AN out-of-sorts Grimsby Town were well beaten by Crewe Alexandra at Blundell Park.

The visitors from Cheshire were superior in all areas of the pitch as they handed the Mariners their third defeat in the opening eight days of the season.

Crewe dominated the first half and took a deserved lead through Calvin Zola on 34 minutes, with the same man doubling their advantage in first half stoppage time.

Town had a mountain to climb after the break and they made things even harder for themselves when Nick Hegarty conceded a penalty seconds after the restart, which was converted by Byron Moore.

The away side had plenty of chances to extend their lead, while the shell-shocked Mariners created little in reply at the other end.

And the final blow came in added time, when Byron Moore struck to complete the scoring for the visitors.

Town boss Mike Newell sprang a surprise by handing winger Josh Fuller his first competitive start on the right side in place of Adam Proudlock.

Another change to the side that lost at Tranmere in midweek saw Michael Leary come into the centre of midfield alongside Danny Boshell, with Peter Sweeney the man to drop to the bench.

The final alteration was enforced, with loan keeper Tommy Forecast coming into the XI to replace the injured Nick Colgan.

In front of the Southampton man was the regular defensive unit of Robbie Stockdale, Ryan Bennett, Rob Atkinson and Joe Widdowson.

Fuller began on the right of a four-man midfield, which also included Leary, Boshell and Nick Hegarty, while the preferred attack partnership was Barry Conlon and Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro.

Alongside Sweeney and Proudlock on the Mariners bench were Matt Heywood, Jamie Clarke, Paul Linwood, Danny North and Leigh Overton.

Crewe made the trip east hoping to kick-start their season after matching Grimsby's record of two defeats from their opening games in league and cup.

Their main threat was likely to come from former Newcastle striker Calvin Zola, who was given a role as a lone striker from the start.

It was the second time the Mariners had faced a team relegated from last season's League One but a big Blundell Park crowd would have been optimistic that there would be a different result to the 2-1 reverse at Cheltenham in the opening fixture.

The first real attack of the game came from the visitors on three minutes, ending with a shot from midfielder Steve Schumacher that was pulled wide from 20 yards.

Forecast conceded a corner after he got a touch to a deep cross from the left but the danger from the flag-kick was cleared, with Bennett winning the initial header and Atkinson completing the clearance.

The early promise from the Mariners was mostly coming down the left, with Hegarty linking up well with Conlon.

Town were trying a direct approach, playing long balls out of defence but finding a strong cross-wind to be a big factor.

The away side were looking to play more football and it was they who were enjoying longer spells of possession and territory over the opening 10 minutes.

Leary conceded a free kick in a dangerous position to the right of his own penalty area and Forecast had to get a strong hand to Crewe captain Billy Jones' far-post delivery.

Widdowson was fouled by Byron Moore to bring about the first good Grimsby opportunity of the afternoon on 16 minutes.Boshell took on the free kick from left of the Crewe penalty area but his shot lacked power or direction and visiting keeper David Button was able to watch the ball go out for a goal-kick.

Town were beginning to come into the game and they had another chance when Akpa Akpro linked up well with Hegarty on the left to allow the winger to send in a cross towards the far post.Fuller was beaten to the header but the ball was worked back to Hegarty on the edge of the area and he shot over the bar.

Another free kick came at the other end on 21 minutes after Hegarty fouled Verma.Again, it was Jones who took the set-piece and this time, the delivery to the back post picked out right-back John Brayford, who fired into the side netting.

Grimsby won a corner after a duel between Akpa Akpro and Jones on the right but Boshell's kick was cleared.The midfielder then regained possession of the ball after a good challenge by Fuller but he couldn't pick out a black and white shirt with a cross from the right.

Newell was forced to make his first substitution on the half-hour when Akpa Akpro limped off with an injury.Adam Proudlock was the man to replace the Ivorian in the Town frontline.

Town went behind on 34 minutes as Crewe turned defence into attack within seconds.

Hegarty won a Grimsby corner on the left but after a short routine with Boshell broke down, the away side counter-attacked through Schumacher and Verma.His cross was taken down by ZOLA before being bundled into the net.

Town immediately set about trying to haul themselves back level and they almost had their equaliser from a Boshell corner on the right.

The ball fell to Leary in the centre of the penalty area but his right-footed shot was cleared off the line by defender Patrick Ada.

Crewe had bossed the half so far and they had another two corners in quick succession on the right with three minutes left to play.The second was half-cleared by the Mariners but they were unable to break out of their own half as the visitors continued to dominate possession.

And it was to get worse for Grimsby before the half-time whistle as Crewe doubled their lead.A cross came in from Moore on the left and ZOLA was left unmarked to head over Forecast from 12 yards to make it 2-0.

Town had the chance to pull one back as the game moved into stoppage time when they were awarded a free kick inside the Crewe arc.The opportunity was wasted though, with Conlon hitting a low shot into the defensive wall.

That was the last opportunity to come for either side in the three minutes of added time and the referee's whistle signalled the end of a disappointing first half for the Mariners.

No changes were made by either side during the interval and things went from bad to worse for Grimsby within a minute of the restart.

Poor marking from a throw-in was compounded by a foul from behind by Hegarty on Moore inside the area.Referee Mark Haywood had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and JONES slammed the penalty kick into the net, sending Forecast the wrong way.

Newell responded by making a double substitution almost immediately, with Hegarty replaced by Peter Sweeney and Danny North coming on for Fuller.

The nightmare for Grimsby should have got even worse on 51 minutes when Zola ran unchallenged into the area before rolling the ball square.Any one of three Alex attackers could have put the ball into the net but when Grant did beat Forecast, the offside flag rescued the hosts.

Undeterred, the visitors kept attacking and their next opportunity came a minute later.This time, Forecast was able to make a stop, parrying from Moore.

A rare Grimsby attack saw North and Sweeney involved before Boshell's shot was blocked by Mat Mitchel-King.But the home side were showing few signs of getting themselves back into the contest, while the visitors were rampant.

Proudlock was almost handed an opportunity from a short back-pass but keeper Button, who had enjoyed a quiet afternoon between the sticks, raced off his line to clear.

At the other end, Zola nearly had his hat-trick when he collected a long ball before advancing into the area and curling a shot inches over Forecast's bar.

Crewe boss Gudjon Thordarsson shuffled his pack on 63 minutes, sending on Clayton Donaldson in place of Grant.

A defence-splitting pass put the substitute through on goal four minutes later but as he looked to slide the ball in for goal number four, Forecast got down to make the stop and keep the score down.

Soon afterwards, Zola was replaced by the ex-Stockport striker Anthony Elding as the Railwaymen looked to others for more goals.

Town won a corner after an encouraging move involving Sweeney and Boshell that ended with a shot from Proudlock being blocked.

But the kick again came to nothing as Grimsby continued to struggle to breach the organised Crewe defence.

North won another corner after picking up a pass from Conlon and this time, Button was forced to make a save from a Bennett header at the far post.

Crewe's third and final change saw Ashley Westwood come on for Schumacher with a little less than a quarter of an hour to go.

Donaldson saw a shot blocked by Widdowson and Forecast had to race off his line to deny Elding as the game moved into three minutes of added time.

But there was still time for Crewe to hammer the final nail in the Town coffin, with a fourth goal in the dying seconds.

Forecast did well to deflect a 30-yard free kick from Verma onto his post but MOORE was there to follow up and side-foot the ball home to complete the rout.

After the second heavy defeat in the space of four days, Town will have to make a big improvement when they host Rotherham United in their next game on Tuesday.

Logon to Mariners Player on Tuesday night for full match commentary of Grimsby Town v Rotherham.