There was a mixture of refereeing and decision-making frustration from David Artell in the aftermath of Grimsby Town’s 3-2 defeat at Accrington Stanley on New Year’s Day.

The Mariners were poor in the second half after getting to half-time with a deserved lead, as Accrington scored a penalty and a free-kick to turn the result in their favour.

The awarding of a penalty for the home side was a moment of contention, with Artell arguing that referee Edward Duckworth’s view of Cameron McJannet’s tackle on Josh Woods was obstructed. Therefore, he was not in a position to make such a big call from the Grimsby boss’ perspective.

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That moment aside, Artell was disappointed with his team’s overall performance after the break, which allowed Accrington back into the contest after showing they had the better of them in the first half.

Artell said: “We played football in the first half, we looked threatening, we looked like we would score more, but we didn’t play football in the second half, we didn’t pass enough and that’s the most disappointing thing.

“I thought we did enough to have big moments in the game, and we took some and we didn’t take more. Greeny’s is an unbelievable header for the goal – one of the best headers I have seen – and the second goal is a cracker, but it means nothing.

“We have had two big moments go against us. They should have had a man sent off for a foul on Rekeil [Pyke], and the referee has given a penalty when he can’t see it, so I will be having a chat with Mike Jones [head of refereeing for the EFL] about that.

“Irrespective of that, though, we didn’t play enough football in the second half, and that’s what I am really disappointed with. We need to be more consistent. We have got to do better in our big moments, and you lose a game you shouldn’t lose. We have got to be much smarter.”

The penalty might have been a soft call, but the winner was more frustrating as a low shot at the centre of the goal from a wide free-kick from Ben Woods managed to find its way under Jordan Wright.

Artell defended his goalkeeper for that incident, saying the way the rest of the team set up reflected their lacklustre second-half display.

He added: “I thought we were worthy of the half-time lead, but for whatever reason, we came out and didn’t do the same after the break. There are one or two things I could pinpoint as reasons why, but I would still need to watch it [the game] back, and I’m not going to single out anyone.

“[The winning goal] is not just on Jordan [Wright]; it’s a wide free-kick, and we knew that Woods would try and score regardless, which is what we told the players. If we had set a higher line, Jordan would have seen the shot a lot earlier than he did, so don’t just blame him if it squirms under him.

“That goal just reflected our second-half performance, doing the easy thing and standing further back rather than the right thing, which was to push further up so Jordan had better visibility. Jordan was a victim of that situation because we needed to be braver as a team.”