Match report by David Elliott at Blundell Park

A SPIRITED second half performance from Grimsby Town was not enough to prevent a home defeat by high-flying Rochdale.

The visitors dominated for long periods of the first half and they grabbed a deserved opening goal through Adam Rundle.

Town rallied before half-time, with the pace and strength of Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro the main outlet for the Grimsby attacks.

After the interval, Town continued to press, creating numerous chances and forcing a string of corners.

But the Mariners could not find a way past visiting keeper Kenny Arthur, who enjoyed a quiet afternoon between the sticks.

And when the second goal did arrive, it was Chris O'Grady who made the points safe for Rochdale and condemned the home side to another loss.

Five changes were made to the Town side that lost at home to Burton Albion in their last game.

Two of those changes were made to accommodate the loan signings made earlier in the week, with Josh Magennis coming in to start in the Mariners attack after completing a temporary switch from Cardiff City, with French midfielder Arnaud Mendy also going straight into the XI.

The most surprising of the alterations saw Jammal Shahin make his first start after impressing when given a second chance at the club.He came in on the left side of midfield in place of the unlucky Nathan Jarman, who was ruled out after breaking a metatarsal in training.

Peter Bore was handed a start at right-back as Bradley Wood switched to the left to fill in for Joe Widdowson, while there was a new-look Grimsby strike force, with Magennis partnered by Akpa Akpro.

Nick Colgan began in goal, with Ryan Bennett and Paul Linwood starting in the centre of defence, flanked by Wood and Bore.

Shahin, Mendy, Peter Sweeney and Adrian Forbes made up the midfield, with Akpa Akpro and Magennis up front.

The Town substitutes were Leigh Overton, Matt Heywood, Jamie Clarke, Grant Normington, Chris Jones, Michael Leary and Danny North.

Rochdale headed east to Cleethorpes knowing that a win could send them to the top of the League Two table, with Keith Hill's side showing form that had seen them taste defeat on just two occasions so far this season.

The twin threat of Chris Dagnall and Oldham loanee Chris O'Grady would be looking to cause problems for the Mariners backline, while Gary Jones would be hoping to pull the strings from the centre of the Dale midfield.

Magennis and Shahin combined to win a free kick for Town in the early stages of the game but Sweeney's delivery from the left of the penalty area was flicked away by Rochdale right-back Marcus Holness.

Bore got to the byline and dug a cross out for Forbes on the penalty spot on seven minutes but the former Millwall man could not control his shot and sent the ball over the bar.

Rochdale's first sight of goal came when Gary Jones picked the ball up in the centre of the pitch, passed Mendy and advanced before shooting wide from 25 yards.

The visitors were moving the ball around well and they were starting to get on top, with Dagnall at the heart of the action.

The striker beat Bore down the left and cut in before seeing his shot blocked, before Jones looked for a way through but was unable to work an opening.

Town were trying to play a more direct game, looking to use the pace of Akpa Akpro to get in behind the visiting defence.

The Ivorian won a corner on the right with 16 minutes on the clock but Tom Kennedy beat Magennis to Sweeney's near-post delivery from the flag.

Jones was forced to concede a corner after pressure from Mendy followed a throw-in from Wood but no Town player attacked the Sweeney flag-kick and Rochdale broke, with the move ending in a shot from Whaley being blocked by Bore before Dagnall hit a follow-up shot wide.

Rochdale were now taking thee game to the Mariners and Jason Kennedy was the next to send a shot goalwards, only to see Colgan gather comfortably.

The visitors got the goal their early play had deserved on 24 minutes, when Dagnall flicked the ball on for RUNDLE, who beat three defenders inside the Town box before calmly slotting past Colgan.

Town looked to respond immediately with a long range shot from Akpa Akpro but Dale keeper Kenny Arthur was equal to the effort and the away side's lead remained intact.

The combination of Rundle and Dagnall led to another chance soon afterwards, although this time, Bore blocked the shot from the winger.

Grimsby were struggling to make their mark on the game as Rochdale controlled the midfield and looked to set up attacks, with the Mariners forced to play hopeful long balls forward towards the front two.

A cross from Forbes just beat the run of Mendy before a gutsy run down the left by Wood led to a free kick after he was pushed by McArdle.Sweeney's kick was missed by everybody in black and white and the ball went back to Arthur.

Grimsby were beginning to show signs of an attacking threat and Akpa Akpro ran down the right soon afterwards, forcing his way into the area before his pull back was marginally ahead of Shahin.

The away side were inches away from doubling their lead after a superb move that started with Simon Whaley on the left.His cross was met by Dagnall, who chested down for strike-partner O'Grady to half-volley wide of Colgan's goal.

Jones was adjudged to have handled an attempted cross from Sweeney to give Grimsby a free kick on the edge of the box on the left.The ex-Leeds midfielder chipped the dead ball to the far post and Linwood headed wide but referee Jon Moss had already blown for a foul by the centre-back.

Colgan had to race off his line to thwart Whaley after he had been put through on goal.

Then at the other end, Akpa Akpro was pulled down by Holness in a similar position to the previous free kick, to the left of the penalty area.Again, Sweeney chipped towards the far post and after Linwood flicked a header back across goal, the ball was half-cleared to Bore on the right.

He picked out Magennis with a cross but the Cardiff loanee sent his downward header wide of the mark.

Forbes saw a shot blocked by McArdle before a 25-yarder from Wood was saved by Arthur as Town looked to stage a recovery at the end of the half.

One added minute was played before the break, with the Mariners piling forward in search of an equaliser, but the goal was not to come before Mr Moss' whistle signalled the end of the opening period.

Rochdale had dominated for most of the half but the late rally gave the home fans around Blundell Park some hope ahead of the second 45 minutes.

No changes were made before the restart and it was the Mariners who had the first chance to threaten when Akpa Akpro won a corner.The ball was played short to Shahin, whose cross was missed by Mendy before a shot from Linwood was blocked.

Akpa Akpro then set off on a run down the left but seemed unaware of the run of the unmarked Forbes on the other side.Instead, Akpa Akpro continued his run, cutting inside before looking for Bore, who won a corner.

Magennis tried his luck from 25 yards five minutes in but again, Arthur dived tto make a simple stop in the Dale goal.

Another corner came two minutes later and this time, Magennis' header was directed wide of the mark.Town worked the ball back and a cross from Akpa Akpro was headed narrowly off-target by Forbes.

Magennis forced another corner off Holness but Sweeney's delivery was only successful in finding the grateful arms of Arthur.

Wood was the first name to go into the referee's notebook after he was shown the yellow card for a foul on O'Grady inside the Town half.McArdle sent the ball into the penalty area from the resulting free kick and defender Craig Dawson turned and shot well over Colgan's bar.

Rochdale boss Hill made the game's first substitution, with Dale Stevens replacing Jones in the centre of the visitors' midfield with 60 minutes gone.

A free kick for a foul by O'Grady on Bennett was played to Bore in space on the right and he advanced towards the box before hitting the ball across the six-yard line that nobody managed to get on the end of.

Town had been much better since the break and it was they who looked the more likely to force their way back into the game, dominating possession and territory but failing to test Arthur enough.

Rochdale were still looking to add to their lead and they could have done just that when Dagnall picked the ball up 30 yards from goal and ghosted past Mendy as space opened up for him.The striker reached the edge of the box but shot over the bar.

A shot from O'Grady deflected off Wood to give Rochdale their second corner of the game on 73 minutes but the visitors failed to cause any damage from the flag.

Jamie Clarke replaced Forbes for the last quarter of an hour, with the substitute taking up a right-back berth and Bore moving forward to the wing.

Dagnall found Rundle in space as the away side looked to hit Town on the counter-attack two minutes later.Rundle beat Shahin before shooting over the bar from 20 yards.

Town were still looking to force an equaliser and a shot from Akpa Akpro stung the palms of Arthur before Shahin forced yet another Grimsby corner, which led to Shahin shooting wide from 20 yards.

Joe Thompson replaced Rundle for Rochdale but it was still Town who were doing all of the attacking.

Magennis went close to a debut goal after he was set up by Bore following a long pass by Clarke.The striker shot from inside the box but the effort skimmed the top of the crossbar.

That proved to be the Northern Ireland U21 international's last involvement in the game as he was replaced by Danny North for the last seven minutes.

But for all Town's pressing, the crucial second goal was to come on 84 minutes and it went to the visitors.

O'Grady got the ball inside the Town penalty area and his shot took a heavy deflection to beat the dive of Colgan, with the ball nestling in the bottom corner.

It was harsh on Grimsby, who had shown plenty of passion and commitment in their search for an equaliser, albeit without really troubling Arthur between the Dale sticks.

Sweeney shot over the bar from 25 yards, before Dagnall was replaced by Marcus Magna for the away side.

Four added minutes were signalled by the fourth official and Magna forced Colgan into a save with a swerving shot from out on the left.

The visitors finished the stronger and they closed the game out to continue their impressive run of form, although it had been a much improved showing from Town, albeit in defeat.

The Mariners are next in action when they travel to league leaders Bournemouth on Saturday.