MATCH REPORT: GRIMSBY TOWN 5, STEVENAGE 2
Stevenage suffered a 5-2 defeat to Grimsby Town as man of the match, Omar Bogle scored a hat-trick to condemn Boro to their third defeat of the league season.
Darren Sarll named four changes from the midweek EFL Cup defeat to Stoke City by bringing back Matt Godden, Ben Kennedy, Michael Tonge and Dean Wells into the starting eleven.
It was Boro that got off to a bright start; Ben Kennedy, Matt Godden and Tom Pett all combining well in attack to give the home defence problems within the opening 15 minutes of the game. Pett looked to have the best opening as he was through on goal but a flying late challenge at the last second thwarted the opportunity.
Just as it looked like Stevenage were in control of the game, Grimsby struck. Omar Bogle poking under Jones from 10 yards out to make it 1-0 Grimsby.
It was a quick response from Boro as Godden had two efforts narrowly miss, first forcing McKeown to get down low inside a packed penalty area before curling wide from the edge of the area.
Grimsby were soon 2-0 up though up after a fine give-and-go between Summerfield and Bogle resulted in the former York midfielder giving Boro a mountain to climb. It could have been three not long after as Chambers fired narrowly wide from the right hand side of the box
Darren Sarll made his first sub of the game just before the half, bringing on Jobi McAnuff for Connor Hunte and it paid off almost immediately. McAnuff’s free-kick towards the back post found Franks who floated his header into the net.
Unfortunately if we thought that was to be a route back into the game, we were sadly mistaken. A nightmare start to the second half saw Boro go 3 and then 4-1 down within a few minutes. Vose was the first to strike with a fine effort from the edge of the area before the defence went completely missing to allow Omar Bogle to waltz into the area and score his second of the day.
Wilkinson made way for Fox before play got back underway and by 54 minutes all three substitutions were made as a battered and bruised Michael Tonge came off for Dale Gorman.
The following ten minutes were something of a non-event until Boro’s hopes were somewhat revived when McAnuff make it 4-2 with 25 minutes to play.
It never really looked like Stevenage were going to mount a comeback as Grimsby continued to threaten throughout the rest of the game. Omar Bogle was a constant menace and he finally got his hat-trick in added time, a fine free-kick to make the score 5-2.
Grimsby: McKeown, Davies, Gowling, Pearson, Andrew, Chambers, Disley, Vose (Bolarinwa 88), Summerfield, Bogle (Boyce 90), Jackson (Vernon 77)
Subs not used: Mills, Clifton, Venney, Warrington
Stevenage: Jones, Henry, Wells, Wilkinson (Fox 52), Franks, Pett, Lee, Tonge (Gorman 56), Hunte (McAnuff 44), Godden, Kennedy
Sub not used: Liburd, Hyde, Day, Cowans
Referee: Darren Handley
Attendance: 4,425 (140 away)