GRIMSBY Town twice battled back from a goal down but eventually fell to defeat against Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road.

Four goals were scored in the space of 11 first half minutes, with the hosts taking the lead on two occasions, only for the Mariners to hit back almost instantly both times.

After a string of saves by Nick Colgan kept the game goalless, Byron Moore opened the scoring for Crewe just before the half-hour, only for Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro to hit back for Town three minutes later.

The home side regained their lead through Joel Grant on 35 minutes but Dean Sinclair brought Grimsby back level within five minutes.

Dario Gradi's Crewe forced the crucial breakthrough when they seized back the advantage through Ashley Westwood in the early stages of the second half.

And despite seeing substitute Carl Martin sent off five minutes from time, the hosts made the points safe when Clayton Donaldson scored their fourth goal in added time.

Just one change was made to the Town side that secured a first win since September with the 3-0 success over Shrewsbury.

Olly Lancashire was the man to drop out of the XI through injury, with his place in central defence taken by Paul Linwood.

Nick Colgan remained in goal after a confidence-boosting clean sheet against the Shrews, with Peter Bore, Rob Atkinson and Joe Widdowson joining Linwood in the back four.

Michael Coulson, Sinclair, Peter Sweeney and Jamie Devitt were the midfielders, with Saturday's matchwinner, Akpa Akpro, again partnering Lee Peacock in attack.

Robbie Stockdale was handed a place on the Town bench after recovering from a lengthy injury lay-off.The former Middlesbrough right-back was named as substitute, along with Mark Oxley, Adam Proudlock, Michael Leary, Bradley Wood, Nick Hegarty and Mark Hudson.

As well as looking to continue their recovery by picking up a positive result, Grimsby were also out for revenge after being on the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing when the sides met at Blundell Park in August.

One of the dangermen for the home side was likely to be striker Donaldson, who was looking to add to his tally of eight goals for the season.The former Hull City trainee and Hibernian forward netted twice in Crewe's 2-2 draw with Barnet last time out.

The hosts went into the game with a record of eight home defeats this season, matching that of the Mariners, with only Darlington and Cheltenham suffering more defeats on their own patch this campaign.

Town almost created an opening within 30 seconds of kick-off, with Coulson digging out a cross from the right that failed to find Peacock.

Then Crewe had their first opportunity when a cross came in from Joel Grant on the left but a challenge from Devitt averted the danger.

Colgan was called into serious action for the first time on six minutes when Donaldson beat Atkinson to get himself in on goal.The striker was not to open the scoring though, as the Mariners stopper produced a good save from his shot, before Ashley Westwood's follow-up effort was blocked by Atkinson.

Devitt sent a long-range shot well wide just prior to the 10-minute mark, before Crewe won a corner when Colgan got a hand to a strike by forward Shaun Miller.

The same striker was to go even closer when the flag-kick was half-cleared, fizzing a left-footed volley narrowly wide from 25 yards.

A corner at the other end came when Coulson looked to profit after being sent through by Akpa Akpro but the kick was comfortably cleared.

Winger Byron Moore missed with a shot from 20 yards and as Crewe continued to attack, they won another corner on the left, which was cleared by Sinclair before the referee's whistle blew for a free kick to Town.

Colgan made it a hat-trick of saves in the early stages of the game when Miller found some space inside the penalty area to get a shot away on 19 minutes.The keeper was equal to it, getting down to make the stop.

And the fourth save of the night from the ex-Sunderland keeper came soon afterwards, when he tipped a fierce drive from Miller over the bar before holding onto the ball from the resulting corner.

The keeper could not keep the home side at bay for much longer though, as Crewe took the lead on 29 minutes.

Town struggled to clear the ball inside their own box and when it was headed down by Grant, MOORE took the shot on from 12 yards and Colgan could only tip it onto his post and in.

But the Mariners were behind for less than four minutes as they were back on level terms on 32 minutes.The rejuvenated AKPA AKPRO broke down the left and steered a low finish across keeper Steve Phillips and into the bottom corner from inside the penalty area.

Crewe's response was instant as they reclaimed their lead within two minutes of Akpa Akpro's equaliser.This time, GRANT was the man on target, picking up the ball from Moore and side-footing past Colgan from 12 yards.

Nick Hegarty was introduced in place of Devitt on the left side of the Town midfield with seven minutes to go before half-time, with the Hull City loanee limping off the pitch.

Town were back level again on 40 minutes as they scored the fourth goal in the space of just 11 minutes.An Akpa Akpro cross was not cleared and after Hegarty had put the ball back in, SINCLAIR was on the spot to rifle the ball past Phillips from close range.

Carl Martin replaced Matt Tootle for Crewe after the goal, with home boss Dario Gradi forced into the change by an injury to his left-back.

Three added minutes were played at the end of a very open half, where the Mariners had twice gone behind but rallied to get themselves level on both occasions.

Peacock was pushed back into a midfield role, leaving Akpa Akpro as the lone striker as Town boss Woods looked to tighten the game up.

Crewe had the first chance of the second half when right-back John Brayford got forward to drill a shot straight at Colgan.

A home corner came soon afterwards when Bore cleared his lines after a scramble in the Town box but the flag-kick was headed away by Linwood.

Crewe took the lead for the third time in the game nine minutes into the second half when Donaldson got onto a ball down the right and turned before pulling it back for WESTWOOD to stroke it into the net.

The hosts then threatened to run riot when Miller went close on two occasions within two minutes of Westwood's goal.Both times, the striker burst through the middle before shooting narrowly wide.

Grant was the next to threaten for Crewe, guiding a shot towards goal from the edge of the box that Colgan was forced to tip over his bar.

Sweeney was shown the game's first yellow card shortly after the hour for a foul on midfielder James Bailey.

Adam Proudlock and Michael Leary were sent on with 24 minutes to go, replacing Coulson and Sweeney.The change meant Akpa Akpro reverted to a right-wing position, with Proudlock going up front.

A cross from Hegarty fell for Peacock at the far post soon afterwards but his header was blocked by Phillips for a corner, which was headed over the bar by Linwood.

The centre-back was yellow carded for a foul on Donaldson as Crewe looked to break after a Town attack broke down inside their opponents' half.The free kick was blocked and cleared.

Akpa Akpro had a shot saved by Phillips after a low cross from Proudlock, before a Peacock header also found the home keeper from Leary's cross.

Donaldson had a chance to settle the result in favour of the hosts when he found an opening inside the Town box on 78 minutes but as Colgan narrowed the angle, the striker fired wide of the mark.

Crewe were reduced to 10 men with five minutes to go when substitute Martin was dismissed for a lunge at Leary on the halfway line.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, the hosts made the points safe in added time when DONALDSON picked up a long ball and cut inside before lashing it past Colgan.

Grimsby must now look to put this setback behind them and get their fight for Football League survival back on track when they travel to Morecambe on Saturday.