A late Beth Wharton brace earned our Women’s First Team all three points in an eight-goal thriller against local rivals Grimsby Borough at Clee Fields.
Despite going a goal down with thirty seconds on the clock, goals from Lily Jacklin, Laura Flecknor and Alisha Dejonge gave us a two goal cushion at half-time.
Grimsby Borough brought the score level with 25 minutes to play, but a late double from our number nine rounded off a hard-fought victory.
Ben Challen made two changes to the side that shared the points with Dronfield last weekend, with Hermione Clapham coming into the fold and Kloe Green making her first start in black and white, replacing Chloe Thorpe and Abbie Emslie.
Gribbin made her fourth appearance in net, with a back four of Harriet Dalton, Olivia Kershaw, Leah Wray and Clapham sat in front.
Green sat beside captain Dani Brighton in the middle, with Jacklin and Ray Swallow operating on the wings and Flecknor sitting behind Wharton up top.
Grimsby Borough took the lead with less than a minute on the clock through their number nine following some miscommunication in our backline.
Town equalised ten minutes later, when a short corner taken quickly by Wharton was headed home by Flecknor following a Kershaw delivery to level the score.
Town put pressure on their rivals as a superb overlapping sequence between Wharton and Swallow almost resulted in a quick second.
Borough got on top in the game for a period, firstly sending a looping header which Gribbin rose to gather, before letting fly from the edge of the area and the effort heading off target.
Lily Jacklin gave the Mariners the advantage after the half-an-hour mark. Her initial effort came ricocheting off the bar, before it fell into her path again and she fired home from close range.
First-half substitute Dejonge increased the goal cushion to two goals on the stroke of half-time as she headed home from a Kershaw delivery to make it 3-1 heading into the break.
Grimsby Borough closed the gap an hour in and found an equaliser shortly after following a set piece.
Wharton struck with less than ten minutes to go and restored our lead late on. The striker held the ball well between two Borough defenders before striking cleanly into the bottom corner.
Our number nine’s brace was sealed with minutes to go, controlling the ball well before switching it over to her left foot and striking past the visiting shot-stopper to seal the three points.
The Mariners are next in action when they travel to face Buxton Women on Sunday in a 2pm kick-off.
Town: Gribbin, Dalton, Wray, Brighton, Kershaw, Flecknor (Welsh, 79’), Wharton, Jacklin (Fawcett, 71’), Swallow (Wilson, 79’), Clapham (Smith, 79’), Green (Dejonge, 40’).
