Goals from Michael Boulding and Christopher Thompson gave Grimsby three vital
points to leapfrog their opponents out of the relegation zone.
Both teams were level on points before the game but Grimsby found themselves
in the First Division relegation zone on goal difference.
But despite a spirited second-half display by Stoke, Grimsby hauled themselves
out of the bottom three and are now three points clear of Tony Pulis' side.
Grimsby made the better start to the game and in the opening 20 minutes showed
they had the greater desire for the three points.
It took the home side just four minutes to make the vital breakthrough when
Boulding headed home a cross from Alan Pouton.
Moments later Steve Banks thwarted the Mariners when he fumbled away a 25-yard
shot from Tony Gallimore.
And Banks was tested again when he caught a right-footed effort from John
McDermott.
Grimsby continued to push forward in a bid to increase their lead but Stoke
had their skipper and former Blundell Park favourite Peter Handyside to thank
when he blocked an effort from Terry Cooke.
Stoke managed to mount their first attack after 20 minutes only to see Danny
Coyne deal easily with Frazer Richardson's curling effort.
The game almost turned nasty 10 minutes from the break when Mariners assistant
manager Graham Rodger was shown the red card on the touchline after protesting
only a yellow card was shown to Stoke's Wayne Thomas following a foul on
Thompson.
But Grimsby responded in the best way possible when Thompson increased their
lead with a beautifully-taken shot from 18 yards.
Boulding continued to look lively in the second half and had a hatful of
chances to increase Grimsby's lead and his own goal total only to be stopped by
Banks and Sergey Shtanuk.
Stoke suddenly jolted into life and they started to take the game to Grimsby
and pepper the Mariners net in a bid to claw back the deficit.
Richardson's effort was cleared by Georges Santos while Chris Iwelumo's cross
was blocked by Pouton and Brynjar Gunnarsson's header went slightly wide.
Lee Mills was the next to try his luck but was beaten by Santos while
substitute Bjarni Gudjonsson's cross almost beat Coyne and Peter Hoekstra saw
two of his effort cleared by Simon Ford and Groves.
Stoke continued to keep Grimsby in their own half and with six minutes of the
game left Shtanuk missed a gilt-edged chance to pull a goal back but misplaced
his header.
It needed a fingertip save from Coyne to stop substitute Greenacre scoring
while Bolder cleared a left-footed shot from Hoekstra but it was too little, too
late for the Staffordshire side.
And to add insult to injury Shtanuk was dismissed in injury time for a
professional foul on David Soames.
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