By Ollie Palmer comes back to haunt Grimsby on Wrexham debut
It was a dream debut for Wrexham’s new star striker Ollie Palmer as his goal consigned Grimsby to a narrow 1-0 defeat.
The number 35 scored on the 35th minute of his debut when he pounced on a loose ball to score past Max Crocombe in the Grimsby goal.
It was another example of poor defending from Town – something seen at Blundell Park on Saturday for Bromley’s goals – as a long ball from the goalkeeper put Paul Mullin through on goal, with Palmer netting on the rebound.
The away side had started well in the first 15 minutes, taking the game to the hosts early on, but they failed to capitalise in the attacking third and get a crucial early goal.
John McAtee came close to delivering an immediate response for the Mariners just before half time, but his shot from an acute angle was turned behind.
Grimsby did get a stroke of luck on the hour mark, as former Wrexham captain Shaun Pearson was spared a red card after body checking Palmer while he was through on goal, but they didn’t get any such luck at the other end of the pitch.
New signing Arjun Raikhy made his debut for the Mariners, but added little in his brief 20 minute spell as his new side struggled to find an opening for an equaliser.
Pearson and Waterfall both had headers that could have been goals, if it weren’t for heroics by Wrexham shot stopper Rob Lainton being in fine form for the hosts.
Tristan Abrahams came agonisingly close to scoring his first goal for Grimsby as a McAtee low cross found it’s way to him just yards from the goal, but he couldn’t find his feet and missed a golden opportunity.
The Red Dragons then had their own embarrassing miss at the other end when teenager Max Cleworth missed from a yard out, but it ultimately didn’t matter as they held onto their lead to the final whistle.
Paul Hurst’s men have now won just two games in their last 14 and find themselves drifting further away from the play-off places.
Despite the poor form, the travelling fans still turned out in big numbers for a long midweek trip, as 285 Grimsby fans made the journey to the Racecourse Ground.
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