The home side created several chances in the first half but failed to find the net, while Barnet keeper Matthew Cox twice denied Charlie Whitaker, including a superb stop to tip his effort onto the post.

Idris Kanu came close in the 15th minute with a curling effort that drifted narrowly wide. He tried again four minutes later after beating three defenders, but his effort sailed over the crossbar.

Approaching the half-hour mark, Romoney Crichlow’s powerful low drive beat goalkeeper Luke McGee, but Olly Scott cleared off the line.

Tranmere started the second half brightly, with Tom Ince’s free-kick blocked, while Scott fired narrowly wide of the top-right corner.

Substitute Kane Smith broke the deadlock in the closing stages with a half-volley following Brandon Comley’s cross from a well-worked corner.

Nnamdi Ofoborh doubled Barnet's lead in stoppage time, slotting home Damola Ajayi’s pass before Ajayi fired in a third moments later.

“We didn’t start as well as we could, but defended well in the first half and came out really well in the second, especially with the chances we had,” said O’Connor.

“We created a lot of chances and didn’t take them. Their first goal was a killer against the run of play, but we can’t make excuses as we were chasing the game.

“We kept the ball better and created chances, but it’s about putting the finishing touches on them.”

Tranmere manager Darrell Clarke added that he was "disappointed" after Rovers fell at the first hurdle of the FA Cup yet again but said he could take positives from his side's performance.

"I just want to see more consistency in the performances at times," said Clarke. "Sometimes I watch us and think 'bloody hell, we're a great watch, we're a good team and we're on the front foot' but then other times we're so loose.

"When we put together two or three passes and get our build right we're on top of teams so there's loads to do and loads to work on.

"It's a disappointing day for us and I know we've not had a great FA Cup for five years now but we'll regroup.

"The fans have been magnificent and I hope they can see what we're trying to do and bit by bit we're learning more about the players and so we'll put this disappointment behind us and try and get a reaction."