SECOND half sub Alex Rodman scored his first goal for Grimsby Town as they secured a six-point Bank Holiday haul with a 1-0 win at Hyde yesterday.
The former Aldershot man grabbed the winner within minutes of replacing Liam Hearn to earn the Mariners a well-deserved victory at Ewen Fields.
The joint bosses made two changes to the team that started the first part of their winning double header over Alfreton on Saturday.
After replacing the injured Clayton McDonald in the early stages of the clash with the Reds, Chris Doig retained his place at the heart of the back four.
Despite expressing his desire to leave the Mariners at the weekend, Sam Hatton replaced the so far ever-present Paul Bignot, in the only other change to the starting eleven.
As the two squads marched out onto the impressive surface, under the blazing late-afternoon sun, there couldn't have been a greater contrast to when the Mariners visited Ewen Fields last season.
That night, Town made a sluggish start as the driving rain teamed down in Manchester and they ultimately slipped to a disappointing defeat.
And just like last season, the visitors could have gone behind twice in the early stages.
First, Shaun Pearson's hesitancy allowed Scott Spencer to burst into the box and James McKeown rushed off his line as the frontman looked to slide it around him.
The net rippled and the home fans thought their side had gone in front, but the Town stopper had in fact turned the ball behind the goal with a sharp stop with his legs.
And then, as the Tigers kept up their early pressure, Craig Disley was forced to hack off the line from Alex Brown's goal-bound header.
But Town, who began to see more of the ball, steadily improved and Ben Dennis' woeful back-pass allowed Lenell John-Lewis to break through.
In Pictures: Hyde v Grimsby Town
David Carnell was quick off his line to hoof the ball against the burly striker to win a goal kick and alleviate any danger but it was a promising sign for the previously under-fire visitors. Hatton, who had become isolated against Louis Almond, did well to deflect the tricky winger's shot behind and at the other end, a similarly isolated Hearn, who had been quiet in the opening half an hour, then showed a bright burst of pace to skip past Josh Brizell, and underline the threat he would pose to the hosts back four. John-Lewis nutmegged his marker on the touchline and showed a clean pair of heels to burst towards the edge of the area where he slipped the ball into the path of the onrushing Joe Colbeck, who shaped wide from 18 yards. The man who was being affectionately heralded as the 'The Shop' by the travelling faithful, then headed just wide as the linesman raised his flag for offside. Good work from the frontman then saw him find Paddy McLaughlin who caught a crisp shot that arrowed into the grateful arms of Carnell. That flurry proved to be the last meaningful action of a first half in which they had done well to weather Hyde's early spell and finish as the better side. And within two minutes of the restart, it was clear they were in intent on continuing in that vein. Slick play on the watered surface, saw them create an opportunity down the right, but Colbeck's cross, after being stabbed forward by McLaughlin skidded under Hearn's toes when well-placed in the area. Colbeck danced past the ailing challenge of two defenders and found McLaughlin who clipped the ball into John-Lewis' path, who had unfortunately strayed offside. McLaughlin tested Carnell again but a flowing move across the field was brought to another premature end when Colbeck's cross found John-Lewis, who, for the second time in 30 seconds, had wandered beyond the last line of defence. Liam Tomsett crashed a shot on target that McKeown comfortably helped over but, other than that, it felt as though the three points were there for Town's taking. However, a mix-up in their own area nearly saw them slip behind when McKeown made a hash of claiming a relatively simple low cross and Pearson was forced to scramble clear with second half sub Matty Mainwaring looking to pounce. Town could have had a goal of their own seconds later when Carnell flapped at Colbeck's powerful cross but no-one was alive to the rebound. Looking to press home their dominance, Town brought on Rodman for Hearn and he was only on the field for a matter of minutes before scoring his first competitive goal for the club. Colbeck raced on to a ball that evaded the entire Hyde back line and when he fired the centre across, the former Aldershot man was on the spot to slide home from six yards and give his side a deserved lead. They could have doubled their advantage had John-Lewis looked up when Rodman found him with a clever pass but instead of finding the un-marked Colbeck, the striker skewed an effort badly wide. The Mariners had to weather something of a late rally from the hosts as first McKeown did well to palm away a dangerous cross from the left, and former Town loanee Danny Carlton drove wide. But they managed to hang on to complete their second win in three days to make it a bumper Bank Holiday weekend.
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In Pictures: Hyde v Grimsby Town
David Carnell was quick off his line to hoof the ball against the burly striker to win a goal kick and alleviate any danger but it was a promising sign for the previously under-fire visitors. Hatton, who had become isolated against Louis Almond, did well to deflect the tricky winger's shot behind and at the other end, a similarly isolated Hearn, who had been quiet in the opening half an hour, then showed a bright burst of pace to skip past Josh Brizell, and underline the threat he would pose to the hosts back four. John-Lewis nutmegged his marker on the touchline and showed a clean pair of heels to burst towards the edge of the area where he slipped the ball into the path of the onrushing Joe Colbeck, who shaped wide from 18 yards. The man who was being affectionately heralded as the 'The Shop' by the travelling faithful, then headed just wide as the linesman raised his flag for offside. Good work from the frontman then saw him find Paddy McLaughlin who caught a crisp shot that arrowed into the grateful arms of Carnell. That flurry proved to be the last meaningful action of a first half in which they had done well to weather Hyde's early spell and finish as the better side. And within two minutes of the restart, it was clear they were in intent on continuing in that vein. Slick play on the watered surface, saw them create an opportunity down the right, but Colbeck's cross, after being stabbed forward by McLaughlin skidded under Hearn's toes when well-placed in the area. Colbeck danced past the ailing challenge of two defenders and found McLaughlin who clipped the ball into John-Lewis' path, who had unfortunately strayed offside. McLaughlin tested Carnell again but a flowing move across the field was brought to another premature end when Colbeck's cross found John-Lewis, who, for the second time in 30 seconds, had wandered beyond the last line of defence. Liam Tomsett crashed a shot on target that McKeown comfortably helped over but, other than that, it felt as though the three points were there for Town's taking. However, a mix-up in their own area nearly saw them slip behind when McKeown made a hash of claiming a relatively simple low cross and Pearson was forced to scramble clear with second half sub Matty Mainwaring looking to pounce. Town could have had a goal of their own seconds later when Carnell flapped at Colbeck's powerful cross but no-one was alive to the rebound. Looking to press home their dominance, Town brought on Rodman for Hearn and he was only on the field for a matter of minutes before scoring his first competitive goal for the club. Colbeck raced on to a ball that evaded the entire Hyde back line and when he fired the centre across, the former Aldershot man was on the spot to slide home from six yards and give his side a deserved lead. They could have doubled their advantage had John-Lewis looked up when Rodman found him with a clever pass but instead of finding the un-marked Colbeck, the striker skewed an effort badly wide. The Mariners had to weather something of a late rally from the hosts as first McKeown did well to palm away a dangerous cross from the left, and former Town loanee Danny Carlton drove wide. But they managed to hang on to complete their second win in three days to make it a bumper Bank Holiday weekend.
Replay our live text coverage below:
