A deflected goal from substitute Chris Shuker earned Rovers a 1-0 win over Crewe and a place in the Northern Section Quarter Finals of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

The winger's late strike settled a match which looked set to head for a penalty shoot out after both teams wasted earlier chances.

Rovers were unable to match the performance of Saturday's win at Carlisle, but the place in the draw was all that mattered for Ronnie Moore's side.

There was just one change to the side that beat Carlisle, with Chris Greenacre coming back into the side in place of George O'Callaghan as Rovers reverted to 4-4-2. Calvin Zola started for the Alex, but there was no place for former Tranmere defender Chris McCready who missed out through injury.

The first chance of the game fell to Steve Jennings after he ran on to a weak header from Danny O'Donnell, but the midfielder's shot from 20 yards went over Steve Collis' bar.

Both teams showed early attacking intent, with play quickly switching from end to end and little sign of a midfield battle.

Zola had an opportunity to open the scoring on eight minutes when a pass from Michael O'Connor put him through on goal, but he shot straight at Danny Coyne from the edge of the area.

A strong run from Bas Savage on 12 minutes ended with Antony Kay firing wide of the Crewe goal while Edrissa Sonko cleared Dennis Lawrence's header off the line from a corner on 23 minutes. The ball continued to bounce around the Rovers area for several worrying moments, but Ian Goodison eventually cleared under pressure from Zola.

Tom Pope came close to breaking the deadlock on 27 minutes when wrong footing Goodison and volleying against Danny Coyne's right hand post from the edge of the area, and O'Connor didn't miss by much four minutes later with a shot from distance after some long build up play from the visitors.

Savage curled over with his left foot on 37 minutes after good work from Greenacre, Andy Taylor shot wide from 30 yards on the turn and Kay headed over from Jennings' cross in the final minute of the first half as Rovers came back into the game.

Rovers appealed for the game's first goal on 47 minutes when Ben Chorley flicked a Taylor corner towards the net only to see O'Donnell clear the ball. The defender had to stretch to reach the ball with fans and players trying to convince the referee it had crossed the line but play continued and the visitors cleared the danger.

Greenacre held off two defenders on 50 minutes before seeing his shot deflect behind the corner, another sign of improvement from Tranmere. Four minutes later Kay headed over from a Ryan Shotton long throw.

Collis produced a one handed save to keep out Kay's low eight yard shot on 59 minutes while Jennings saw a 25 yard effort blocked on its way to goal soon after as Rovers pressed forward.

Shaun Miller shot straight at Coyne on 70 minutes while Kay tested Collis with a long range effort a minute later

A double change for Rovers on 75 minutes saw Gareth Edds and Chris Shuker replace Jennings and Sonko moments before Ian Moore shot narrowly wide from a Taylor cross.

Crewe came close on 79 minutes but Zola and Miller both failed to connect with Danny Woodards' cross at the far post, while O'Connor volleyed wide two minutes later.

A Taylor free kick landed on the roof of Collis' net and Savage powered a header wide of goal as the game looked increasingly destined for a penalty shoot out.

But the game's first goal finally came on 86 minutes. After Savage had toyed with a defender inside the area, he played the ball back to Shuker whose shot from the edge of the area took a deflection and left Collis with no chance of a save to the delight of the Rovers fans.

Moore tried for a second with a 30 yard shot two minutes into injury time as Rovers saw out the final few minutes for the win.

Referee: Carl Boyeson