Bury 0 Tranmere Rovers 1by Phil Thorp: DEFEAT and more disciplinary woes combined to make it a day to forget at Gigg Lane on Saturday.

Rovers gained revenge for an opening day of the season defeat with a 1-0 success but the dismissal of Shakers player-manager Andy Preece captured the headlines.

The boss became the fourth Shakers player to be sent off in as many games and the eighth this season after a clash with Rovers defender Graham Allen that left the defender on the floor.

The shot shy Shakers - without a goal in 2002 so far - never looked likely to break down a resolute Tranmere defence especially in a woeful first half. They could well have been two or three goals down inside the first ten minutes as Paul Rideout twice went close with a shot that was blocked and one that cleared Paddy Kenny's crossbar while Jason Price squandered an open goal opportunity after a slip up from Michael Nelson. The only goal of the game arrived after 27 minutes from the Merseysiders' highly rated Jason Koumas.

The midfielder forced home a Price cross from close range after his initial shot had brought out a fabulous save from Kenny. Rovers substitute Seyni N'Diaye ought to have doubled the visitors winning margin late in the game when he raced clear of the defence only the keeper to beat.

But the Bury custodian pulled off a superb block with his legs to frustrate the big Senegalese front man.

Despite throwing everything at the visitors in the closing stages the closest the Shakers came to getting on the scoresheet was a low drive from George Clegg that Tranmere's Dutch keeper John Achterberg saved at full stretch and an overhead kick from Ian Lawson that went high over the bar. In a frantic last few minutes the home fans believed they should have had a penalty kick after Rovers' Clint Hill fouled Clegg but Preston referee Phil Richards was unimpressed.

That was a word he would have undoubtedly used to describe his reaction to Preece's misdemeanour which sparked off an unseemly 20 man skirmish in the Tranmere goalmouth.

The Bury manager admitted after the game that he should not have raised his hands but reckoned Allen didn't exactly help his cause the way he went to ground.

FORMGUIDE: Kenny 7, Swailes 7, Unsworth 6, Redmond 7, Connell 6 (Preece, 65, 6), Jarrett 6 (Murphy, 17, 5), Nelson 5 (Collins, 65, 7), Clegg 6, Newby 6, Lawson 6, Stuart 8. Subs not used: Seddon and Hill. Referee: Phil Richards (Preston)

Attendance: 4,245

"The lad pulled me and I backed into him and raised my arm and caught him under the chin," he said.

"I didn't mean to catch him but if you raise your arm the referee has no option.

"I don't think the lad needed to go down the way he did but he's been clever while Ive not been so clever.

"I should be setting an example to the team and I have apologised to the lads."

The boss will administer a hefty fine on himself for his misdemeanour as suspensions have already bitten hard into a squad stretched to the limit with injuries.