By Match report: Town fall to defeat away at Tranmere
Grimsby Town were beaten on the road by Tranmere Rovers in League Two this afternoon.
A goal either side of half-time was enough to earn the hosts a 2-0 victory and all three points, with the Mariners missing a number of chances at Prenton Park.
Town started the game well and had an early opportunity when Josh Emmanuel and Harry Clifton linked up well, with the latter having an effort that deflected off Danilo Orsi and out for a goal-kick.
The forward then brought the ball down well on nine minutes before it made its way to Ryan Taylor, who laid it back off for his strike partner to have a powerful shot on goal that was blocked before it could test Mateusz Hewelt.
The Mariners had the better of the opening 20 minutes, putting pressure on Tranmere and limiting them to very little going forward.
Orsi then had another excellent chance on the half-hour mark to give his side the lead, but his close-range effort was saved by the keeper.
The hosts were awarded a penalty a minute later after a foul by Gavan Holohan, with Joshua Hawkes putting his side in front with their first shot of the game.
Town almost responded within minutes when Otis Khan’s free-kick found Luke Waterfall, who could only find the side netting.
The visitors were then awarded a free-kick about 30 yards out for a foul on Taylor, with Khan striking an effort that was comfortably saved by Hewelt.
The second half got off to a disastrous start for the Mariners, as Rhys Hughes found the back of the net from about 25 yards out to extend Tranmere’s lead on 48 minutes.
Max Crocombe was then called into action again just a couple of minutes later to deny Hawkes’ effort from the edge of the box.
A decent Town move saw Taylor pick up the ball and feed it into Clifton, who passed it onto Holohan and his effort went sailing over for a goal-kick.
The Mariners then had a huge chance to get back into the game just past the hour-mark, with Orsi and Taylor linking up before the ball fell to Clifton about six yards out and the midfielder missed the target.
Maher almost grabbed a goal back for the visitors on 71 minutes when he rose highest to get on the end of a corner, but his powerful header was well kept out by Hewelt.
Substitute John McAtee was next to go close for Town after he worked some room outside of the box and produced an effort that just went past the post.
At the other end, Crocombe made a superb save to turn Hawkes’ low effort around the post for a corner following a good move down the right-hand side by the hosts with 10 minutes left to play.
There were no further chances in the game, as the Mariners fell to defeat on the road this afternoon.
