After the nightmare defeat against Accrington on Boxing Day the Mariners desperately needed points over the festive period. Today's team duly delivered.

There were only two changes made from the last game. Rob Atkinson replaced the suspended Nick Fenton while Danny North started in the place of Gary Jones who was relegated to the bench. Town started in their now usual 5-3-2 formation with Barnes starting in goal. Hegarty, Bennett, Atkinson, Newey and Sam Hird made up the back line, Bolland, Hunt and Boshell stretched the middle of the park while North and Butler sat up front. The subs bench was made up of Montgomery, Whittle, Till, Taylor and Jones.

It was a quiet start for both teams with neither really looking dangerous as the strong North Sea wind rattled the bones of the 5,533 fans who turned up for the local derby. After a shaky first ten minutes the Mariners started to settle and get the ball around well despite facing a strong headwind. 

Grimsby could have gone ahead early in the game through Rob Atkinson. Danny Boshell crossed the ball in but the goalkeeper managed to save Atkinson's header.

Lincoln's Louis Dodds had a shot but it skimmed the top of the bar and later loanee Sam Hird's shot was cleared off the line by Lincoln's Hamza Bencherif.

In the second half Lincoln came close. Ben Wright crossed the ball in but Lee Frecklington's shot went wide.

Boshell later had a free kick. He crossed the ball to Atkinson but his header too went wide.

On 65 minutes Buckley made the first of two changes. A quiet Danny North was replaced by Gary Jones and almost instantly Town could have been 1-0 up. A freekick by Boshell was aided by the wind and met the head of Jones but his shot was saved.

In the 85th minute GARY JONES finally broke the deadlock. The veteran striker nodded home after an error by Lincoln 'keeper Ben Smith to gift the Mariners all three points. 1-0.

In the dying seconds Lincoln's Scott Kerr, who was already on a yellow card received his marching orders after bringing down Boshell.

Not a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination but the three points were vital to ensure the Mariners survive this season. We're now up to 16th with 24 points from 23 games increasing the gap between us and the drop zone to eight points with only 12 points separating us from the playoff zone although chances of us catching it are still quite slim.

Attendance: 5,533

NEXT MATCH

Chester City v Grimsby Town
Tuesday 1st January 2008. 15:00
The Deva Stadium

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