Barnes off mark against Mariners

Published: 11 Aug 2009 - 22:38:18

Rss feed

The opener came in the 32nd minute against the run of play when Paul McLaren headed in after his initial shot had been blocked by goalkeeper Nick Colgan. Tranmere had rarely threatened up to that stage but found themselves two up five minutes later. Ian Thomas-Moore made no mistake with a penalty dubiously awarded for a trip by Joe Widdowson on Craig Curran. It became 3-0 on 40 minutes, with Curran the marksman this time as he turned in an Ian Goodison cross. At the other end Nick Hegarty brought a fine reaction save from home keeper Luke Daniels after 21 minutes and saw two other efforts deflected for corners. Grimsby never threw in the towel with Adam Proudlock and Danny North twice going close after half-time, but John Welsh brought a good save from Colgan before substitute Gareth Edds headed a fourth from a Chris Shuker corner after 72 minutes.