THE Grimsby Town jinx struck again for Eastleigh this afternoon as they were edged 1-0 in the National League by last season’s nemesis at the Silverlake Stadium.

Four times the Mariners beat the Spitfires last term, crushing their play-off dream, and it was the visitors who triumphed yet again – a single Padraig Amond strike ending an impressive run of five straight victories for Chris Todd’s men.

The Spitfires made two changes from last week's 4-1 win at Guiseley with skipper Ben Strevens back from a one-match ban and new Notts County loan signing Wes Atkinson making his debut at right-back.

Joe Partington moved across into central defence to cover for the injured Jamie Turley.

There was little to excite in the opening exchanges with two in-form sides sounding each other out.

But it was Grimsby who settled first, forcing two successive corners in the eighth minute and then threatening in the 12th when new boy Atkinson dashed to the rescue in with a superb tackle on Alex Jones as he bore down on Ross Flitney’s goal.

Not for the first time in recent weeks Eastleigh began unconvincingly at home and had to block a Andy Monkhouse shot after Conor Townsend’s dangerous cross had been flicked on. Then Will Evans did well to get the ball away for another Grimsby corner after Nathan Arnold had put Jones in again.

The Spirtfires so nearly responded with a goal against the run of play when Josh Payne whipped in a dangerous free-kick from the left. James Constable rose and the ball skimmed off a Grimsby head and clipped the bar on its way over.

On 29 minutes Michael Green embarked on an enterprising run down the left but, having got the better of Richard Tait, his cross was too far in front of Constable.

Less than a minute later Grimsby took the lead right under the noses of their noisy , 486-strong band of travelling fans in the Mackoy Community Stand.

Evans looked to have snuffed out the initial danger, but the Mariners kept possession and Jones played in top scorer PADRAIG AMOND to slide home his 13th goal of the season.

As a bit of edge crept into the game, Eastleigh’s Andy Drury was booked along with Grimsby’s rather fortunate Craig Clay, who appeared to lean his head towards the Spitfires midfielder.

Apart from a couple of flashes of promise from October player-of-the-month Yemi Odubade, the Spitfires were struggling to impose themselves and Flitney had to get down among the boots to smother the ball on the line from Townsend’s dangerous, low corner.

Half time: Eastleigh 0 Grimsby Town 1

The second half was a slow burner, just like the first, with only a turn and shot by Grimsby No19 Jones, easily saved by Flitney, threatening to warm up a chilly afternoon at the Silverlake.

But, as Eastleigh began to go through the gears, Strevens had a shot deflected out for a corner after latching onto Payne’s clever lay-off and then visiting keeper Jams McKeown got behind a strike by Jai Reason who had combined with Constable on the left of the area.

Odubade then scampered his way into the Grimsby area but didn’t have the strength to round the towering figure of Aristote Nsiala and his shot went behind.

Alarm bells began ringing again for Eastleigh on the hour when, having been initially denied by Evans, Townsend tried to catch Flitney off-guard but the Eastleigh keeper was wise to it and managed to tip the ball over the bar.

Odubade’s pace drew a couple of free-kicks for the Spitfires – the first at the expense of a booking for Josh Gowling, and then a frustrated looking Strevens entered referee Wayne Barratt’s notebook for clipping goalscorer Amond.

It was to be Strevens’ last contribution as he was sacrificed for the extra strike power of sub Ross Lafayette.

The next chance was the Mariners’, however, with Nsiala heading onto the top netting from Townsend’s corner.

Grimsby then made a substitution of their own, withdrawing the impressive Jones and throwing on fit-again frontman Jon-Paul Pittman.

With Eastleigh needing to up the intensity, an increasingly scrappy game looked in danger of fizzling out.

A ray of hope appeared when Odubade was upended yet again, earning a caution for Townsend, but Jai Reason’s free-kick was easily headed clear by a commanding Grimsby defence.

Then, with just seconds of the four minutes of extra time remaining, Eastleigh earned another free kick when Nsiala wrestled over Lafayette on the right of the area. But Payne’s free kick failed to find a home head and the ensuing scramble came to nothing, just about summing up Eastleigh’s frustrating afternoon.

Full time: Eastleigh 0 Grimsby Town 1

Eastleigh: Ross Flitney, Wes Atkinson, Michael Green, Ben Strevens (Ross Lafayette, 77), Will Evans, Joe Partington, Josh Payne, Andy Drury, James Constable, Jai Reason, Yemi Odubade (Jack Midson, 90). Subs: Michael Poke, Paul Reid, Lee Cook.

Grimsby Town: James McKeown, Richard Tait, Josh Gowling, Craig Disley, Andy Monkhouse, Craig Clay, Nathan Arnold (Danny East, 90), Padraig Amond, Alex Jones (Jon-Paul Pittman, 80), Aristote Nsiala, Conor Townsend. Subs: Gregor Robertson, Scott Brown, Shaun Pearson.

Referee: Wayne Barratt.

Attendance: 2,057