A young Hull City Under-23s side suffered defeat against an experienced Grimsby Town outfit.
Despite Josh Hinds scoring the opener for the Tigers, finishes from Harry Clifton, Evan Khouri, John McAtee, Harvey Tomlinson, Edwin Essel and Anthony Glennon secured the visitors the win.
Richard Naylor and Conor Sellars made two changes to the starting XI that defeated North Ferriby FC 5-1 last time out. McCauley Snelgrove and Hinds returned from injury to start ahead of Oliver Green and Glen Sani, with the duo being named on the bench respectively.
John McAtee had the first opportunity of the game as he saw his strike deflect wide off Harry Wallis, before Harry Clifton found the side netting following a short corner routine. Harry Fisk was then called into action to parry Gavan Holohan’s drive while at the other end, after good link-up play between Sincere Hall and Snelgrove, Will Jarvis could only fire wide following good pressure by Luke Waterfall.
Clifton searched for an opener from range, but curled his shot wide around the right-hand post, before the Tigers took the lead on 14 minutes. Hinds chased the backpass to Max Crocombe, before the forward deflected the goalkeeper’s clearance into the back of the net via a deflection off the post.
Jarvis searched for a Tigers’ second, but his effort curled wide before Shaun Pearson saw his strike cleared off the line. From the resulting corner, Fisk denied Waterfall before the visitors pulled level on half an hour through Clifton’s close-range finish.
Fisk was sharp to react to deny Jordan Maguire-Drew, before the Mariners scored two goals in as many minutes to head into the half-time break in front. First, Khouri rifled his strike past Fisk at the near post, before McAtee placed a low shot into the bottom corner almost immediately from the restart.
Chances were at a premium in the opening exchanges of the second half as the City Trialist fired a shot over the bar, before Tomlinson scored the Mariners’ fourth a minute later with a composed finish.
On 75 minutes, Grimsby had a fifth as Harry Milner’s cross was converted at the back post by Essel.
The Tigers searched to reduce the deficit as Rocco Coyle tested Ollie Battersby in the Grimsby goal from range before the visitors received a penalty with eight minutes left to play. After Essel was fouled, Glennon stepped up and converted his spot-kick despite Tom Macauley diving the correct way.
Substitutes Keegan Green and Mason Johnson came close to netting for the Tigers in the latter stages of the game as Green hit the crossbar with a left-footed attempt, before Johnson saw his header blocked by Jordan Cropper.
Hull City (4-3-3): Harry Fisk (Tom Macauley 46’); Trialist (Kyle Fanning 83’), Festus Arthur (Rocco Coyle 64’), Jack Leckie, Alfie Taylor; Harry Lovick (James Carr 76’), Harry Wallis (Oliver Green 55’), Sincere Hall (Keegan Green 70’); McCauley Snelgrove (Aman Panesar 46’) (C), Josh Hinds (Glen Sani 46’), Will Jarvis (Mason Johnson 78’).
Grimsby Town: (4-4-1-1): Max Crocombe (Ollie Battersby 46’); Michee Efete (Giles Coke 63’), Luke Waterfall (C) (Jordan Cropper 46’), Niall Maher (Shaun Pearson 6’ [Jaz Goundry 63’]), Danny Amos (Anthony Glennon 46’); Jordan Maguire-Drew (Harry Milner 63’), Evan Khouri, Gavan Holohan (Harvey Tomlinson 46’), Harry Clifton (Aaron Braithwaite 63’); John McAtee (Harry Thorp 63’); Danilo Orsi-Dadomo (Edwin Essel 53’).