Young Mariners come out firing

GRIMSBY Town Under-nines' season continues to improve after they came away with a well-deserved and resounding 11-3 victory against their Chesterfield counterparts.

Built upon solid defensive foundations, the team attacked at will and they raced into a 3-1 first period lead.

The pick of the goals was a brilliant volley from Brandon Buckley.

The second period began the same way way as the first with Grimsby playing some great one and two-touch stuff.

They increased their lead to 6-2 thanks to Gray with two and one from Owen.

In the third period, they scored three times with Gray completing his hat-trick, his third in three games. Usher and Bratley completed the scoring and there were a couple of excellent saves from Cartwright.

FOR the second successive week, the Under-10s got off to a flier and found themselves two-up in the first couple of minutes.

The first goal came when Jack Stephenson finished well from 10 yards. Town's second came when Reece York's shot was well-saved only for the lively Burchell to follow-up.

Town enjoyed total domination.

Despite all Town's possession Chesterfield pulled a goal back with an excellent header from a corner. This only spurred on the Grimsby lads and Stephenson completed his hat-trick with first a left foot drive and then direct from a corner which was misjudged by the Chesterfield keeper.

Stephenson scored his fourth to cap an outstanding performance. Burchell got a well-deserved second. Town's final goal came courtesy of Meiwald.

THE Under-11s had a depleted squad for the trip to Chesterfield.

In the first couple of minutes, the young Mariners were on top, but an error in the Grimsby defence allowed the Spirites to open the scoring.

The Town youngsters allowed their heads to drop and Chesterfield began to dominate.

Only excellent goalkeeping by Lewis Tomlinson kept the score down.

Grimsby finally had a spell of pressure and Charlie Wilkinson crashed an acrobatic effort against the bar and, a minute later, Lewis Hoad followed up to slam home.

Chesterfield responded and began to exert serious pressure before regaining the lead.

The Spirites bagged another from distance and then netted another powerful shot which was correctly adjudged to have crossed the line.

THE Under-12s started brightly against their Chesterfield counterparts and deservedly took the lead when Boswell latched onto the ball inside the area and powered his shot past the keeper.

The Chesterfield goal continued to be under siege with Stewart, Moody and Thomas all going close.

Eventually, the pressure told and Moody volleyed in a stylish finish from a well-delivered Thomas corner.

After the break, Chesterfield improved and they were rewarded when a cross was diverted into his own goal by the impressive Mawer.

Town then got caught out defensively, allowing Chesterfield to equalise.

In the last period both sides searched for a winner and there was late drama when Chesterfield headed against the bar and the ball bounced on the line before being cleared.

THE Under-13's started strongly and raced into a 3-0 lead with two goals from Kieran Helsdon and one from Jordan Howard.

The Young Mariners side looked well-organised throughout and played their best football so far this season.

Matthew Dale (two), Oakley Ludington, Josh Venney and Lewis Collins all got on the scoresheet with a performance that should set the tone for the rest of the season.

The side welcomed back William Appleby in the heart of defence which was a big positive after a couple of weeks out with an injury.

Both Jack Steel and Jordan Howard gave there best performances of the season.

Coach Mick Gray said: "The performance was our best so far this season, the players all worked extremely hard and the side looked well-organised."

AFTER a somewhat disjointed display, Town Under-14s fought back from 2-0 down, to salvage a 2-2 draw.

The first period was a pretty even contest with defences on top. Jacob Denton and Paul Walker were commanding when under pressure. Trent Richardson worked hard in midfield.

The second period saw Town concede a free-kick, which was dispatched past Ryan Harrison. Jacob Denton then looked to be fouled, but the referee gave a penalty against Town, and the player tucked it past Robson Burnett for 2-0.

Town pushed Paul Walker up front, and he headed in, after a superb Winfarrah cross.

This lifted the Town lads, and Walker then got on the end of Ellis Humble's pass and made it 2-2.

Man-of-the-match was Walker.

TOWN Under-15s gave their best performance of the season so far to beat Chesterfield 2-0.

Town kept possession well throughout, with Nathan Scott, Will Peers and Grant Tobin controlling the midfield.

They defended  intelligently ands restricted their opponents down to one decent attack.

The back four of Shaun Topliss, Ben Cuff, Lawrence Mckay and Matty Riley all gave solid performances.

Tobin chipped the keeper from 25 yards for Town's opener.

Rob Bryant headed in the second midway through the second half, after good work from Jack Barker.

This performance should give the Town lads great confidence after a disappointing display the previous week.

GRIMSBY Under-16s opened well with several early efforts going close.

They took the lead when Freeman crossed hard and low for Jack Barlow to expertly finish from close range.

Town should have extended their lead in the first half when Trott headed wide from close range, and then Barlow missed after a good run and cross from Trott.

The second period opened with Dayle Southwell quickly forcing the keeper into a great save from 25 yards.

As the game opened up, Town scored their second when Barlow picked the ball up, ran at the defence and fired in a great shot.

There were further goals for Dayle Southwell, Josh Freeman and another for Jack Barlow, who completed a hat-trick.

It was a good performance by Town, who got on top of the game early on.