovers’ line-up that was mauled so badly at Millwall. Full-back Gareth Edds, centre-back Ash Taylor, midfielder Charlie Barnett and striker Kithson Bain also earned starting places.

Tranmere were solid enough at the back but they allowed Bury only a couple of long-range efforts from David Buchanan and Stephen Dawson in the opening half.

It was certainly a big improvement on last weekend’s defensive effort at the New Den where they conceded four goals in the first 27 minutes.

Bain threatened a second for the visitors when he broke clear of the home side’s offside trap with a pacy run down the right on 32 minutes but saw his low shot from a tight angle blocked by a defender.

Then Curran, turning his defender and speeding into the box on a run from the right, blazed over the bar two minutes before the interval, wasting a chance that was easier than the one he put away at the start.

Curran should have doubled Tranmere’s advantage three minutes after the restart. Barnett’s perfectly delivered cross from the right picked the striker out unmarked in the six-yard box but his diving header was directed straight into the chest of Brown, who saved at the second attempt.

Bain, driving in a low shot from the edge of the box, forced Brown into another save on 50 minutes as Tranmere continued to hold the upper hand.

Bury finally created an opening inside the visitors’ penalty area when tall striker Tom Elliott galloped into space on the right and lifted his shot high over the bar.

Tranmere paid for their wastefulness when Bury snatched an equaliser against the run of play on 55 minutes.

The visitors’ offside trap was breached by a neat through pass from Stephen Dawson that sent Worrall clear into the box to take the ball around keeper Daniels and chip into an empty net.

Two minutes later Worrall’s swerving shot from wide on the left forced Daniels to make a spectacular, full stretch chip over.

The contest unfolded against the background noise of regular chants of “Barnes out” from the ranks of more than 400 travelling supporters.

When the Tranmere followers found out that their former manager was in the ground on a scouting mission for his new club Rotherham, they broke into choruses of “Ronnie Moore”.

Meanwhile Tranmere’s luck went from bad to worse. They were denied the lead when centre-back Ian Goodison saw his header from a right-wing corner by Alan Mahon rebound from the left hand post and bounce to safety.

Then on 81 minutes, the home side snatched a second. Rovers were caught by Elliott’s sharp break through the inside left channel as a perfect square pass set up striker Jones for a confident finish from a dozen yards.