Mariners caretaker boss Limbrick rues missed chances in Cobblers defeat

The Mariners started the match very brightly, and carved out numerous opportunities in the first 20 minutes of the contest.

But those chances were spurned by the likes of Jake Hessenthaler, James Hanson and Matt Green, and once the Cobblers had got their noses in front through Scot Wharton after 25 minutes they looked comfortable.

Vadaine Oliver added a scrappy second just before the break, and Grimsby were never able to regain their early attacking spark as they laboured to create openings in the the second half.

“I thought we created numerous chances in the first half an hour," said Limbrick, who took charge of team affairs following the sacking on Michael Jolley last week.

“Jake Hessenthaler had a good chance, Matt Green had a good chance and James Hanson had a chance.

“You could probably argue that, in the last four or five weeks, that’s the most chances we have created in a half of football – but you don’t get any points for that.

“When you create that many chances early on, you need to take one of them because you know that a side like Northampton are very organised and are good from set-plays.

“We needed to defend them better. Not scoring the first goal really hindered us.

“I thought it was quite a sloppy second goal as well. For us to go in 2-0 down at half-time was not just reward for our performance.”