WHICHEVER way you look at it, Mannerians just played badly at Grimsby last Saturday.

Sure, there were a range of excuses ready to be deployed: the absence of seven or eight first choice players, the ferocious wind howling off the Urals, global warming, the Credit Crunch, oil prices, Gordon Brown – the list goes on – but the fact is this was the arguably Mannerians' worst performance since leagues began 21 years ago.

Playing against the elements in the first half, Mannerians decided to try and contain the home side before unleashing their magic after the break.

And it looked as though the ploy might just work, as the visitors dominated the set-scrummages, stole numerous lineout balls and tackled competently.

Indeed it was only Bakewell errors that allowed Grimsby to build a 15-nil lead with three tries that owed more to commitment and harrying than to creativity.

And before the interval Mannerians enjoyed one purple patch where the forwards, spearheaded by Michael Clegg and Paul Webster, really took the game to the men in black with a series of drives from the lineout.

This impetus earned Bakewell a penalty and, with Grimsby slow to cover, the ball was worked wide for full back Jack Duncan to exploit the overlap and earn some useful points.

The half ended with more disruption for Bakewell as Ben Sizer left injured and Peter Carr was stunned by an impressive punch by a quickly sin-binned Grimsby flanker.

Sizer was replaced by official photographer Mike Dabell, and while Carr was being fitted with a turban to stem the flow of blood, Chris Westwood made one step closer to his ultimate destiny of joining the front row.

Mannerians second half plan appeared to be coming together with a simply crafted try as Westwood dummied as he broke from the base of the scrum before touching down under the posts.

Skipper Ed Hutchinson added the conversion and it seemed the tide may just be turning.

But Grimsby had other ideas and, being much attuned to dealing with the wind from the North Sea, they started playing a vigorous game of short passes and pick and drives.

Mannerians kept making the tackles, particularly via James Turner, Josh Bagshawe and Rob Wells, but crucially Grimsby kept possession and inched forward constantly, securing two well worked tries to effectively put the game beyond Mannerians' reach.

The visitors just didn't seem capable of really upping their game, and when Michael Clegg was sin-binned after forgetting he was wearing the No. 8 shirt and thus unintentionally ignoring the referee's calls to get onside, Mannerians' lineout weapon was gone.

Jack Duncan claimed his second try of the day after the backs broke down the flank following good scrum work, but it was too little too late and Grimsby deserved the win.

Mannerians resolved to put this debacle behind them in preparing for this Saturday's visit of table-topping Ilkeston to the Showground in what will be their sternest test yet this season.