Tranmere in control with comfortable victory over Shrewsbury

Tranmere Rovers got their League Two campaign off to the perfect start with a 2-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town.

Jordan Davies’ first league goal for the club and a Charlie Whitaker wonder strike secured the points in an entertaining opening-day clash at Prenton Park.

The Shrews started brightly, with George Lloyd and Will Boyle both heading narrowly wide inside the first four minutes.

Rovers’ first real chance came in the 19th minute, when Davies’ speculative lob almost caught out goalkeeper Will Brook.

Shrewsbury nearly went ahead just after the half-hour mark, but Josh Ruffels’ goal-bound strike was brilliantly tipped over by Harrison Male.

Tranmere took the lead 10 minutes before half-time, however, as Davies latched onto Bobby Faulkner’s knock-down to force the ball home from six yards.

Shrewsbury could have levelled shortly after the restart when Lloyd’s effort was cleared off the line after Male failed to deal with a cross, while moments later, Arkell Jude-Boyd’s effort flew just wide.

But the result was essentially put beyond doubt in the 63rd minute when Whitaker weaved through the Shrewsbury defence and finished emphatically from 18 yards.