Tranmere Rovers suffered a 2-1 defeat to Barnet at Prenton Park as Kabongo Tshimanga’s second-half brace overturned Will Vaulks’ first goal for the club since rejoining in the summer.

Vaulks’ 22nd-minute strike looked set to help Rovers end their five-game winless run, but Barnet responded after the break before Tshimanga converted a late penalty to secure a comeback victory and extend the visitors’ unbeaten start to the League Two season to nine games.

Tranmere started brightly and came close to taking the lead in the 19th minute when Dylan Jones fired towards the near post, only for Barnet goalkeeper Matthew Cox to push his effort away from danger.

Three minutes later, Rovers made the breakthrough. Charlie Whitaker played the ball out wide to Vaulks, who was overlapping, and the captain unleashed a thunderous 20-yard strike into the top-left corner to put the hosts 1-0 ahead.

It was Vaulks’ first competitive goal for Tranmere since returning to the club in the summer, 14 years after leaving Rovers.

Whitaker threatened to extend the advantage in the 37th minute, cutting inside before setting the ball out and curling an effort narrowly wide of the top-right corner.

Jones then came close to making it 2-0 shortly before half-time, but his shot drifted just wide of the bottom-left corner.

Tranmere went into the break with the lead, but Barnet began the second half by looking for a way back into the contest. Three minutes after the restart, Tshimanga found space inside the penalty area but miscued his effort and failed to hit the target.

The visitors drew level ten minutes into the second half. Charlie Lakin tested Harrison Male, who made the save, but Tshimanga reacted quickest to the rebound and headed home from close range to make it 1-1.

Darrell Clarke made his first substitution in the 65th minute, replacing Jones with Ryan Watson as Rovers looked to regain their advantage.

With 15 minutes remaining, Clarke made a double change, introducing David Kamara and Bobby Faulkner in place of Whitaker and Tom Conlon.

However, it was Barnet who found the decisive goal in the closing stages. Four minutes from time, Faulkner was penalised for a foul on Lakin inside the penalty area, giving the visitors the opportunity to complete their comeback from the spot.

Tshimanga stepped up and sent Male the wrong way, converting the penalty to put Barnet 2-1 ahead and leave Tranmere facing defeat.

Rovers’ afternoon worsened in the second minute of added time when Joel Senior received a second yellow card for a foul on Romoney Crichlow-Noble, leaving the hosts to finish the match with ten men.

Despite taking the lead through Vaulks and creating opportunities to extend their advantage before the interval, Tranmere were unable to prevent Barnet from turning the game around after the break.

Match Highlights – To follow…

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