Most in the crowd were shocked to see that at 41 years old the Grimsby Manager had donned the shirt again and would be playing at full back. The Mariners also included Marcus Marshall, Jon-Paul Pitman and Patrick Amond in their line up.

Both teams looked up for the fixture but it was no surprise when Grimsby took the lead on 24 minutes when after good approach play Pitman slotted the ball into the empty net. The WORTLEY HOUSE HOTEL sponsored Zebras went further behind three minutes later when Amund scored to take take Town two goals clear. To Briggs credit though they kept pushing forward but never really caused the Grimsby keeper any trouble.

The second half started with Town pushing to see the game off and within five minutes of the restart a third goal was added by Pitman.

Just before the hour mark Paul Hurst substituted himself and left the field to a great round of applause from all sides of the ground.

Brigg kept pressing but the fitness level of the Mariners was showing and it was no surprise when Pitman completed his hat trick after great approach play that saw the attacker round Rob Zand and score from a tight angle . The Zebras then had their best chance as they broke on the left but a rasping shot was superbly saved by the keeper.

As the dying minutes were played out in the creeping darkness James Wroot got on the score sheet with two late goals that saw The Zebras go down by six goals to nil.

Despite the score line Andy Foster saw a lot of positives in his side and remains optimistic for the coming season.

We would like to THANK all the spectators at the game last night for their generous support of both sides. A crowd of 321 saw the fixture and after match comments heaped praise on both teams.

Next game for the Zebras is Saturday when NCEL 1 side Teversal are the visitors to The Hawthorns