GRIMSBY Town may not have run riot against their lower-league neighbours once again – but last night's 3-0 win was another useful pre-season run-out for the Mariners.
A brace from Ross Hannah, and a late third from Liam Hearn saw Town make it three from three in their preparations for the coming season.
Following a serious accident on the M180, kick-off at The Hawthorns had to be put back nearly an hour to allow visiting fans – and players – to make it through the heavy traffic.
Town lined up in an orthodox 4-4-2 formation, with trialists Chris Doig and Jake Turner – as well as second year Youth-teamer Paul Walker – all named among the starting XI.
After a minute's silence was observed following the passing of Mark Burman, a former Brigg coach and season ticket holder at Blundell Park, the game got underway.
Barely five minutes had passed when Andy Cook nodded just wide from Paddy McLaughlin's free-kick but it wasn't long before the deadlock was broken.
A long through ball set Hannah racing through and, with keeper Rob Zand off his line, the former Bradford man cleverly lifted the ball out of his reach to open the scoring.
Despite going behind, the hosts had acquitted themselves well in the opening exchanges.
And skipper Paul Grimes soon gave Turner an early touch, but only with a tame effort from the edge of the visitors' penalty area.
On the stroke of the half hour, Town looked to have doubled their advantage when Hannah nodded home from Alex Rodman's clipped cross.
However, the assistant had her flag raised for offside.
In Pictures: Brigg Town v Grimsby Town
With the half entering its final five minutes, Hannah thought he had a second and it would have been a carbon-copy of his first.
Zand raced off his line to cut out Thanoj's long ball but once again, the striker got there first.
This time, he could only poke wide – but the Yorkshireman wasn't to be denied for long.
Minutes later, tricky play from Rodman on the left saw him glide past one defender near the touchline before being sent tumbling in the box.
The referee pointed to the spot and Hannah duly converted from 12 yards to send Town in 2-0 ahead at the break.
Rob Scott and Paul Hurst threw on Lenell John-Lewis for Cook at half-time and the powerful front man was soon in the thick of the action.
When the Zebras were caught over-playing on the edge of their own box, Scott Neilson nipped in and found John-Lewis, who thundered a fine effort from the edge that Zand did well to palm over.
On the hour mark, Town's joint bosses rang the changes with no less than six new faces emerging from the bench.
Unaffected by that re-shuffle, the Zebras continued to give a good account of themselves and Grimes stabbed wide from a low, powerful cross with just under 20 minutes to go, while John-Lewis spurned two chances at the other end.
Town did grab their third when Colbeck and Hearn both raced through unopposed before the winger's pull-back gifted Hearn the simplest of tap-ins to cap a useful evening for the Mariners – even if it didn't feature as many goals as some had expected.
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