Match Report: Luton Town 1 Grimsby Town 1

GRIMSBY Town's joint bosses called for their 'fringe players' to step up to the plate when called upon for the promotion run-in, and they did just that with a battling performance that earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Luton last night.

Dayle Southwell put the Mariners ahead after 54 minutes at Kenilworth Road, but the visitors were pegged back by Alex Lawless' strike 14 minutes from time.

There were two 'firsts' on the Mariners team-sheet ahead of kick-off. After being recalled from his loan stay at AFC Telford, Simon Ford came in for the maiden appearance of his second Grimsby Town spell to replace the injured Shaun Pearson at centre-half.

Liam Hearn started his first game in a black and white shirt since tearing his Achilles in August. The 'hitman' lined up in a new-look strike partnership alongside Lenell John-Lewis as Rob Scott and Paul Hurst rang the changes following the midweek victory over Dartford that sealed their place in the play-offs.

The game was barely a minute old when the hosts recorded the first shot on target. Cleveland Taylor cheaply gave away possessionin the middle of the park and the ball eventually found Jonathan Smith, whose tame shot from the edge of the area was gathered in easily by James McKeown.

Both sides then won early corners but, after Town had wasted theirs, the Hatters nearly profited from their own seconds later.

The ball was swung in to the far post and Andre Gray's downward header was blocked on the line by Frankie Artus before Ian Miller had to be on his toes to prevent skipper Steve McNulty from prodding home from six yards.

And from their fourth corner in just over five minutes, Luton nearly went ahead in the most fortuitous of circumstances, when Bradley Wood's wild swipe at a poor delivery cannoned off his own post with McKeown rooted to the spot.

The travelling Town fans had their hearts in their mouths when Hearn went down – and stayed there – after a physical challenge from McNulty on ten minutes.

However, the striker gingerly picked himself back up and almost got on the end of John-Lewis' clever flick-on three minutes later, but Dean Brill was quickly off his line to gather as Town struggled to fashion a genuine opening in the first quarter of an hour.

In Pictures: Luton Town 1 Grimsby Town 1

By contrast, the hosts were finding chances easier to come by. A long, diagonal ball from the ball found Gray on the left, and, after stepping past Ford on the by-line, the England C international fired in a shot that Wood did well to block.

A flurry of fireworks went up behind Kenilworth Road, with Town still needing to find their own spark – Aswad Thomas tried to light the touch paper with a pacey burst and cross from the left, but as Hearn tried to capitalise at the near post, referee Seb Stockbridge blew for a foul on Brill.

But at the other end, after good work from David Martin, the impressive Jon Shaw skewed another effort wide of McKeown's goal as the noise in the ground – and the pyrotechnics outside – grew even louder.

After weathering the storm, Town finally notched their first shot on target in the 43rd minute when Thanoj's curling, dipping effort from 18 yards brought a good save from Brill down to his right.

That, and a stoppage-time volley from John-Lewis that the Hatters stopper caught well, was the last meaningful action of the first half as Stockbridge brought the half to a close.

Just three minutes after the restart, good work from John-Lewis allowed Thanoj to break from the middle. And after dancing across the box, the Albanian slid in Southwell, who skewed high and wide of Brill's goal.

Taylor then beat McNulty for pace on the left and shaped in a near-post cross that Hearn volleyed over as the Mariners continued their improvement from the first half.

And they nearly capped that with a fine goal when Hearn inched into the box before drilling the ball into Thanoj, whose first touch steadied him perfectly to fire in a crashing shot that cannoned down onto the goal-line and away.

However, the Mariners were not to be denied, and when Thanoj swung in a deep free-kick the ball was nodded down and after Miller had missed his kick, Southwell prodded towards goal and the ball squirmed over the line.

With that goal, Scott and Hurst's side began a spell of dominance they had not previously enjoyed in the game – Hearn skipped inside and sliced a shot wide as they continued their improvement.

But at the other end, with the clock approaching 70 minutes, the Hatters could, and maybe should, have drawn level. A corner wasn't cleared properly at the far post and the ball fell to Scott Griffiths, 12-yards out, however, the left-back ballooned his volley harmlessly over the bar to groans from the home crowd.

But, with 15 minutes to go, Kenilworth Road erupted when the Hatters got back on terms. Solomon Taiwo's deep cross wasn't cleared properly at the far post and, when the ball eventually fell to Lawless, he steadied himself, before blasting home to draw level.

And after they won yet another corner nine minutes from time, sub Alex Wall could have put them ahead after getting on the end of Gray's devilish, near post cross, while with under five minutes to go, McKeown needed to throw up two strong arms to tip over Gray's powerful effort as the hosts continued to press for a winner.

But despite a late surge from the hosts – that featured yet more corners for the hosts, that elusive second goal wasn't forthcoming and both sides were made to settle for a point.