Our young Mariners fell to a narrow defeat away at Hartlepool on Saturday.

Town started the tie well and were on the front foot, with Carlo Midwinter and Elliot Smith coming close to finding the back of the net.

At the other end of the pitch, Town controlled the game well from the back and restricted Hartlepool in the early stages.

The Pools took the lead against the run of play, and despite Town pushing to break the deadlock before half-time, they found themselves a goal down at the half-way stage.

Neil Woods’ side controlled the entire second period of the game, with plenty of neat passages of play and progressive passing, but they struggled to find the equaliser.

Hayden Rogers in net made a couple of excellent stops in the closing stages of the tie to keep the final result at 1-0.

Next up for the Mariners is a home tie against Huddersfield, with an 11am kick-off.

Town: Rogers, Edwards (Smith, 65’), Jalloh (Carter, 80’), Hatton, Carrick (Elliot, 65’), Graham, Foster (Peterson, 65’), Onoh, Midwinter, Smith, Sharp (Booth, 60’)