Striker Mark Beck netted his first league goal since September 2019 to secure Harrogate a 1-0 home triumph over struggling Grimsby.

Beck had not found the target in his previous 27 league outings but came off the bench to head in after 77 minutes and condemn League Two’s bottom club to a seventh straight away defeat, equalling the Mariners’ worst sequence since 1976.

Victory was Harrogate’s fifth in seven matches and moved them into the top half of the table in their debut EFL season.

The first half was virtually one-way traffic with George Thomson, Josh March and Aaron Martin all forcing Grimsby goalkeeper Jake Eastwood into smart saves, while Simon Power’s cross also bounced off the top of the crossbar.

The visitors had a great chance from their first attack of the match in the 41st minute, but Stefan Payne shot straight at James Belshaw as he charged clear through the left channel.

The second half deteriorated as a spectacle, but Beck settled matters when he met Ryan Fallowfield’s right-wing cross with a glancing header across goal that nestled in Eastwood’s top corner.

James Hanson squandered the visitors’ best chance of a reply, sidefooting over an inviting net following Belshaw’s poor punch.