Neil Woods’s Grimsby Town youth team suffered their first defeat in six EFL North East Youth Alliance games as they lost 3-1 to Rotherham United at Cheapside.

The match began with blizzard-like conditions, and Town started on the front foot as Brandon McPherson almost broke the deadlock from close range in the first minute.

The young Mariners had more good spells as forward Luis Adlard’s shot just went wide of the mark.

And Town eventually opened the scoring as Joey Hope played a ball into Adlard, who found McPherson at the back post to tap in and make it 1-0.

But Rotherham came back strongly, equalising with a shot from inside the box on the half-hour mark.

The game saw both sides playing good football without any real chances being created.

The Millers took the lead almost immediately into the second half as they headed home from a free-kick.

Town had plenty of chances to equalise with Lennon Stead and Evan Khouri both coming close, but the Rotherham goalkeeper made a string of good saves.

The visitors sealed the win five minutes from time with a penalty to make it 3-1.

The young Mariners are back in action as they welcome Mansfield Town to Cheapside on Wednesday, February 26 (1pm).