City reserves 3, Grimsby reserves 0

Peter Thorne continued his comeback to full fitness with a goal as City reserves registered their second totesport.com League East win on the bounce.

Just three days after the first team had laboured to a bore 0-0 draw against the struggling Mariners, City reserves found the target three times against their east-coast counterparts.

With barely two minutes gone, the Bantams were handed the perfect start in the most bizarre of circumstances.

A low cross from Ryan Harrison appeared to have been dealt with by the Grimsby defence.

But as the ball rolled back to keeper Leigh Overton, he smashed his clearance straight at the helpless Jam-mil Shahin, who was standing less than a yard in front of him, and the ball looped over the stranded No 1 for a calamitous own goal.

The Bantams doubled their advantage just short of the 15-minute mark through the ever-reliable Thorne.

A delightfully-searching long ball from Andrew Villermann found the veteran striker in behind the Mariners defence, as the visitors appealed in vain for offside.

Once in on goal, Thorne never looked likely to miss as he finished with great aplomb past Overton and into the far corner.

City continued to look the more dominant side and proceeded to grab a third on 21 minutes.

Darren Stephenson used his physical presence to hold off Dallas Moore and latch himself onto Luke Sharry’s threaded pass before firing low through the legs of the Grimsby stopper from inside the area.

Villermann typified City’s confidence with a marauding run deep into Grimsby territory. The left back held off the advances of a couple of black and white shirts as he strode towards the Grim-sby penalty area.

His first strike was blocked but he was still on hand to send the rebound whistling only inches away from Overton’s far post.

Grimsby upped their game in the second period and Louis Horne had to be on hand to block a stinging drive from Shahin.

The Mariners went even closer through Nathan Dixon’s rising shot but a fine save from Matt Convey ensured a clean sheet.

City reserves: Convey, Collantine, Villermann, Sharry, Cutler, Horne, Rowe (Flett 75), Dean, Stephenson (Clarke N 78), Thorne, Harrison (Forsyth 90).