Crawley Town breezed past troubled Grimsby 3-0 in the pouring rain at the Checkatrade Stadium this afternoon.

A penalty from captain Jimmy Smith sent Reds on their way before Enzio Boldewijn and new boy Karl Ahearne-Grant wrapped things up in the second half.

But it was not plain sailing for Crawley, who struggled until in-form Boldewijn was brought down on the stroke of half-time to win the spot-kick.

Grimsby, now without a victory in 12 games, started brightly and tested Reds keeper Glenn Morris.

The Mariners, though, did not have the quality to get themselves in front, but would have felt hard done by to concede after performing slightly better than the hosts.

The 2,000-odd spectators saw a different Crawley in the second period, however.

Charlton loanee Ahearne-Grant, who looked lively all day, turned it up a notch when he was played the ball in Grimsby's half in the 62nd minute.

He ran at the defence and cut inside on his right, drilling the ball into the bottom corner from just outside the Grimsby box to make it two goals in his first two outings for the club.

The two-goal cushion changed the match's dynamic, taking the wind out of the visitors' sails.

An assured second-half performance was rounded off by, of course, January's PFA player of the month Boldewijn.

Smith played a deft through-ball to the Dutchman, who chipped Ben Killip in the Grimsby goal to give Crawley their joint-biggest win of the season.

Reds move up to 10th in League Two.