Match report by David Elliott at London Road
A FREAK goal and a controversial penalty sent the Mariners to their second defeat in a week as Peterborough claimed victory at London Road.
After a first half where neither side made much of an impression in front of goal, Town took the lead with a Ciaran Toner penalty on 59 minutes.
Grimsby had dominated the opening part of the half but were pegged back through substitute George Boyd's 65th minute cross-shot.
And then a penalty awarded by Premiership ref Mike Dean when Peter Till appeared to make only minimal contact with Jamie Day - and outside the box at that - was converted by Aaron McLean.
Town made one change from the team that lost to Chester on Tuesday, with Justin Whittle returning to the starting line-up in place of Dave Mulligan.Whittle took up his usual role at the heart of central defence, with Ryan Bennett reverting to right back.
Tom Newey and Nick Fenton made up the back four, in front of goalkeeper Phil Barnes.
Alan Buckley again opted to start with five midfielders, so Peter Till began on the right, with Paul Bolland, Danny Boshell and Jamie Clarke as the three in the middle of the park.
Ciaran Toner was the left winger, with Isaiah Rankin again asked to play as a lone striker.
Town's bench had a very attack-minded look to it, with no fewer than four strikers named as substitutes.
Danny North, Peter Bore, Gary Jones and Andy Taylor were those forwards alongside reserve keeper Gary Montgomery.
Peterborough started in a 3-5-2 formation with keeper Shwan Jalal behind Craig Morgan, Chris Westwood and Kieran Charnock.
The Posh midfield comprised Adam Newton, Micah Hyde, Dean Keates Jamie Day and Charlie Lee, leaving Craig Mackail-Smith and Aaron McLean as the two strikers.
The referee was a familiar name to supporters.Mike Dean sent off John Obi-Mikel and gave a controversial late penalty as Manchester United beat Chelsea at Old Trafford two weeks ago.
Grimsby went into the game looking for their second consecutive away win after the success at Lincoln City last time they were on the road, while Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson was targeting three points that would push his side towards the automatic promotion places in League Two.
Town won the first corner in the second minute but as Boshell's kick came into the box, the referee had already blown for a foul against Fenton.
But it was the home side that had the first goalscoring opportunity.Barnes came out towards the edge of his area but the ball was slid past him.Aaron McLean shot towards the unguarded net but Ryan Bennett got back to clear off the line.
Peterborough had made the better start and they won their first corner after five minutes.Town were able to clear the danger though, with Fenton heading away.
Both teams were looking to pass the ball and build up attacks patiently with Till seeing a lot of the ball for Town, while Jamie Day and Aaron McLean were prominent for the home side.Neither goalkeeper had been called into action in the opening quarter of an hour though.
Charlie Lee gave Town a scare on 20 minutes when he was allowed to turn and shoot from the edge of the area.Luckily for the Mariners, the midfielder drilled his shot wide.
Peterborough won a free kick when Mackail-Smith was fouled by Fenton after 25 minutes and Barnes had to make a good save to deny Day from 25 yards on the right.
Town had their first half-chance three minutes later.Tom Newey crossed low from the left and neither Boshell nor Till could make enough contact on the ball to steer it towards goal.
The Mariners then had a better chance when Rankin was fouled 20 yards out a minute later.Jamie Clarke lined the free kick up before firing over the wall and over the bar.
Peterborough earned a corner after Whittle had halted the progress of Day down the left side but again, the Town defence weren't troubled as Mackail-Smith headed well over.
Town were lucky not to go behind when Charlie Lee appeared to beat Whittle before slotting past Barnes.Again, the Mariners were saved though as the assistant on the right side flagged for a foul on the Town man and referee Mr Dean blew for a free kick.
Nick Fenton had to receive treatment three minutes before the interval after he got in the way of a Charlie Lee drive from 25 yards.
Neither side was creating much in front of goal and supporters from both sides appeared to have their minds away from the action on the pitch, with renditions of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot ringing out in recognition of England's Rugby Union victory over Australia.
As the game moved into two minutes of stoppage time, Peterborough won a free kick but as Day put the ball into the box, the offside flag was again raised.
It proved to be the last action of a largely forgettable first half that had provided just one shot on target from either side.
Town could take some confidence from the opening period though as the Mariners would have felt they were right in the game and could push on after the restart.If so, they would have every chance of collecting the three points.
Peterborough made a substitution at half time, with George Boyd coming on to replace Adam Newton as Darren Ferguson reverted to a 4-4-2 system.
Town had the first chance to attack with a free kick on the left for handball.And the Mariners almost made it count when Fenton saw his header come back off the bar from Toner's cross.
Then soon afterwards home keeper Shwan Jalal kept his side level as he brilliantly saved from Till after a drive from Boshell had been blocked.
After the slow tempo of the first half, the pace of the game had increased somewhat in the opening minutes of the second.Town were attacking with far more purpose and as the game opened up, the home side were beginning to create danger of their own.
A good move down the left saw Toner release Newey after 54 minutes before his cross was caught well by Jalal.Then at the other end, McLean flashed a ball across goal but no attacker could get the touch that would surely have opened the scoring.
Straight afterwards, Town made their first change, bringing on Danny North in place of Rankin.
The Mariners continued to attack afterwards and on 59 minutes, they got their breakthrough.
Town won a free kick for a foul on Newey on the left.As the ball from Toner came into the box, defender Kieran Charnock handled it.The assistant on the far side spotted the misdemeanor with help from the away supporters and Mr Dean pointed to the spot.
CIARAN TONER stepped up to take the penalty and slotted it low into the bottom left corner in front of the 587 travelling Mariners fans.
The goal came in the middle of a period of Town dominance but it wasn't to be a winner, with Peterborough getting their 65th minute equaliser out of nothing.
Substitute GEORGE BOYD carried the ball down the left wing before crossing towards the far post.It beat everybody, including Barnes and floated into the top corner of the net.
Whether the striker meant it or not was open to debate but it proved to be just the slice of luck his side needed and came at a time when the Mariners were controlling the game.
After their fortuitous goal, Peterborough grew in confidence, winning a string of corners and forcing Boshell into a goal line clearance from Craig Morgan.
The Posh piled on the pressure, moving forward in numbers as they searched for a second goal.Town were on the back foot, spending most of the ten minutes following the goal in their own half of the field.
Barnes had to make a great save from McLean, diving to his right on 72 minutes to keep out a shot from the edge of the box.And then from the resulting corner, the Town stopper again had to be at his best to claw away another goalbound effort.
Andy Taylor came on to replace Clarke with 15 minutes to go as the Mariners switched to 4-4-2, Taylor joining North in attack.
Peterborough were still on top though and they got their chance to take the lead when Jamie Day raced clear.Till got back to challenge but as the Town man made what looked like minimal contact, the attacker moved into the box before going down.
Mr Dean had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and AARON McLEAN made no mistake with the spot-kick, sending Barnes the wrong way to put his side ahead with eleven minutes to go.
Till was booked for the foul and soon afterwards, he was replaced by Gary Jones.
A minute later, Town had a chance when North picked the ball up inside the box.He tried to flick the ball past Jalal from a narrow angle but will probably feel he should have done better after seeing the effort hit the side netting.
Peterborough made a change, bringing Rene Howe on in place of Mackail-Smith.
Boshell became the third Town man to be booked for a foul on the right side before a Peterborough corner went all the way across goal without anybody getting a touch on it.
Three minutes were added at the end of the 90 for Town to try and salvage what would have been a deserved point.
The Mariners won a corner in the last of those added minutes after a quickly taken free kick but they couldn't make it count and after the final whistle blew, the Town players received a warm round of applause from the travelling contingent.
Again, the Mariners had more than matched opponents much more fancied than themselves.But again, a failure to convert chances coupled with a poor refereeing decision saw them head back to North East Lincolnshire empty handed.
