Sunderland 3, Tranmere Rovers 0

Attendance: 26,674

TRANMERE Rovers gave a prime example of how not to defend as they crashed to their 10th league defeat of the campaign at the magnificent Stadium of Light, on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Steve Simonsen could not be faulted for any of the Sunderland goals and indeed he made two first class saves to keep the score down. Left-back Andy Thompson made a quite incredible second half goal-line clearance, after Sunderland had cut Tranmere apart.

Rovers' striker David Kelly didn't enjoy a happy reunion with his old club, although he was desperately unlucky to see Sunderland goalkeeper Lionel Perez deny him with a fabulous save.

Former Newcastle player, midfielder Lee Clark, was the star of the show as he scored two in two minutes. Kevin Phillips made it 3-0 three minutes before half-time. It left Rovers Player-manager John Aldridge fuming with his defence; his midfield, too, was completely outbattled.

Tranmere: Simonsen, Stevens, Thompson, McGreal, Thorn (sub Challinor, 74 mins), Irons (sub G. Jones, 74 mins), Mellon, Aldridge (sub Morrissey, 65 mins), Kelly, O'Brien, L. Jones.

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