Smith: It's time for Youth to go on a run
Smith, who has been in charge of the young Mariners since Neil Woods turned his attention to the senior team, believes his youngsters have the quality to mount a challenge at the top of the Youth Alliance League.
Town stretched their unbeaten run in the league to three games last Saturday with a 3-1 victory against Lincoln City at Cheapside.
And Smith wants the team to continue their strong run of form.
He said: "We are now eighth in the league with two games in hand, so if we win them, against Doncaster and Burton, it puts us right up there in the thick of it and we would still have the chance to play the teams above.
"So after a relatively poor start to the season, we are still in a reasonable position and more than capable of a run of six or seven games unbeaten,
"Our first game in hand is against Doncaster after the original match was called off last month because of an outbreak of swine flu in their team.
"Doncaster lost 5-1 to Hull at the weekend but I've heard it was level at half-time and that the result was harsh on them.
"So they will be looking to put that right and it will be a difficult game."
In Town's victory over the Imps, Ryan O'Loughlin's pass allowed Kieran Smith to beat the offside trap, round the keeper and score for the Mariners on six minutes.
The home side hit back when Nathan Adams slotted home the equaliser, but two second-half goals from striker Sam Mulready put Town in control in the second half.
Charlie L'Anson was sent off when he got involved in a melee of players with 20 minutes left, but the young Mariners held on for victory.
Smith admitted the game against Lincoln wasn't pretty: "It was a typical Grimsby-Lincoln derby.
"There was lots of passion on show from both sides.
"We went through a spell where a few feathers were ruffled and one or two lost their discipline.
"There was a foul and the ball got tangled up in a player's legs. Everyone then went piling in and Charlie ran 35 yards up the pitch and got involved in an altercation that had nothing to do with him.
"It showed our great team spirit that he wanted to help his mate out, but he shouldn't have got involved and he got himself sent off. We had no complaints with the decision.
"Although we were pleased with the win, there were strong words after the game about our discipline, because it could have cost us the game on another day as we gave away a lot of free-kicks in dangerous positions.
"But the lads will hopefully learn from it."
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