THE Blues were not about to let a poor all-round display stop them recording a 15-10 victory over Skegness.
The Grimsby pack continued their dominance of the opposition in the scrum from the previous week with another strong display. However, the rest of their game was far below par.
After a sluggish start, the visitors started to find their feet in the forwards with some strong runs from Luke Chaplin and Jason Stead gaining ground, but slow ball to the backs saw many passes rushed and hit the floor.
Grimsby finally strung some plays together and – with some fast rucking from Neil Corry and Mike Newman – set up a pick and go for Jordan Smith and Stead to force their way to the line, with Adam Waterman picking up to touch down for the first try of the game. The conversion was missed by Brad Watson.
As the first half continued, Grimsby's forward dominance started to show, with multiple scrums opted for from penalties in Skegness' 22.
The Blues were disappointed not to be awarded a penalty try after numerous resets before Skegness managed to clear their lines.
They started the second half well, forcing penalties early on and landing a penalty to ease some fraying nerves.
However, Grimsby sat back and Skegness took the attack to them, with impressive runs from the inside centre and some quick footwork from the wing forcing covering tackles to be made.
After 55 minutes, Skegness were camped in Grimsby's 22, and the added pressure in defence led to Grimsby conceding penalties.
Skegness opted for the tap and go from every one and eventually forced their way over for the lead with only 20 minutes to go.
The Blues stepped up the pace with fast looping rucks leading to Skegness conceding penalties close to their line.
The away side put the pressure on in a series of reset scrums before a penalty try was awarded, which was duly converted by Brad Watson, to give them a 10-15 lead.
With the final whistle closing in, Skegness attacked and broke the line but good covering from Stuart Saunders and Ryan Carr saw the visitors hold out.
Grimsby's game this weekend is at home to Leicester Vipers in the National Cup.
