Rodgers went down with knock shortly before first goal, but ref allowed game to go on

Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst chastised the referee for allowing play to continue for Wrexham’s opening goal following a head injury, leaving him to wonder what may have been.

Wrexham took a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to headers from Ollie Palmer and Will Boyle, before Elliot Lee’s second-half strike sealed the Dragons’ 3-0 victory. The first goal came after Grimsby’s Harvey Rodgers collapsed in the box with a head injury but rose to his feet when referee David Rock allowed play to resume.

Lee then crossed for Palmer to score, having been played onside by Rodgers, and Hurst took aim at the referee for the call and felt it had a big impact on the game. He said: “The first goal was disappointing because Harvey is not lying, he’s got a head knock, he’s on the floor and ultimately it was Harvey who played them on to be able to score.

“He’s got up and you can see he’s took a knock certainly, he’s not lying, and the referee didn’t stop the game. In the end, that cost us and put us on the back foot, first goals can be important and who knows what would have happened otherwise, but I’m frustrated with that decision certainly because there were a couple of other moments in the game where he’s stopped play when there were injuries that were not head injuries.

“It didn’t feel like a 3-0 in general, but towards the end, clearly confidence was up when they’re bringing on players of the calibre they have, and then it got difficult at that stage.”

Wrexham assistant Steve Parkin was most happy with the clean sheet against a competent Grimsby Town team as the Dragons cemented their early spot in the play-offs for the third time in a row. “It was good because we were playing against a good team, and we know Hursty’s teams are always well organized, and they’ve had a good start to the season,” he said.