A stoppage-time winner from substitute Kristian Dennis saw Tranmere Rovers emerge 2-1 victors against Grimsby Town in a dramatic finish at Blundell Park.
Having gone ahead in the first half through Charlie Whitaker, the away side were hanging on after the break as Darragh Burns brought the Mariners back level.
However, it was Rovers who had the last laugh as substitute Dennis profited from some lax defending late on from the hosts to regain the lead for his side in the sixth minute of injury time.
“It was a brilliant ending to a really tough game for us against a really good opponent,” said a delighted Andy Crosby.
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Resilience
“I can see us growing as a team, and we showed a lot of resilience in the second half because we were backs-to-the-wall for a lot of it.
“Our goalkeeper made a couple of good saves, and we got a couple of good blocks in which allowed us to still be in the game at the end and get the impact we did off the bench.
“Credit to every player who came on, and it was Kristian [Dennis] who was in the right place at the right time to capitalise on the chance right at the end.
“That’s a huge three points for us when we’re still in the infancy of growing, and we need time to find some consistency, but all in all, it’s been a good month for us where we’ve shown different qualities.
“You need to be resilient away from home against a good team like Grimsby, who know how to move the ball well and they test you in lots of ways.”
Match action
The visitors went ahead in the 19th minute as Whitaker cut in from the left flank and curled an effort into the far bottom corner of the net.
Tranmere had the ball in the back of the net again 10 minutes into the second half, but Joe Ironside was offside as Omari Patrick’s shot deflected off him.
Joe Murphy made two big saves, first denying Charles Vernam from close range before stopping Jamie Walker’s powerful volley from the subsequent corner.
Burns equalised for Grimsby in the 67th minute as he fired past a rooted Murphy from just outside the box.
Burns then hit the post from point-blank range as the hosts dominated possession and territory in search of a winner.
It was the visitors who got it, though, as Grimsby failed to clear their lines from a cross, allowing Dennis to sneak in and win it at the death.
Sickening blow
The result was a sickening blow for Grimsby, who are now five without a win in the league.
A draw would have been enough to take them back into the play-offs before the rest of the league play, but David Artell was instead left to rue missed opportunities again.
He said: “I think like everyone else in the ground, I’m frustrated, for two reasons.
“One, we wasted the first 45 minutes trying to play a type of football we don’t want to play and then secondly, with the amount of chances we wasted in the second half.
“We give the lads credit for taking on board what we said at half-time because we were much better, and we should’ve been out of sight before we got a kick in the shins.
“If you don’t take your chances at one end, then you could very likely end up with no points from a performance that warranted much more.
“They know I won’t shout out at them for trying to play football, which we only did in the second half, and in that time alone we did enough to win the game.”
READ MORE: Swindon Town 2-2 Grimsby Town: Bored Ian Holloway blasts Robins
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