Grimsby 1 Lincoln 0

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 29/12/2007

GARY Jones was again the hero as Town won their Lincolnshire derby against fellow relegation strugglers Lincoln City. The result meant Town did the double over their neighbours and elevates Grimsby up to 17th place in the table.

Alan Buckley made two changes to the starting line-up. Atkinson came in as a straight swap for the suspended Fenton in the back three, and Danny North started up front in place of Gary Jones, who was not fit enough to play 90 minutes.

Lincoln had most of the possession in first ten minutes without troubling Phil Barnes, then Town come into the game more with left wing back Nick Hegarty once again their most creative player.

In the 12th minute Beevers cleared a shot over his own bar, and from the resultant corner Atkinson's header was cleared at the near post for another corner by Smith.

In the 29th minute Town had a great chance to take the lead. North and Hegarty broke and had a , two on one with the Lincoln defender Bencherif. North was in possession but his pass to Hegarty on the overlap was wayward and Bencherif was able to clear.

Half Time: Grimsby 0 Lincoln 0

Town had looked the more creative side but had failed to take their chances.

Hird found himself in a good position in the box early in the second half but was unable to pick out the well placed Hunt.

Town's attacking threat had reduced in the second half which prompted Gary Jones to come on for North, and Taylor for Butler not long after.

The match was becoming a stalemate with neither side looking like scoring. In the meantime the referee brandished yellow cards like confetti.

With 15 minutes to go Gary Jones was put though but could not control the ball. Ten minutes later Jones went one better, right out of the blue. A Boshell free kick should have been an comfortable take for Lincoln's keeper Smith. Smith though fumbled the ball and first to react was Gary Jones, who had a simple header to give Grimsby the lead.

In injury time Lincoln's Kerr received a second yellow card and was sent off for a foul made when Grimsby were playing down time by retaining possession.

Town hung on to record a well deserved win. Lincoln had been restricted to very few chances by an excellent Grimsby defensive performance, with recalled Rob Atkinson the pick of the back three. Town had enough chances to win the game on their own but in the end had to rely on a mistake by Lincoln to give them the three points their play merited.

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