By Match report: Town edged out by Gillingham in tightly-fought contest
Grimsby Town suffered a narrow away defeat at the hands of Gillingham in League Two this evening.
A Gavan Holohan goal wasn’t enough to claim a point for the Mariners, as George Lapslie and a late Ollie Hawkins header helped claim a 2-1 victory for the hosts at the Priestfield Stadium.
Paul Hurst made three changes from the side that were beaten at home by Colchester United on Saturday, with Andy Smith, Anthony Glennon and Gavan Holohan all returning to the starting lineup.
The game off to a fairly slow start, as neither team were able to find any rhythm and create any chances in the opening 20 minutes.
The Gillingham faithful called for Glennon to be shown a red card for a needless, late challenge that saw him catch one of the opposing defenders, but the referee decided it was only worthy of a yellow card.
The hosts had the first shot of the game just past the midway point of the first half when a ball into the back post found David Tutonda, who sent an awkward-looking effort wide of the goal.
Town didn’t have their first chance of the game until 33 minutes into the contest through John McAtee, with the forward sending a curling strike just wide of the post.
A couple of minutes later, the hosts had an excellent opportunity to open the scoring following some good play down the right, but as George Lapslie bore down on goal, an expertly-timed challenge from Niall Maher prevented him from tapping the ball into the net.
Down the opposite end of the field, Glennon found himself free at the back post after the ball was played across the box and he sent a sliced effort over the bar.
There were no further chances before the break, as both sides will have been pleased with the way they defended but will have wanted to create more opportunities.
Gillingham had a big chance to open to scoring four minutes into the second half when Tom Nichols found himself in acres of space at the back post from a corner, but his header was straight at Max Crocombe and the keeper managed to push it away from danger.
Following a spell of increased pressure from the Gills, they grabbed the first goal of the game through Lapslie on 56 minutes. Dom Jefferies picked up the ball on the left, beat Michee Efete and squared it across the six-yard box for his teammate to tap home into the empty net.
On the hour-mark, the Mariners had their first shot on target through McAtee, who latched onto the ball up midway through the hosts’ half following good hold-up play by George Lloyd, but the forward’s effort was tipped around the post well for a corner.
After gaining a bit more possession, Town found an equaliser on 75 minutes through Holohan. A lovely ball in from the left from Glennon found the midfielder making a late run into the box and his low header was too powerful for Glenn Morris, with the keeper only able to push the ball onto the inside of the post before it hit the net.
The Gills responded by putting the Mariners under pressure as they looked to get back into the lead, with Ollie Hawkins seeing his goalbound effort well blocked behind for a corner by Efete.
The big centre-forward wasn’t to be denied for much longer, though, as he gave the hosts the lead with four minutes left to play. Crocombe initially did well to save Nichols’s half-volley from close range, before the ball was recycled out to Cheye Alexander on the right and he picked out Hawkins, who headed home into the far corner.
Town weren’t able to work their way back into the game after going behind, which subjected them to back-to-back league defeats.
