Five of Grimsby Town’s summer signings saw their first action for the club as the Mariners opened their pre-season campaign with a 2-0 victory over Grimsby Borough.

In a keenly-contested friendly at the Bradley Football Development Centre, Town were forced to wait until three minutes before the break to take the lead, with Henry Brown opening the scoring.

A superb free kick from Matty Carson then doubled their advantage on 82 minutes to ensure the build-up to the new season began with a win.

Head coach David Artell took the opportunity to rotate his squad at half-time to ensure as many players as possible got time on the pitch, while four trialists were also given a chance to impress.

Three of the club’s new recruits were in the first-half XI, with Jordan Wright lining up in goal as Tyrell Warren and George McEachran also featured from the start.  Denver Hume, Brown, Evan Khouri, Curtis Thompson and the trialists made up the team, while Alfie Foy and Jaxon Blankley were listed as substitutes.

The Grimsby Borough line-up included several former Mariners, with Bradley Wood and Luis Adlard among those on show for the hosts who had previously made senior appearances in the black and white stripes.

An early Borough corner was dealt with, before a neat move down the Town left involving Brown and Hume ended with a home goal kick.

A free kick from the left for a foul on striker Luke Horne was then comfortably caught by Wright as the hosts looked for an early breakthrough.

Town’s first shot on target came on 15 minutes and saw McEachran hit a low effort from 20 yards, although goalkeeper Leigh Overton got down to stop it.

Thompson brought Reece York down 25 yards out after the Borough attacker raced clear through the middle but Wright was not called into action from the resulting free kick as Horne fired wide.

Warren headed wide from a right-wing corner on 25 minutes, then a good challenge by one of the Mariners’ trialists stopped a dangerous home attack after a break through the middle.

Another of the trialists saw a shot blocked from the edge of the box at the other end, before a free kick from Hume on the left was recycled by McEachran on the opposite flank and a corner followed.

Town kept attacking as half-time loomed and another corner came on 40 minutes, with Brown eventually seeing a low cross cleared after the ball was initially played short from the flag.

And the Mariners went on to break the deadlock two minutes later, as McEachran won the ball and gave it to BROWN, who found the net from 20 yards to ensure the visitors went in at the break with the lead.

SECOND HALF

Two more of the summer signings took the field as part of Town’s second-half XI, with Cameron McJannet and Carson getting their first taste of action in the black and white stripes.

Jake Eastwood took over in goal, with Callum Storr, Harvey Rodgers, Harvey Cribb, Kieran Green, Charlie Clements and Grayson Giles also joining Khouri and one of the trialists in the new-look team.

Green narrowly missed the target from 25 yards six minutes in after good play by Clements on the left and the midfielder had another opportunity soon afterwards, although his low effort from inside the box was stopped by Overton.

The keeper was called into action again on 57 minutes as he stretched up to make a catch from Cribb’s 25-yard strike.

Khouri and the trialist made way for Foy and Blankley on the hour, before a Borough corner was well-claimed by Eastwood.

McJannet hit the post with a low free kick as the Mariners aimed to double their advantage, then a low cross from the left was cleared before it could reach Clements.

Green headed wide from a corner on 80 minutes, then a foul on Giles two minutes later gave Town a free kick in a dangerous, central position.  And from it, the visitors had their second goal as CARSON stepped up to curl a brilliant strike past Overton and into the net.

That proved to be the last goalmouth action of note as the Mariners saw out the remainder of the game to record a victory from what was an excellent first workout for Artell’s side as they build up to the start of the Sky Bet League Two season on August 10.

Their second pre-season test comes on Saturday, with a trip to face Cleethorpes Town.

Town (first half): Wright, Warren, Hume, Trialist B, Trialist A, Trialist D, Trialist C, Henry Brown, McEachran, Khouri, Thompson

(Second half): Eastwood, Storr, Rodgers, McJannet, Carson, Cribb, Green, Trialist C (Foy, 61), Clements, Khouri (Blankley, 61), Giles