Knaresborough Town turn corner in Grimsby Borough rout

A hat-trick from Mitch Hamilton helped secure the points for Davey’s side as fellow 18-year-olds George Eustance and Matthew Pascal also got their names on the scoresheet.

John Waugh grabbed a consolation for Grimsby before Dominic Wilson snatched a sixth for Knaresborough who move up to 15th in Division One of the Northern Counties Eastern League.

Davey said he was impressed with the teenagers’ performances and confirmed he would name the same starting eleven for the game against Louth Town on Saturday.

He said: “It was a fanatastic night to be involved in. We put out a good squad and we played like we knew we could.

“Grimsby couldn’t deal with the pace of the young lads. There was non-stop running and all of them wanted the ball.

“We had three experienced midfielders back and that gave the young lads the freedom to play. It’s great for the club and it’s what we said was going to happen when we got the players back.

“I had talks with the Chairman and the Treasurer last week and they asked how they could help me. I just told them we were not far and we just needed a little bit of time.

“I hope the results will come now but they have to do it week in, week out.”

Davey’s side came into the match with Grimbsy in desperate need of a win after a string of poor results, culminating in a 2-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Teversal on Tuesday.

Hamilton, making his debut after signing from Tadcaster Albion, gave Town the opening goal after 29 minutes but Teversal replied just before the hour mark through a speculative David Cockerill effort from inside his own half.

With just three minutes remaining, the visitors found the winning goal as Jason Dawson ran through Town’s defence and fired past Paul Hagreen.

Despite the defeat, Davey said the performance showed his side were starting to get a little nearer to winning ways and is still targeting a mid-table position by Christmas.

He said: “We are where we are at the moment but we’re getting a few experienced players back. It’s just concerning when you’re down there because you can’t see where the next win is coming from.

“We don’t want to be down there and hopefully we won’t be for much longer. We have a few games in hand where we’ll be looking to pick up points which I know the fans and the club are wanting to see.”