Harrogate kept their League Two play-off hopes alive after midfielder George Thomson’s spectacular strike secured a 1-0 win over Grimsby.

Thomson’s second-half howitzer earned Harrogate a third straight home triumph – the club’s best sequence since August 2021 – while the Mariners’ EFL status remains in the balance.

Home keeper James Belshaw had earlier raced out of his goal to smother a Gavan Holohan shot just past the quarter-hour mark, while the visitors’ on-loan Coventry striker Justin Obikwu also saw a far-post header flagged offside to the bewilderment of away players and fans alike.

At the other end, an unmarked Anthony O’Connor scuffed a shot wide after being picked out by Thomson’s inswinging corner during first-half stoppage time.

Thomson then opened the scoring four minutes after the interval, rifling a 20-yard shot into the roof of the net having run onto a Levi Sutton pass.

The visitors wasted an excellent chance to secure a precious point when Holohan fired over after being picked out by Danny Rose in the six-yard box.