Match report by David Elliott at Blundell Park

A SINGLE goal from Danny North was enough for Grimsby Town to claim a much-needed victory over Hereford United at Blundell Park.

North struck in the dying minutes of the game to secure a vital three points for the Mariners.

Genuine chances had been few and far between in a first half that had been short on quality from both sides, with neither goalkeeper forced into any serious action.

The visitors took the initiative after the break, although Josh Lillis in the Town goal remained relatively untroubled.

Town remained in the game at all stages though and North, who had worked hard in attack, was rewarded with the breakthrough.

Grimsby were handed a boost with the return to the starting line-up of striker Adrian Forbes, who had been missing through injury since pre-season.

He was one of three changes to the Mariners XI that started the 4-0 reverse at Port Vale last time out.

The other alterations saw Rob Atkinson come back in at centre-back in place of Matt Heywood, who dropped to the bench.Josh Fuller was preferred to Michael Leary on the right side of midfield.

Loan keeper Lillis made his first Blundell Park start in the Town colours, behind a back four of Robbie Stockdale, Paul Linwood, Atkinson and Joe Widdowson.

Skipper Ryan Bennett was again pushed forward into a midfield role, although he was to play in a more advanced position than the one he took up at Vale Park.

He was joined across the centre of the park by Fuller, Peter Sweeney and Chris Jones, with North partnering Forbes up front.

The Town substitutes were Leigh Overton, Heywood, Jamie Clarke, Matthew Bird, Grant Normington, Leary and Bradley Wood.

Hereford made the long journey north-east looking for their first victory of the season, although they arrived with three points to their name after three draws in their opening six games.

Ones to watch in John Trewick's side would include midielders Marc Pugh and Tristan Plummer, both of whom had notched three goals so far this campaign.

Both sides would be desperate to pick up all three points, with Grimsby especially keen to impress and get the right result after losing five of their opening six league games.

Town won the first corner of the game after Fuller picked up a long pass from Atkinson and got to the by-line before being challenged by left-back Ryan Valentine.

The visitors were handed a good opportunity when Atkinson gave away a free kick to the right of his own penalty area.Kenny Lunt's ball into the box was half-cleared before being returned to Lunt but he could not pick out a team mate and North was able to bring the ball away from danger.

The first yellow card of the game was not long in coming, with defender Darren Jones booked for a foul on Forbes near the halfway line on six minutes.

Town were looking to play neat and tidy football in the early stages, with Sweeney linking up well with Jones down the left side.

Forbes worked an opening on the left on 12 minutes before sending a cross in to North but he was halted by the assistant referee's offside flag.

Jones was the next to spot a run by North on the quarter-hour, playing a ball over the top for the striker to run onto.Visiting keeper Adam Bartlett was alert to the danger though, racing off his line to get there first and gather the ball.

Richard Rose was the next name to go into the referee's notebook, with referee Waugh adjudging him to have stopped a free kick for a foul on Forbes from being taken.

At this stage, neither goalkeeper had been forced into any serious action, with shots on target at a premium.

Bennett tried a speculative shot from 40 yards when a poor clearance from Bartlett fell at his feet.The keeper's blushes were spared though, with the effort flying wide of the mark.

A long pass from Stockdale to North down the right led to the striker running to the by-line before he was knocked slightly off-balance by a challenge from Rose.North recovered but could not pull the ball back from a narrow angle.

A foul by Linwood on striker Marlon Jackson gave Hereford another opportunity to cause damage from inside the Mariners half but Lunt's free kick was headed away by Linwood.

North collected another long ball shortly before the half-hour and looked up for support on the edge of the area.He squared for Forbes but as the former Millwall man looked to pull the trigger, he was thwarted by a great challenge from Lunt.

Hereford's third yellow card of the afternoon went to midfielder Sam Gwynne for a foul on North just inside the Town half.

A foul by Atkinson brought a Hereford free kick, 5 yards out and in a central position, with five minutes left to play before half-time.

The visitors worked a training ground move from the dead ball, which ended in Lillis diving to tip away a curling shot from Glen Southam.

Town won a corner after Jones turned his man and moved into the penalty area before looking for Sweeney.The former Leeds man then attempted a cross, which was blocked.

From the flag-kick, Linwood headed Sweeney's delivery over the bar.

Two added minutes were signalled by the fourth official as Hereford looked to build up an attack down the right.Plummer sent a low cross in but it was comfortable for Lillis to gather.

There was still time for another Hereford corner but again, the Bulls could not create any real danger from it.

That meant as the half-time whistle blew, neither side had really tested the opposing goalkeeper in a half that had started brightly but lacked in quality for the most part.

The goalless scoreline did mean that both the Mariners and their visitors would feel they had something to build on after the break.

No substitutions were made before the restart and it was the Mariners who made the greater impact at thee beginning of the second half.

A quickly-taken Fuller throw-in found Forbes and he won a corner on the right but again, Sweeney's kick could not be converted.

Widdowson was shown the yellow card for a late challenge on Plummer on the Hereford right before defender Jones sent a looping header marginally off-target.

Plummer was in the thick of the action again on 52 minutes when he picked up the ball on the edge of the area and advanced before hitting a low shot that beat the dive of Lillis but rolled past the far post for a goal kick.

The first substitution was made three minutes later by Hereford boss Trewick, sending on Jamie Tolley in place of Southam.

Hereford seemed to have taken the initiative and they could have had the lead on 57 minutes.Bennett was beaten in midfield by Marc Pugh and he took the ball on before letting fly with a low shot that skimmed just past the post.

The away side had another chance when Plummer cut in from the right before pulling the ball back across the six-yard line, just too far ahead of Pugh, who would have had a tap-in.

Left-sider Pugh, who was becoming more and more influential, saw another opportunity seconds later and looked to curl a shot from left of centre but got his angles wrong.

Jamie Clarke came on in place of Forbes as Newell made his first change of the afternoon, with the visitors still doing most of the attacking.

One of Grimsby's best moves of the game came on 71 minutes.Jones started it, finding Sweeney before receiving a return ball down the left.The ex-Swansea man then kept going and sent a cross in that just eluded Clarke at the far post.

A golden chance was to come four minutes later, when a superb through-ball from Sweeney found North inside the area.The striker could not beat the keeper though, with Bartlett blocking his flicked shot.

Striker Lee Morris added some firepower from the bench for the visitors when he entered the fray with a little less than a quarter of an hour to go.

Morris was involved when he beat Widdowson on the Hereford right before curling a shot straight into the arms of Lillis.

At the other end, there were appeals for a penalty from the fans in the Pontoon Stand when North went down at the end of a move that had started with a Bennett long throw.The shouts were ignored by the referee, who waved play on.

Jones went down injured for the second time in relatively quick succession under a challenge, following a long through-ball from Atkinson.The Welshman received treatment from physio Dave Moore before rejoining the game.

The deadlock was finally broken four minutes from time, when the Mariners took the lead.

A pass from Stockdale found NORTH inside the area.His initial shot was deflected up into the air by Bartlett but he reacted the quickest to head the loose ball into the net from close range, to the delight and relief of the home supporters around the stadium.

Three added minutes were signalled at the end of the game and as Hereford pushed forward, Grimsby looked to take advantage on the counter-attack.

Fuller found himself in acres of space on the right and he slid the ball through into the box for Sweeney, but his shot was blocked by Bartlett.

That proved to be the last goalmouth action of the game and the Mariners and their supporters were finally able to celebrate their first home victory of the season.

Next up for Grimsby is the long trip to face Torquay United next Saturday.