By Grimsby draw in EIGHT goal thriller
Grimsby drew in an eight goal thriller this afternoon.
The Mariners played their final game of the regular season this afternoon. The Black and White Army would have been looking for another impressive performance going into the play-offs, after they secured a spot following a narrow 1-0 win over Boreham Wood.
Today’s fixture saw Grimsby face a struggling Eastleigh side which allowed Hurst to make numerous changes to his roster ahead of kickoff.
The Spitfires sat in 19th place prior to kickoff, a notion that would have whet the appetite of Towns attacking force.
The Mariners started the game off promising as Pearson and Crookes launched two brilliant attacks off. However, Grimsby could not capitalise early on.
Max Wright was able to nullify a dangerous Eastleigh attack as he headed the ball out for a corner.
Meanwhile at the other end, Maguire-Drew found Wright in space, the latter turned with the ball well before pulling the trigger which forced a critical save from Flitney.
Maguire-Drew found himself in the thick of Grimsby’s forward play, yet again. The winger threaded a beautifully timed through ball towards the direction of Burgess whose resulting shot on goal rose over the bar.
Just after the 30th minute mark, Maguire-Drew sent the Mariners in front after shifting the ball onto his right foot and finding the bottom corner.
With 5 minutes left to play in the first half, Maguire-Drew almost doubled Grimsby’s 1-0 lead after dancing past the keeper with an empty net to shoot at. However, Bragg managed to get his body in the way to clear the effort off the line.
The Mariners eventually found their second goal after Dieseruwe was carelessly brought down in the box. The fouled man took the penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way.
The first half ended 2-0 to Town after a dominant performance. Grimsby were in complete control.
Hurst brought Arjan Raikhy on for the second 45 after he recovered from a fracture earlier in the season.
Despite Grimsby’s excellent entrance to the game, Eastleigh pulled two goals back in quick succession.
Batterby was forced to make several saves just after kickoff to retain the two-goal lead, but the Spitfires were able to punish multiple lapses of defensive judgement from the Mariners.
Danny Whitehall was quick to react after a loose ball from the Town defence before pulling the trigger and finding the bottom left corner.
Minutes later, Whitehall and Smart linked up in the Grimsby final third. Smart’s effort proved too much for the Town keeper.
Emmanuel Dieseruvwe bagged his second of the day to edge the Mariners back in front, the third goal in under 10 minutes.
The hosts punished another Grimsby error as Burgess was caught in possession. Camp played the ball into Hesketh whose left footed strike fizzed into the roof of the net to make it 3-3.
With 5 minutes left to play, the Mariners were back in front as Dieseruvwe netted his third goal.
Jones blasted the ball forward towards Cropper inside the box before finding the striker who could not miss.
Grimsby thought they had scored the winning goal until the Spitfires were awarded a penalty after a handball. Barnett sent the keeper the wrong way to make it 4-4.
The final game of the regular season for the Mariners finished 4-4.
(Image: keets5/ Twitter)
