Close derby defeat for Grimsby's second string

But the day wasn’t all bad for Grimsby, with lots of positives being taken from the game.

It saw new blood being filtered into the team with the likes of Lewis Newsum and Tobi Barnbrook both desperate to get on the scene and prove themselves.

It also saw some of the more experienced players in Pete Hopkins, Shane Lowery and Phil Jepson stepping up to the mark once again and guiding the guys around them.

Grimsby’s Tom Baker started the game off with the kick, making his debut as captain for the first time this season. Rasen quickly gathered it in and started as they meant to go on, running it straight at the blues and recycling quickly.

Some good tackling from Jim Livermoore and Justin Hill stopped the Red & Greens from breaking through on a few occasions.

After 10 minutes of play, Rasen had a lineout near Grimsby’s try line, the ball was scrappy and their second row found himself running over the line unopposed.

Grimsby went straight back at them with the forwards starting to recycle the ball and running some good lines around the breakdown area.

Ash Watson bossed the pack at scrum-half and saw an opportunity to break. He shipped the ball out to the backs who ran some great lines, allowing full-back Ash Waterman to hit a big gap in Rasen’s defence.

He drew the last man and passed the ball to Newsum on the wing who was just a little too fast for his own good and over-ran the ball.

However, it was good stuff from the backs and was starting to look promising. Unfortunately, Vinny Thornton injured his ankle and had to be subbed for Mark Burke in the second row.

Again Grimsby found themselves pinned in their own half, but were holding Rasen extremely well with great tackles and rucking from Daz Spreadbury, James Turgoose and Gav Hammond.

Rasen though sucked Grimsby in and left a mismatch on the wing with their prop running at Barnbrook, who made a big effort to stop him but didn’t succeed, taking the score to 10-0.

The rest of the half saw more of Grimsby’s top defending with good tackles in the forwards and backs, but a lot of strange decisions around the ruck area from the referee prevented them from getting anywhere themselves.

The second-half was more Grimsby and they started to dominate more with Burke holding up the scrum with Livermoore in the second row.

Unfortunately, Grimsby were hit with more injury problems as Turgoose had to go off after damaging his back. This caused a re-shuffle in the pack, with Hill going to hooker and Adam Waterman coming on in his place on the flank.

Waterman’s addition to the team gave the forwards a boost and he soon made his mark on the game.

Grimsby won a penalty in their half and Baker chose to kick the ball to the open wing. It didn’t make touch, but to Grimsby’s advantage, the pace from Dougie Clough in the centre, winger Newsum and Adam Waterman meant that they where quickly upon Rasen’s winger and won the ball in the ruck.

Fast thinking from Ash Waterman saw him pick and go from the ruck dummying the ball to Lowery, who drew two defenders, and then use his pace to out do three players and score in the corner.

The half was better for Grimsby but again lots of penalties went against them and later both teams controversially went down to 14 men when a Rasen player took a swipe at Hopkins, who unfortunately had to take a walk too.

Due to this and injuries Grimsby no longer had a full front row, so the scrums went uncontested, which allowed Rasen to take advantage of the quick, tidy ball.

Their fly-half chipped the ball into the corner and a bad bounce allowed Rasen’s centre to gather it up and run over the line for their third try.

Both teams were restored to the full 15 and Rasen quickly took advantage, spinning the ball wide through the hands.

If it wasn’t for a good try-saving tackle from Barnbrook, slightly using his face in the process, Rasen would have been in for a fourth. He did however pay for it with a split lip so was substituted for the speedy Charlie Studd.

Grimsby had a final attempt at running the ball from their half. Clough and Lowery in the centres took the ball on and linked well with Burke, Spreadbury and Livermoore from the pack.

Adam Waterman saw a chance with a loose ball on the floor and kicked it through down the blindside. The ball was bouncing along and with Newsum in support, Waterman made it all the way to the try line. He gathered the ball and played it to Newsum who appeared to be tackled off the ball and didn’t manage to get there.

To Grimsby’s surprise, the referee gave a penalty to Rasen who kicked the ball out of play to end the game.

Even though, Grimsby lost their first game of the season there were a lot of positives to take from it.

They had very little possession of the ball so their defending was fantastic to keep the score so small, and also when they did get ball in hand the pack looked strong going forward and the backs ran some fantastic lines.

Grimsby’s next league game is away at Horncastle on September 25.