Crewe's Control for Grimsby

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 09/08/2022

GRIMSBY won their first League Cup game for 3 years with an emphatic 4-0 win over Crewe at Blundell Park. The Mariners scored two goals from free kicks before the break, added a third from another free kick after half time then Wearne put the game beyond doubt with an open play goal.

The Mariners look like losing John McAtee for several months after the striker, who will join Luton next season, needs a shoulder operation which means he is unlikely to feature again this year. However, Grimsby shrugged off the absence of their star player and new loan signing Aribim Pepple started up front in place of Ryan Taylor. Wearne and Amos were the other changes to the line-up, replacing Kiernan and Clifton.

Town took the lead from a free kick, Waterfall rising at the far post for his first goal of the campaign. Wearne had a good shout for a penalty, but the referee disagreed. However, before long Town were two goals up from a similar free kick. The keeper could only make an ineffectual punch and it fell to Green who struck the second on the volley. Green then had a great chance to make it three when a good move resulted in the midfielder clean through on goal, but he pulled the ball wide of the post.

After the break, it was a sense of deja vu as Town made it three from another free kick. Smith was the last man at the far post and he squeezed the ball into the net. The Crewe keeper then flapped at another corner and was fortunate not to concede a fourth when it bounced back off one of his own players, but the referee generously decreed it had not crossed the line.

Kiernan and Cropper came on with ten minutes to go and the former put the game beyond doubt with a cross which Wearne dispatched from a narrow angle to give Grimsby a 4-0 lead.

It was a comfortable victory, with the goals and assists coming from a range of players, and the first clean sheet of the season against a fellow League 2 side.

The draw for Round 2 is on Wednesday, where the Mariners could net a lower-ranked Premier League side. Three years ago they traveled to Chelsea in Round 3 after wins over Doncaster and Macclesfield.

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