James Vaughan scored a first-half brace as Tranmere made it three Sky Bet League Two wins on the bounce as they put Grimsby to the sword in a 5-0 victory at Prenton Park.

Under the stewardship of caretaker boss Ian Dawes, the home side blew away the Mariners as they raced into a four-goal lead inside 34 minutes.

First Vaughan headed home a Corey Blackett-Taylor cross after 10 minutes before Peter Clarke nodded home from a yard out after 27 minutes when his initial header had been saved.

Less than a minute later, Rovers were three ahead as Vaughan smashed home his second of the match from the penalty spot following Luke Waterfall’s tackle on Blackett-Taylor in the box.

And 11 minutes before the break, the game was all over as Otis Khan drifted past two Grimsby defenders before finding the net from 18 yards.

The second half had few chances with substitute Paul Lewis completing the rout four minutes from time with a long-range effort to make it five games unbeaten in all competitions for Rovers since the sacking of Mike Jackson.