FRANCIS Jeffers stepped up his comeback with a full 90 minutes and a goal for the Owls Reserves at Stocksbridge.
He put away a free header into the top corner from a left-wing cross by Rocky Lekaj as Wednesday sustained a fightback against Grimsby in a league cup group game.
But two early goals by striker Danny North were enough to give the Mariners a 2-1 win in a match that could have gone either way.
Jeffers struck in the 33rd minute. North scored in the fifth minute with a penalty – after he had been brought down by keeper Richard O'Donnell – and in the 15th with an opportunist effort.
Lewis Buxton – playing in central midfield for the Owls – made opportunities for Lekaj and Jeffers either side of the Wednesday goal, and a great ball by Kenny Lunt gave Jeffers the opening to set up a shot that Burton put wide when his team were on top in the first half.
Grimsby could have run up a bigger lead early in the second half – winger Andy Taylor missed a chance, Chris Llewellyn hit the bar with a 30-yarder, and O'Donnell made a splendid double save from Llewellyn and Richard Hope.
Then a debatable offside decision cost Burton an equaliser after he was put through by Buxton.
There were also chances in the last 16 minutes for Lunt, Burton and Jimmy Smith, who played on the right side of midfield in his first outing after his four-match ban.
OWLS: O'Donnell; Simek, Hadfield, Wragg, L Lekaj; Smith, Buxton, Lunt, R Lekaj; Jeffers, Burton. Unused subs: N Wood, Pratt, Connelly, Palmer, Kirkland.
GRIMSBY: Montgomery; Wood, Heywood, Hope, Thompson; Taylor, Llewellyn, Steele, Buscher (Davis 80); North, Bore (Dixon 90). Unused Subs: Freeman, Woods.
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