Hurst fumes at officials as Grimsby slip to Orient defeat

Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst was left ruing refereeing decisions as his Mariners side slipped to a 2-1 home defeat by Leyton Orient in League Two.

The Mariners’ chief felt his men should have had two first-half penalty decisions for fouls on Craig Disley and Omar Bogle. He also questioned referee Graham Salisbury’s handling of the visitors’ perceived time-wasting in the second period.

Town’s first penalty shout came inside the first 20 minutes when skipper Disley went down under pressure from left-back Sandro Semedo. A free kick to Orient was given but no yellow card was issued to the Grimsby midfielder, with a bemused Hurst stating in his post-match press conference that the officials felt ‘there was contact but not enough to warrant a decision’.

The second, perhaps more clear-cut, shout came on the stroke of half-time. Striker Omar Bogle showed great pace and strength to work his way into the area and fell to the ground with Orient right back Nicky Hunt in close proximity.

Salisbury awarded a corner but it appeared that the Orient defender had not made any touch on the ball. Hurst later saying that his vantage point in the stands gave him a clear view of Hunt catching Bogle’s leg as the striker looked to work an opening.

But, aside from the decisions that went against them, the Mariners had only themselves to blame for this defeat – their third on the bounce after that heartening opening day victory over current League Two leaders Morecambe.

The home side dominated the first 55 minutes but couldn’t make their superiority count and they gifted Orient both goals with two lapses of concentration at the back – Dominic Vose’s injury time strike coming too late for the Mariners to mount any kind of comeback.

Orient took the lead on 58 minutes when Gavin Massey’s cross from the right was palmed into the path of Liam Kelly by home stopper James McKeown and the Orient skipper made no mistake in scoring from 12 yards.

The second and killer goal arrived 14 minutes from time. There appeared to be little danger as Mariners’ defender Shaun Pearson dealt with a long clearance from the O’s but he trod on the ball at the vital moment and this allowed former Grimsby loanee Ollie Palmer to nip in and race away to score.

It could have been so different for the Mariners, who raced out of the blocks after a poignant pre-match ceremony to honour 100 years since the Battle of the Somme. The memorial centred on former Town defender Sid Wheelhouse, who turned out for Orient as a wartime guest, and tragically lost his life during World War I.

Visiting ‘keeper Alex Cisak was called into action after just three minutes, utilising his feet to deny Bogle after the striker had got away from the attentions of former Bristol Rovers defender Tom Parkes.

A minute later and the Orient stopper was at it again, flying to his right to turn away a vicious 20-yard effort from James Berrett; Disley then seeing an effort whistle inches wide of the near post from the resulting corner.

Orient’s only chance in the opening half-hour was perhaps a sign of things to come. They broke from a Mariners’ corner through the pace of Massey and he threaded a ball down the right channel for Jordan Bowery.

The former Chesterfield man crossed but there was no one up with play for the visitors. Josh Gowling dealt with the ball for the hosts but inexplicably played his cross against centre-half partner Pearson, with the ball ricocheting over the crossbar.

At the other end, Bogle continued to shine and he forced another fine save out of Cisak after finding some space in the 18-yard box and sending a stinging shot goalwards from the right side of the area.

Another sniff for the visitors came after more Grimsby hesitancy at the back. A long ball over the top was misjudged by Gowling and that allowed Bowery in. He tried an instinctive lob over McKeown but the ‘keeper dealt with it well, especially with a swirling East Coast wind to contend with.

Orient’s Yvan Erichot was the first player in the book for a late challenge on Ashley Chambers on halfway and that prompted the Mariners into stepping up a gear in the ten minutes before the break.

Berrett fired another long-range effort just over the angle of post and bar, before Kayden Jackson lifted a shot marginally too high after excellent work on the left by Danny Andrew.

Cisak then made a third excellent save, getting down low to turn Luke Summerfield’s 20-yard daisy cutter around the post.

And Town were on the front foot at the start of the second period too. Jackson was the main outlet, getting in behind the Orient defence down the right channel but twice seeing his centre dealt with by Cisak.

On the other wing, Chambers sent in a delightful cross that was marginally too high for Bogle but inch perfect for Berrett, who was unable to steer his header on target.

Former Dagenham man Chambers then tried his luck from 20 yards, finding the side netting after cutting in from the left.

But the Mariners’ heads dropped after conceding to Kelly in the 58th-minute and it was Orient who could have added a second just four minutes later when Parkes flashed a header inches wide from a corner.

Bogle had another good chance on 68 minutes when he swivelled on a Pearson knockdown at a corner but again it was the wrong side of the post for the home faithful.

Hurst introduced Vose for Berrett soon after, whilst Orient chief Andy Hessenthaler brought on Palmer for Dean Cox. And it was the former Mariner who would have the bigger impact, scoring within five minutes of coming on.

Scott Vernon came on for Jackson in the final ten minutes as the Mariners looked to salvage something from the game but they had to wait until the first minute of injury time to get on the scoresheet.

Vose did superbly to work an opening and his 20-yard shot took a wicked deflection that looped over Cisak and into the goal but it was Orient who saw out the final three minutes of the game to claim all three points.

Mariners: McKeown; Davies, Gowling, Pearson, Andrew; Berrett (Vose), Summerfield, Disley, Chambers; Bogle, Jackson (Vernon). Subs not used: Browne, Mills, Bolarinwa, Boyce, Warrington.

Orient: Cisak; Hunt, Parkes, Erichot, Semedo; Cornick, Kelly, Atangana; Cox (Palmer), Bowery, Massey. Subs not used: Kennedy, Weir, Sargeant, Pollock, Koroma

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