Manager David Artell felt Grimsby showed their superiority to Morecambe in the second half after they won 3-1 at Blundell Park.
Inspired by two goals from Kieran Green and a first since October for Brighton loanee Luca Barrington, the Mariners made it back-to-back wins on home soil.
Andrew Dallas gave Morecambe early hope with his first-half equaliser but their play-off contending opponents outclassed them in the end.
For Artell, a response was needed from a first-half performance that lacked conviction despite going ahead early on and he got just that from his team.
He said: “We were okay for the first 10 to 15 minutes of the game but we sort of lost our way after that and it became a really bitty game.
“We scored from a corner with a good header from what we worked on and they had one shot that ended up in the back of our net, then it became a bit scrappy.
“We said to them at half-time that they’re better than that in possession and they have so much more in them.
“I think they showed that in the second half and in the end we saw the difference in league position between the two teams.
“It’s easy to say you’re better but you have to show it, so the players deserve credit for going out there and performing like they did in the second half.”
With two goals on the day, box-to-box midfielder Green continued his strong season for Grimsby and his manager sang his praises.
“Greeny is a great bloke first and foremost and that is what we want at this club,” added Artell.
“You talk about a growth mindset and working hard; he deserves all the credit he gets for this performance.”
For Morecambe, it was a big setback in their League Two survival bid after consecutive home victories, with the gap to safety at six points with five games to play.
Boss Derek Adams said: “I thought in the first half it was an even game between the two sides.
“Andrew Dallas scored a terrific goal to make it 1-1 and we were happy going in at half-time because there wasn’t much in it.
“We should’ve done better [for the second goal] but then we were chasing the game for most of the second half.
“We made several changes to try and affect the game but they got another goal and deserved to win the game with their second-half performance.
“They’re all big [games] at this stage; it doesn’t matter what kind of match-up we’re going into, everyone’s got something to play for and we’re trying our best.
“The players have shown bottle in the last couple of games and they’ll need to show it in the last five.”
