Grimsby Town fell to a 2-1 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers in Sky Bet League Two at Adams Park, despite leading through Martyn Woolford’s strike at half-time.
The Mariners went ahead through Woolford’s composed strike on 15 minutes after a great counter-attack by Town, and Michael Jolley’s side retained their lead until the hour-mark.
But the home side equalised through Adam El-Abd’s volley on 60 minutes, and Simon Kashket made it 2-1 with a finish at the back-post seven minutes later.
Town defended well in the opening 10 minutes of the stage despite pressure from the home side, as Clarke and Collins contained striker Akinfenwa well.
Wycombe came close on 11 minutes as Kashket did well down the right before putting in a good cross, but Mills cleared it off the line as McKeown was under pressure by Akinfenwa.
But Town came close themselves a minute later as Woolford’s long-ranged, low-driven strike towards the bottom-right corner forced Brown into a good save for the Chairboys.
And the Mariners broke the deadlock on the quarter-hour mark as Woolford finished off a brilliant counter-attack with a calm finish past Brown to the bottom corner to make it 1-0 to Michael Jolley’s men.
McKeown made a great stop on 29 minutes to deny Williams’ powerful long-ranged strike, before Hall-Johnson did well to clear and send it up-field.
Town came close on 33 minutes after great play by Mills down the right-hand side, but Summerfield couldn’t properly connect with it as his header flew just wide of the Wycombe goal.
McKeown made another fantastic save on 40 minutes to deny Akinfenwa from six yards, before Hall-Johnson performed more brilliant defending as he cleared it away for the Mariners.
Half-time: Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 Grimsby Town
The second half got off to a scrappy start as the home side desperately searched for a way back into the game, and Town looked to stand strong and defend resolutely.
Rose continued his fine display just in front of the Town defence, as he was composed in his role of breaking up the play and setting the Mariners on the break.
Wycombe almost equalised on 58 minutes as El-Abd sent a ball into the box, but Akinfenwa’s powerful header bounced off the bar and out for a goal-kick.
But the home side were back on level terms on the hour-mark as El-Abd volleyed home after a free-kick to make it 1-1.
And Gareth Ainsworth’s men came close again on 64 minutes as Akinfenwa did well to control a cross and bring it down on the edge of the area, but McKeown did well to get down and keep the shot out.
Wycombe got ahead on 67 minutes as Kashket found space at the back-post following a corner to tap it home and make it 2-1 to the home side.
The Mariners had a great chance to get back on level terms on 74 minutes as McSheffrey played a neat ball over to Rose, who was one-on-one with Brown at the back-post, but the midfielder dragged his effort just wide of the mark.
Full-time: Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 Grimsby Town
Wycombe Wanderers
1 Scott Brown
16 Michael Harriman
3 Joe Jacobson
2 Sido Jombati
6 Adam El-Abd (C)
4 Dominic Gape
8 Marcus Bean
17 Luke O’Nien
20 Adebayo Akinfenwa
24 Randell Williams
11 Scott Kashket
Subs
30 Yves Ma-Kalambay
15 Nathan McGinley
22 Nick Freeman
7 Sam Saunders
25 Craig Mackail-Smith
23 Nathan Tyson
Grimsby Town
1 James McKeown
12 Zak Mills
23 Andrew Fox
5 Nathan Clarke (C)
6 Danny Collins
8 Mitch Rose
31 Reece Hall-Johnson
19 Luke Summerfield
7 James Berrett
25 Martyn Woolford
21 Scott Vernon
Subs
30 Ben Killip
16 Easah Suliman
15 Harry Clifton
27 Siriki Dembele
9 JJ Hooper
29 Jamille Matt
10 Gary McSheffrey
Attendance: 5,215 (377)
Referee: Christopher Sarginson
Next Up: Chesterfield (H)
