Morecambe and Tranmere bosses Derek Adams and Keith Hill agreed the first-half dismissal of Shrimps midfielder Yann Songo’o was the pivotal moment of a battle between two of Sky Bet League Two’s in-form sides.

Songo’o was sent off just before half-time after an off-the-ball incident and it proved a key moment in a tough encounter which saw Morecambe miss a first-half penalty before Kaiyne Woolery scored the only goal of the game 16 minutes from time for a 1-0 away win.

After seeing his side lose at home for the first time in 11 games, Morecambe manager Adams said: “The sending-off was key. Before then we were in command.

“We pressed Tranmere all over the pitch and caused them a lot of trouble. We were unlucky to have a goal disallowed and then we missed a penalty and had Yann sent off.

“I don’t know what happened and I will have to see what the referee’s report says but it was always going to make it difficult for us in the second half and it gave the advantage to Tranmere.

“It was the break they needed on the day because we were the team that were on top in the match and were controlling it and to lose one of our most important players made it tough and gave us an uphill struggle.”

After sealing their fourth win in four games, Tranmere boss Hill said: “It was tough for us in the first 20 minutes or so on a difficult surface but as the first half went on we got more and more dangerous. James Vaughan went close on a couple of occasions and we were starting to look more effective.

“The sending-off did change the game and we made some changes to take advantage of it.

“It’s never easy when the opponents go down to 10 men but we controlled the possession, got the ball wider quicker and got the goal to give us another three points.

“It was quite comfortable for us in the end but we had to counter their threat on the counter as that is what they are very good at and we never gave them one opportunity to break on us so I was really pleased with that aspect of our game.”

Morecambe started well and had a glorious chance to open the scoring in only the second minute when John O’Sullivan’s shot rebounded to Toumani Diagouraga in the Tranmere box, but the midfielder failed to find the target from close range.

Tranmere hit back, with veteran striker Vaughan heading Otis Khan’s right-wing cross wide of the left-hand post before drilling a low shot just wide from the edge of the area after a neat turn.

Morecambe missed the chance to go ahead in the 38th minute when Adam Phillips blazed a penalty over after Jay Spearing had handled a Cole Stockton shot in the area.

And it was to get worse for the home side when they were reduced to 10 men in the 44th minute when Songo’o was shown a red card, giving Tranmere the advantage.

Khan flashed two efforts wide of the target and Paul Lewis forced a good save from home goalkeeper Kyle Letheren before Woolery won the game when he headed home Danny Lloyd’s cross from close range.