MARINERS MAINTAIN PUSH FOR PLAY-OFFS
GRIMSBY Town bounced back from a midweek home defeat to record a comfortable victory over play-off rivals Dagenham and Redbridge at Blundell Park.
Two late goals for fellow promotion contenders Solihull Moors sunk the Mariners last time out but Jordan Maguire-Drew put them on their way to three points when he opened the scoring against the Daggers on the half-hour.
Luke Waterfall added a second just before the break and although Callum Reynolds halved the deficit, his stoppage-time header was too little, too late and the hosts moved back into the National League’s top seven.
Grimsby boss Paul Hurst said: “I thought we were relatively comfortable and for large parts, we looked in control.
“We maybe could have got a couple more goals from good situations but the late goal is the only negative from the day, so I am really pleased.”
Before Maguire-Drew’s opener, the home side had looked the more dangerous, with Harry Clifton and Sean Scannell both seeing shots deflected away for corners.
The long throw of debutant right-back Jordan Cropper was being used to good effect and it led to the deadlock being broken.
A throw-in from the former Burnley youngster was half-cleared and when Gavan Holohan lifted the ball back into the box, Maguire-Drew beat the offside trap to score at the second attempt after his initial effort was blocked by Daggers keeper Elliot Justham.
Maguire-Drew turned provider for the second as his free kick from the left was met by Waterfall at the far post and the centre-back’s volley had just enough on it to beat Justham.
Defender Will Wright had the visitors’ best chance of the first half as he narrowly missed the target with a free kick from 25 yards.
And he was all that stood between Grimsby and a 3-0 lead as his block on the line denied John McAtee on the hour after the attacker dispossessed Elliott Johnson and raced clear before rounding Justham.
The away side had posed little genuine threat but they did pull a goal back late on when Reynolds was first to a corner and headed past stopper Max Crocombe.
Daggers manager Daryl McMahon said: “The goal on half-time was a killer. We were well in the game at that stage and to concede from an error in giving the free-kick away was disappointing.
“We built up a bit of a head of steam in the second half but didn’t show our quality in the final third.
“We got in there numerous times in the first half as well but our decision making, whether it was a shot or a cross, was not near the level it has been and you need it to be when you come to places like Grimsby.”